Paper 15 RECONCILIATION OF CULTURES AND RACES IN J. M. COETZEE’S DISGRACE: A POSTCO

PAPER ID:IJIM/V.2(II)/115-117/15

AUTHOR: Digvijay

TITLE : RECONCILIATION OF CULTURES AND RACES IN J. M. COETZEE’S DISGRACE: A POSTCOLONIAL STUDY

ABSTRACT: J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace contains some important questions and answers about the acceptability of the outcome of colonial clash between races and cultures beneath a disturbing story of rape, sexuality and violence. Through a chronicle of basic human desires and European literary intellection Coetzee justifies and analysis the complexities of post-apartheid era of South Africa. The way of dealing with the outcome of colonialism varies from country to country and culture to culture but most precisely from writer to writer. Coetzee sets his novels in South Africa to analyse the hooliganism that was the result of apartheid era. It traces the ‘collective consciousness’ of both the races; Coloured and Whites against each other. Disgrace encapsulates a disturbing history which is unforgettable for South African natives and unfathomable for colonial masters. In the one hand, Natives, presented in Disgrace show that aftermath of colonialism brings hybridity but with certain compensations and paybacks like rape and brutality. On the other hand, colonisers seem to confess their years of mayhem brought upon natives. It shows the mortification of attitudes and the trauma of the result of rampant colonial process. It rather significantly unfolds the story of agitation between Whites and Blacks and records a process of accepting each other through violence, sexuality, robbery and bitter coldness. This novel tries to penetrate deep into the outcome of colonialism, but the superior part is that it uncovers the psyche of both the races unlike Beloved by Toni Morrison. Talking realistically, it is the allegory of ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ which tried to neutralise the chaotic condition between both the races but in reality, it results into a tradition of false and mechanical confessions made by settler colonialists. Precisely, Disgrace is the epic of post-colonial issues and beautifully adheres to reality when it depicts the complete exhaustion of Colonialism and fictionalises these things with absolute cordiality, it rejects every criticism of it. Present paper will focus on these above briefly written issues and will try to trace and analyse them in broader perspective.

Keywords :
Postcolonialism, Apartheid, Reconciliation, Hybridity

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