A summary of Derek Attridge's "Ethical Modernism: Servants as Others in J.M. Coetzee’s Early Fiction"

In his article, Derek Attridge engages the ethical force of literature in J. M. Coetzee’s, Dusklands, and, In the Heart of the Country. Attridge argues that both novels engages the reader ethically, where the reader is encouraged to respond to an event or situation where. “otherness challenges habitual norms” (Attridge 653).  In this article Attridge focuses on two key ideas:

1.      How powerful modernist techniques can be used to involve the reader ethically, and;

2.      A discussion on how Coetzee undermines conventional discourses that are used to represent servants (which I interpreted as characters) in the same way he tests conventions of fictional representations.

Attridge explores these ideas in both of Coetzee’s novels and begins with his discussion of Dusklands.

 

Attridge’s emphasis on, Duslkands, is that it focuses on inviting the reader ethically into the novel and achieves this through the use of parody, specifically, a parody of an actual event. There is an emphasis the ‘event’, and how this ‘event’ is represented through discourse to shape social life. Dusklands, is split into two novellas, the first focusing on Eugene Dawn in, “The Vietnam Project”, and the second focusing on Jacobus Coetzee in, “The Narrative of Jacobus Coetzee”, where each protagonist, according to Attridge, is given the ability to draw the reader in through their actions within, and reflections regarding, events. Attridge’s argument lies in the ‘event’ and how both of these characters, Eugene and Jacobus, are written with conventional fictional representations and are placed within the conventional discourses of 20^th century American imperialism and 18^th century Dutch colonialism, respectively. These are undermined, while also drawing the reader in ethically, when juxtaposed with the ‘other’ within each of the novellas. 

Attridge’s exploration into, In the Heart of the Country, is based on the techniques used by Coetzee and how narration is affected by these techniques and develops. By numbering the paragraphs in the novel, the reader is made aware of the language as a backdrop to human lives, thoughts and feelings. A technique like this is simple, yet effective in changing the effect of the narration and how narration is read. Attridge, explores how the narration is flawed and how these flaws shapes the narrative. According to Attridge, Coetzee also evokes a mental world that makes it easier for the reader to experience the, “mimetic power of narrative”, which allows the reader to sympathise with the feelings and thoughts of the imagined character. The exposure of the flaws in narration, coupled with this evocation of a mental world, allows for the sequence of events in the novel to develop in more than one direction through narrative backtracking. What Attridge means by this is that, one event is essentially developed into two or more separate events which holds the different perspectives, thoughts and feelings of the characters involved in the event.

While the article is difficult to grab a hold of, and grapples with complex ideas, it is interesting how Attridge unpacks how the ethical is represented and made effective in two of J. M. Coetzee’s earliest novels.

Works cited

Attridge, Derek. “Ethical Modernism: Servants as Others in J. M. Coetzee’s Early Fiction.” Poetics Today, 25:4 (2004): 553-671.

The Construction of Eugene Marais as an Afrikaner Hero by Sandra Swart

Eugene Marais (1871 -1936) was instrumental to literature within South Africa and was also a scientist focusing on the behaviour of primates and ants. While not being as well known for his scientific work, he is hailed as the, “father of Afrikaans poetry”, due to his contributions to literature and the Afrikaans language (Swart 847). It is within this vein that Marais is represented as a great Afrikaner who was part of the Afrikaner nationalist movement. Marais is, however, also remembered as an Afrikaner rebel, a “dissident iconoclast” (Swart 847).

It is with these two different representations of Marais that Sandra Swart investigates Marais as a hero for the Afrikaans language and populace of South Africa in her article, The Construction of Eugene Marais as an Afrikaner Hero. Swart’s investigation into the construction of Marais’ image as an Afrikaner hero is done in three distinct manners.

Firstly, the article looks at how Marais has been portrayed within particular historical moments by, “[analysing] the changes that have occurred with reference to broader developments in South Africa”, (Swart 847). This is done through the exploration of the, “material changes within the socio-economic milieu”, with these changes essentially being the reason for Marais’ constant public image changes (Swart 847). Marais’ as an idol Afrikaner was vital to the cultural identity of the re-imagined Afrikaner nation, strengthening nationalist ideals and forwarding nationalism.

