The Analysis On The Metaphor Of Residence In Life And Times Of Michael K From A Perspective Of Critical Discourse Analysis

The 1983 Booker Prize-winning novel Life and Times of Michael K is one of the classic works of contemporary South African novelist John Maxwell Coetzee.The novel is set against the backdrop of the 1970 s to 1980 s,the period of the most severe apartheid in South Africa,and tells the story of a gardener named Michael K who has physical and intellectual disabilities and escapes from Cape Town to fulfill his mother,Anna K’s dying wish.However,his mother dies on the way back home,and the restrictions on inter-provincial migration in the country make Michael K’s journey home uncontrollably deviate.This article chooses Life and Times of Michael K as the research object to explore the relationship between the protagonist Michael K’s place of residence and his social identity.Based on the three-dimensional model of Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis and the mapping principle in conceptual metaphor theory,this article analyzes the relationship between Michael K’s residence and his social identity through the three steps of “Description-Interpretation-Explanation” in critical discourse analysis.The main questions to be answered are: how does the novel present Michael K’s changes in residence and identity? What are the metaphorical relationships between different residences and Michael K’s social identity? What is the significance of Coetzee’s attention to the identity issues of ordinary people in the context of postcolonialism?To this end,this article uses a literature research method,combined with text reading and comprehensive analysis methods to achieve the research objectives.Firstly,by reading a large number of relevant literature and books,the research status and progress of the research object are comprehensively understood.Secondly,based on the three-dimensional model of Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis,relevant contents related to “residence” and “identity” in the novel are collected and organized through text reading and comprehensive analysis methods.Then,the metaphorical relationship between “residence” and “identity” is identified through the mapping principle in conceptual metaphor theory,and the interaction between the text and society and its social significance are analyzed.The conceptual metaphor theory is used to analyze the metaphor of Michael K’s residence at different stages.And his social identity in different periods will be mapped on these residences.The seven residences are divided into three parts:“Imagination-Alienation – Disappearance” and each of them reflects one of Michael K’s social identities in his country and society.At the same time,every residence is a metaphor for Michael K’s changing social identity on his way to escape:“White-washed Cottage” is his idealized social identity to be an ordinary citizen;“Airless Room” is a metaphor for his parasitic social identity;“The Old House on Visagie Farm” is a metaphor for his slave-like social identity;“The Forced Labor Camp” is a metaphor for his prisoner-like social identity;“Burrow in the Veld” is a metaphor for his animal-like social existence;“The Sickbed in Kenilworth Camp” is a metaphor for his doll-like social identity;“The Smelly Corner” is a metaphor for the loss of Michael K’s social identity.The continuous deterioration of Michael K’s living environment is proved to be a dynamic metaphor of the process of disappearance of Michael K’s social identity,which shows the tragic fate of Michael K.Therefore,the metaphor of Michael K’s residence in the novel reveals the tragic fate of his loss of social identity.The residence carries the power of the ruling class and imposes regulations on the common people living within it.These spaces of residence overlap with each other,weaving a network of multiple powers from the state,society,and others,firmly imprisoning Michael K.However,the disappearance of Michael K’s identity is not only a personal tragedy but also a common identity dilemma faced by colored people in South Africa under the cruel system of apartheid.Through Michael K’s tragic identity,Coetzee portrays the cruel persecution of black South Africans by the white government during the apartheid period,expressing criticism of South Africa’s apartheid system and disgust for the legacy of South African colonialism.Coetzee’s other works also reflect his concern for the identities of people in the lower social strata.Like Life and Times of Michael K,Coetzee always use metaphor in his works to express his concern on identity issues.In the context of postcolonial society,Coetzee hopes to use these characters to deconstruct the Western-centric discourse system and seek,maintain,and reconstruct individual and social identities.Coetzee also reflects other real problems in South African society through his novel.He believes that literary language and art can dissolve the power behind various discourses and provide new channels of communication for conflicting parties.In the context of postcolonialism,readers can empathize more deeply with others by stepping out of their own identities and feeling the stories of the characters,realizing that others still bear prejudices and discrimination in postcolonial society.This makes peaceful communication and the reduction of conflicts and disputes possible.The conclusion also summarizes the shortcomings of this study and the areas that need improvement in future research.