Old Myths-Modern Empires: Power, Language, and Identity in J.M. Coetzee’s Work

This study gives substantial coverage and close critical attention to a wide range of Coetzee’s published writings, including his most recent work. It seeks to situate his writing in the framework of both postmodernist and postcolonial theory and criticism. In addition, it links the political and social aspects of Coetzee’s writing, its South African provenance and its often oblique engagement with contemporary issues, and with formal questions regarding structure, rhetoric and narrative strategies in his novels. By approaching Coetzee’s fiction from a variety of critical angles and taking into account the recent changes in critical reception – exemplified by the Nobel Prize he was awarded in 2004 – and the transformations in the social and political context of South Africa, it offers a thorough assessment of the author’s oeuvre.