Marais being the first “Afrikaner poet”, filled the need for an Afrikaans poet, and is thus, “celebrated as a powerful figure in the establishment of the Afrikaans language and culture” (Swart 850).  Marais is difficult to categorise within the Afrikaans canon though, with his work spanning four poetic generations and finding his poetry within two schools of thought. The two schools of thought on his poetry are the Language Movement’s stable and the Afrikaans literary firmament.  

During, and after Marais’ death, his image was subject to change due to the socio-political context of the Afrikaans language struggle. It is with this in mind that Swart’s second manner of exploration into Marais’ image as an Afrikaner hero is grounded. The change in Marais’ image is traced within the projected self-image of the Afrikaner over the 20th century. It is almost entirely because of Gustav Preller, a long time friend and advocate of Marais, that his image as a "true" or "good" Afrikaner is established (Swart 855). Preller establishes Marais as the 'first poet' and through this establishment, creates the ground to mould Marais' image as a simple afrikaner, while ignoring Marais', "identification with decadence and aestheticism", as well as his, "cosmopolitan tastes and leaning towards morphine" (Swart 856).  Marais was portrayed to Afrikaner South Africans, and other South Africans, as to what an ideal Afrikaans individual would be, and this portrayal was often adjusted to what was needed over time, but it remains entrenched in the ideal of being a simple and 'good' Afrikaner.

Finally, Swart sets an exploration into the need for ‘alternative heroes’ in the ‘new South Africa’. Understanding that Marais’ image as an ‘Afrikaner rebel’ and someone who stood in opposition to, "the 'obscurantism' of Kruger",  is well suited for this need of an alternate hero (Swart 866). This secondary representation of Marais as a ‘dissident iconoclast’ is the reason for the fragmented meaning of his image. It is with this representation of Marais that he is used as a figure in the reinvention of the Afrikaner in  post-Aparthied South Africa, being now viewed as a, "genuine Afrikaner 'tragic genius'" (Swart 866). 

Works cited:

Swart, S. “The Construction of Eugene Marais as an Afrikaner Hero.” Journal of Southern African Studies 30.4 (December, 2004): 847-867. JSTOR. Web. 07 March 2011. 

For those interested in Gustav Preller, here is a link with a little more information on him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Preller

Rousseau, Levaillant, Marais

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, born in Geneva, was an 18^th century philosopher and writer. Claude Levi-Strauss, a French anthropologist and ethnologist, called Rousseau's Discourse on the Origins of Inequality the beginning of anthropology. This was stated partly because of it's self-questioning stance and partly because “of its consideration of links between human and primate behaviour” (Glenn 62). Levi-Strauss sees Rousseau as the founder, while other researches argue that Rousseau can be seen as the first Enlightenment figure, supposing that there is a link between particular species, “the relation between apes and men” (Glenn 63). Rousseau tried to find the missing link between primate and man in his Discourse on the Origins of Inequality (Glenn 63). Rousseau speculated that travellers who claim to have seen primates that look like men might have been confused and seen animals instead of men, these travellers might have judged simply on external characteristics (Glenn 63). There are sections in Rousseau's Discourse that developed the idea that to move away from being savage to a more civilised state it involves “a complex economy of sensory, psychological and social losses and gains” (Glenn 64). This sense of lost capacities and possibilities influenced both Levaillant and Marias (Glenn 64).

