The Politics of Silence in J. M. Coetzee's Foe

• Main Authors: Yin-Hon Lee, 李允泓
• Other Authors: Tsui-yu Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/35058888029531694261

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 100 === Abstract J. M. Coetzee’s Foe is a post-colonial rewriting of Robinson Crusoe. In Foe, Coetzee exhibits his critique of the silencing force of colonialism, patriarchy, and the power of authorship found inRonbinson Crusoe by ironically subverting the characters in Robinson Crusoe. Besides, Coetzee also makes use of the frame of Robinson Crusoe to critique the apartheid regulated by South African government. This thesis aims to explore the trope of silence in Foe in racial, sexual, and canonical terms. This thesis is composed of five chapters. In Chapter One, I give a concise introduction and context of the silencing or silenced in terms of race, gender, and canonization revealed in Foe. In Chapter Two, I try to explore how Foe, with its characters connoting different agents in either apartheid South Africa or colonial period, can be read as a critical response to the silencing apartheid as well as colonialism. In chapter three, my focus shifts to examine how the silencing/silenced agents in relation to gender in Robinson Crusoe have been subverted in Foe to give voice to the silenced. In Chapter Four, I try to explore the relationship among canon(ization), Foe/ Foe, and silence. Furthermore, I attempt to examine the process of Susan Barton’s search for her substantiality to see how authorial authority, the silencing force within canonization, influences Susan Barton’s perception for her identity and substantiality. In Chapter Five, I first concisely summarize the points I have made in each chapter, and then I give my comments on the findings about silence I have discovered in the process of writing this thesis.