While the two narratives in J.M. Coetzee’s Dusklands take place on two different hemispheres, on two different continents and four hundred years apart, their similarities to one another are staggering to the careful observer. The narratives in Dusklands are, at the surface, critiques of colonialism and the us/them, white/other binaries. However, this critique is not Coetzee’s focus, nor his intention. Rather, his underlying agenda is to present and facilitate discussions and thought upon the universality of colonialism, its eternal reconfiguration and momentum and its impact both socio-politically and psychologically. Coetzee is careful to no judge the characters on either side of his binary situations, but presents them, in their totality, as a certain “other” to his reader. The worlds about which Coetzee writes are recognizable to the reader as his own; however, a certain foreign or indescribable oddity lives within these worlds, which then allows the reader to do the judging without self-incrimination. By creating this separation between content and reader, Coetzee allows for successful facilitation. The reader/context binary in “The Vietnam Project” and in “The Narrative of Jacobus Coetzee,” provide the reader with the opportunity to safely judge the ethical conditions and effects of war on human population throughout history.
Despite the fact that Eugene Dawn lives in the States as the Vietnam War goes on, he represents the white male ideal that destruction is the only answer. Described as a somewhat nerdy man obsessed with books, a husband and father, the destructive side to him appears to be innate; it is a part of his essential male whiteness, thus making him the creator of war as opposed to war making him destructive. Four hundred years earlier, in the South African colony, Jacobus Coetzee presents a similar dichotomy. While he is the intruder, he cannot comprehend it. His eventual destruction of the Namaqua village and his vicious assaults on its people, demonstrate a similar idea of inborn evil. Both men represent the idea that through history and despite change, there is an underlying vein running through the white man.
Coetzee places the reader in opposition to not just the white man, but to all characters within his texts. He does this by not playing judge but allowing the reader the authority to be the moral judge. The reader becomes the moral judge not only over Coetzee’s worlds, but also more importantly, over the white man.
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Hi there Kelley,
ReplyDeleteWhile I enjoyed your post on Dusklands, I would have to say that I somewhat disagree with you. On the one hand, I agree that Coetzee does try to assert a distance between reader and text. However, Coetzee does so as a way to allow us to experience more the detachment the characters feel to the great overarching concept of the "white male conqueror" that you pointed out. Both Eugene and Jacobus have the idea of the white colonizer in mind, and have very specific ideas of how "the other" should respond to it. Jacobus believes he is the ultimate representation of this white colonizing male, but when the Namaqua do not respond to their role as the colonized, his whole world begins to shatter. As for Eugene, he wants to be that ideal that he has been studying, he thinks he understands this idea of the colonizer, and this is why he thinks his propaganda work is full of genius, but he can't really handle embodying the ideal, and thus it leads to his mental breakdown. I feel the detachment the reader feels from the text is more so to understand the way we, and they, are detached from certain concepts and although we may think we understand them, we only really understand the surface. This is not to be mistaken with sympathy, but really what it does is draw out the fact that the characters have bought into the myth of the white male conqueror. Their inability to accept the fact that the concept of the conqueror is not all that it was cracked up to be, also represents their incapability to be self reflexive and self analytical. This idea touches upon the fact that we, a lot of the time, do not account for our own history. Thus, this detachment is suppose to incite that very idea that you get at in the end of your post, that we are invited to judge and look at the actions of these men to see that the concept they both adhere to is the driving force of colonialism that it is timeless and comes in many different forms, but also that the history of colonialism is built by men who do not mean to be ever held accountable for the history they are part of. We as the readers now have the choice to judge them, as well as our history, and Coetzee pushes us in that direction.
Hi, Kelley.
ReplyDeleteI found your post on Dusklands really intriguing. I'm especially interested in your argument that the destructive nature of Eugene Dawn is "innate" and "a part of his essential male whiteness." Do you believe him, then, when he dismisses Marilyn's claim that due to his work on the Vietnam project his "human sympathies have been coarsened" and he has "become addicted to violent and perverse fantasies"(9)? Has the violence that erupts in him always been there? If such violence is innate and it is only present in "the white man," that seems a powerful criticism - a damnation, even - of an entire race of people. If Coetzee is suggesting that white people are inherently evil and others are not, then perhaps his writing is more in line with Shohat's theories on the postcolonial (we must draw a clear line between the colonizer and the colonized) than with Trinh's (the situation is complex; clear lines cannot be drawn).
In my opinion, the destructiveness in Eugene Dawn and Jacobus Coetzee is a product of the colonial mindset, not the cause of it. Though they appear to be evil, they are also tormented by the system that they use to torment others; they are victims as well as perpetrators. I think that the evil that they display did not grow in them from birth, but was planted by a socio-political system which encourages people to subjugate the Other.
Of course, Coetzee is not so kind as to tell us outright what the answer is. He will remain enigmatic.
--Melissa Filbeck
Many of the points you have brought up in your blog are interesting and are ideas I have been considering since having read the novel. My favorite part is about how Coetzee presents these binaries without overwhelming them with his own input/ideas. He simply provides the material and allows the reader to form their own ideas. I think that is part of what makes him such a talented and skilled author. He is able to easily channel his characters and seamlessly write from their prospective. However, he would be quick to remind you that his works are fiction and written by an author.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, it is this style of writing that has caused people to attack Coetzee and state that he is glorifying colonialism, racism and/or violence. The lack of clear opinion or disapproval on his part does not and should not equate to him supporting or glorifying the violence going on in the novel. As stated in class, readers should approach his novel as they would approach the racism and violence in Aphra Behn's "Oroonoko." Meaning, people need to realize that author and narrator are not the same thing (even if something is written in first person POV). I believe, the more an author can almost make you forget that, the more talented they are.
That being said, this is my first book to read of Coetzee's and I must say I was very impressed. I cannot wait to read another book of his. Also, thanks for you intriguing blog.
p.s. One more thing. I love how Coetzee leaves the thinking to the reader. It was refreshing how the novel wasn't overly didactic. To form strong opinions, the reader needs to see the story from all angles; and that's why I think it is necessary to read the story from the "enemies" eyes. Furthermore, I believe Coetzee makes it clear how everyone is a victim to violence whether they are the "colonizer" or the "colonized." I'm not sure if this message would have been as clear if it was written in third person POV or using someone else as the narrator. Thanks again!
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