The French explorer Francois Levaillant, an 18^th century travel writer, was a pioneering figure in South African ornithology, zoology, and ethology as well as in anthropology (Glenn 65). Levaillant worked from what he found in the field, he felt that Rousseau had a false and distorted view of the Hottentots. Levaillent attacks Rousseau's work and views of the Hottentots and he criticised Rousseau for “relying on second-hand accounts” from other writers (Glenn 66). However, Levaillant's self-justification in the “prière d'insérer” saw himself as agreeing with Rousseau's challenge in finding a “philosophy that travels” (Glenn 66). Levaillant seemed to describe African people without prejudice and shared another view with Rousseau, the idea of the “Noble savage” and the condemnation of civilization. Levaillant had a relationship with a Khoekhoe woman in Gonaqua called Narina, his relationship with her would be frowned upon and seen as social unacceptable in the later colonial period. “Levaillant's legacy to South African literature of the nineteenth century was generally as a political critic of colonialism” (Glenn 70). Levaillant was able to see the Hottentots and Gonaquois as completely human, this meant that he worked with “the conventions of classicism to depict black bodies as beautiful” (Glenn 70).

Eugene Marais, a South African poet, writer and naturalist, is well-known for his contribution to Afrikaans literature although, he is little less know for his contribution to science. His book, Souls of the Ape, “aspires to the high detached scientific tone,” which echoes Freud as Marais recounts various experiments he performed in hypnosis (Glenn 72). Marais' 19^th century reading of Darwin created a scale that put blacks closer to baboons and was inevitably racist (Glenn 72). His central concern of his theory of ethnology and anthropology was “the cost of the transition from savage man to civilised, animal to human” (Glenn 73). Marais saw that there was an inherent weakness in the stage of development and way of life for the Bushman (Glenn 73). It is ironic that in his chapter “Addiction and Depression” - Marais comments that the Bushman “may be closer to him, or the universal condition, than the cynical exploiters” (Glenn 74). Marais discovered the Waterberg Cycad which was also named after him (Encephalartos eugene-maraisii). Marais is also known as the first person to study the behaviour of wild primates.

The main theme in the late 19^th century literature “is the tension between high pretension and 'the horror' of primal drives and forces” (Glenn 75). Marais can be seen as being closer to Rousseau's work than Levaillant, in the sense of the movement of man from primate to savage (Glenn 75). Rousseau, Levaillant and Marais share different and similar findings in their work about the 'savage man'. It is interesting to note that although some saw the Hottentots as human, they were never seen as fully human.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Marais

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Levaillant

Works Cited:
Glenn, Ian. “Primate Time: Rousseau, Levaillant, Marais”. Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa, 18.1 (2011): 61-77. Print.

Olive Schreiner: 19th Century: The Men and Women's Club

The Men and Women's Club was a discussion group which challenged the norms for male and female relationships as well as the ideas of sexuality (Edwardian Promenade). Karl Pearson, a barrister, formed this club to have more focused discussions based on all subjects important to both sexes. The group formally started in 1885 with the aim for men and women to discuss subjects openly and freely (Ruth and Scott 146). Discussions regarding sexuality in Victorian England were very radical for the time, especially since these conversations were shared by men and women together. The culture of the Victorian time “refused middle-class women knowledge about their bodies while stigmatizing the prostitute as being 'outside' society” (Ruth and Scott 146). The club wanted to bring men and women together by finding an alternative split “between 'animal' and 'human' that characterised the dominant mid- and late- Victorian attitudes to sexual passion” (Ruth and Scott 146).

The club's first paper was from Pearson called “The Woman Question”, which was later reprinted, with changes, “in a collection of essays entitled The Ethic of Freethought” (Ruth and Scott 149). In the paper he focused on changes that would happen if women received access to education, professions and political representation (Edwardian Promenade).

Olive Schreiner, daughter of a missionary, was one of the most well-known female members of the group. Schreiner and Bryan Donkin joined the Men and Women's Club during the first year of it starting. They were more interested in the “non-recognition of female sexuality as a whole” (Ruth and Scott 150).

Schreiner was open in her “challenge of commonly-held conceptions of women sexuality” and argued against the notion that women have a weaker sexual instinct than men, observing that it was difficult to judge the 'days when women are under such control'” (Edwardian Promenade; First and Scott 150). Donkin on the other hand saw that Pearson “underestimated women's 'sexual passion' and overestimated the maternal instinct” (Ruth and Scott 150).

