The Other's Silence In J.M.Coetzee's Foe

J.M.Coetzee is a famous white novelist,literary critic and translator in South Africa.His novel named Foe was written during the worst period of time when the apartheid policy was adopted in South Africa.At that time,the historical writing of realistic novels is somehow superior to any other literary forms and styles because its essence is always rooted in the social reality.Different from the historical writing of traditional realistic novels,Coetzee always thinks about African issues in a abstract way,which contributes to the mysterious and allegorical character in his novels.On the historical background mentioned above,Foe was doomed to be misunderstood as just a postmodern game.Time goes by,Foe has attracted more attention and aroused extensive discussions with lots of new issues,for example,the relationship between"Self" and "Other",the concern about the ordinary people,the deconstruction of historical writing of traditional realistic novels,the doubt about the truth of the text,the interest in the aphasia of Others and so on.However,most of those issues were discussed in general items instead of going into details.Therefore,this article attempts to explore the deep connotation on the basis of analyzing Coetzee's way of writing about Others' silence.In this novel,Coetzee focuses on Susan's writing desire as well as the anxiety behind it.Besides,the character named Friday,associated with Susan's desire to write the historical truth of the desert island can't be ignored,which even becomes the center of Susan and Foe's attention.On the basis of Susan's desire for writing,three kinds of her anxiety also play significant roles in this novel.First of all,Susan is afraid of herself disappearing.The truth of the history is fabricated by Foe,which is the second type of her anxiety while the last one is the fact that she would never manage to communicate with Friday who is stubborn and silent.The process which Susan produces her desire and anxiety is actually the one for her to reveal the fact that Friday is oppressed by both Cruso and Foe.Cruso symbolizes hegemony to enslave the Other while Foe stands for writing the Other.Trying to speak of the Other in the position of a white woman,Coetzee eventually shows the truth of the whole struggle between Susan and Male Power from Cruso and Foe.Thus,the weak could use their power to fight against the center of the strong,which is dramatically subversive.Though the failure of Susan's writing about the truth of the Other's history,Coetzee deconstructed the power structure of the writing of history.Susan's tension in the contradictory state of being unable to write the Other's anxiety undoubtedly deepens readers' understanding of Others' silence and their concern for Others' real history.This makes the contrasting silence seems particularly precious and reliable in this writing anxiety.The power of silence is then more perceptible to readers in Foe,and it can better reflect the broad realities behind silence that are not known.Friday's silence was even more noticeable in the hustle and bustle of Susan,Foe and Cruso on the Friday of the double oppression.Text and readers formed the following interactions:First,it caused readers to pay attention to Others;Second,it caused readers to think deeply about the silence of Others;Third,in the questioning of the readers' hegemony over the history of colonists,We help the Other to recover the right of discourse.As a kind of rhetorical existence,Friday's mutilated body,is not only a symbol of being enslaved,but also the Other's natural and legitimate right of discourse.The allegorical metaphor of Friday's robe indicates that the Other in the text has already desired to express himself and has been doing it.And by this way,only the Other has the privilege to express himself.Thus,Friday's silence seems to be a little bit helpless,but gradually plays an active role in the text and even becomes a powerful weapon for the Other to fight against Western Self-writing.In the novel text of Foe,Coetzee has fully demonstrated his point of view on the aphasia of Others:Others are silent,but they can also express themselves in spite of speechlessness.Coetzee deconstructed the power of western colonial language by the way of Others' silence instead of limited himself in fragmentary expression specifically.In a word,the reflection of Humanism in Coetzee's novel which is represented by his concern on Others,not only has a great impact on South Africa,but also makes significant contributions to the whole world.That is exactly the greatness for Coetzee to construct the new form of writing the silence of Others.