Schreiner's openness classified her as a 'free' woman, although she was pinpointed as having neurosis, which in Victorian times was a condition of a “woman seeking a sort of sexual freedom by denying her sexuality” (Ruth and Scott 151). Schreiner wanted to look for a theory of sexual evolution for women and in her personal relationship with Pearson was a way to show that she wanted freedom from sex or “the risk of being considered and treated as a sexual object” (Ruth and Scott 151-152).

One of the core issues of the Men and Women's Club was prostitution and they would probably have read literature about different Acts relating to prostitution (Ruth and Scott 157). The Contagious Diseases Acts, required that prostitutes in certain garrison towns and ports go for a full physical examination and detention in 'lock' hospitals (Ruth and Scott 157). The Club, however, struggled to fully define what a prostitute is but Schreiner felt that individual relationships sullied around prostitution (Ruth and Scott 157).

Topics discussed by the Men and Women’s Club were revolutionary and radical for the late 19^th century, during this time “long-held assumptions and social norms” were challenged by both men and women (Edwardian Promenade).

Works Cited:

First, Ruth, and Ann Scott. Olive Schreiner: A Biography. London: André Deutsch, 1980. Print.

Holland, Evangeline. Edwardian Promenade, 13 Dec.2009. Web. 2 March 2016.

Further Reading:

Edwardian Promenade

http://www.edwardianpromenade.com/love/the-men-and-womens-club/

The Olive Schreiner Letters Online

https://www.oliveschreiner.org/vre?page=295

Article summary of Idleness in South Africa by J.M. Coetzee

Idleness in South Africa by J.M. Coetzee

Coetzee’s chapter, Idleness in South Africa in the book White Writing (1988), looks at the European settlers in South Africa and how they observed and experienced the Hottentot’s in South Africa. Idleness in South Africa looks at the “idle, indolence, sloth, laziness, torpor” lifestyle of the Hottentots and the western ideal of “what it means to be man”.

This chapter can be divided into three sections (1) observations of the Hottentots, (2) condemning the Hottentot for his idleness and (3) history of idleness in South Africa. Looking at part one: observations of the Hottentots, here Coetzee mentions how European settlers described the Hottentots, taking note of their beast-like manner but they are in fact men. Hottentots were seen as having handicapped speech, eating animals as well as animal intestines, they sleep together not differentiating between men and women and they appear unwashed and “smell fiercely” (Coetzee 12). These observations are all identified by a checklist from the European settlers. European settlers saw the Hottentots as idle because they did not make up for Adam's fall or atone for his sins. The Hottentots were seen as living a life without religion or God.

Part two: condemning the Hottentot for his idleness, looks at punishing the Hottentot for being idle. Hottentots were seen as being lazy and anyone who associates themselves with them will also become lazy and idle. Hottentots had no future unless they worked for the Boers. Idleness of the Boers weren’t seen the same as the Hottentot idleness.

Part three: history of idleness in South Africa focuses on the idleness of the Hottentots that still presents itself in the over-employment and underpayment of people. Coetzee also mentions the Immorality Act and Mixed Marriages Act of Apartheid South Africa and how Europeans interacting with Hottentots brought laziness among the Europeans and this in some way led to these two acts.

The life of the Hottentots presented by European settlers is one of laziness, idleness, indolence and torpor, a life, that in a busy world today, people seek - one of solitude and peace. Coetzee states “certainly no one dreams of asking whether what looks like Hottentot dolce far niente (pleasant idleness) may not be the mere outward aspect of a profound Hottentot contemplative life” (Coetzee 18). He makes the argument whether the life of a Hottentot isn’t in fact the paradise we seek, having leisure time and faith that everything will be provided for. This can be a bitter pill to swallow if association with the Hottentots is not ideal and for European settlers they viewed the Hottentots using their own framework that differences are perceived in a framework of sameness (Coetzee 13).

Coetzee poses interesting and challenging arguments in this chapter Idleness in South Africa from White Writing. Some arguments are very complex and difficult to understand but it challenges the reader’s thinking and knowledge about South African history, the idea of paradise and whether the Hottentot life is something that could have been close to the ideal life, a “dolce far niente” - a pleasant idleness.