
J.M. Coetzee: Fictions of the Real
Fictions of the Real
Anthony Uhlmann(Editor)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 27. July 2017
Book
Hardback
172 pages
978-1-138-72177-7 (ISBN)
Description
J.M. Coetzee has new things to say about this relation between the 'real' and 'fictions of the real', and while much has already been written about him, these questions need to be more fully explored. The contributions to this volume are drawn together by the idea of the hinge between the world (whether understood in ontological, bio-ethical, personal and interpersonal, or socio-political terms) and fictional representations of it (whether understood in epistemological, ficto-biographical, formal, or stylistic terms).
In this collection, the question of understanding itself - how we understand or imagine our place in the world - is shown to be central to our conception of that world. That is, rather than beginning with forms developed in socio-political understandings, Coetzee's works ask us to consider what role fiction might play in relation to politics, in relation to history, in relation to ethics and our understanding of human agency and responsibility. Coetzee has a profound interest in the methods through which we make sense of the contemporary world and our place in it, and his approach appeals to readers of fiction, critics and philosophers alike. The central problems he deals with in his fiction are of the kind that confront people everywhere and so involve a "translatability" that allow the works to maintain relevance across cultures. Added to this, though, his fiction makes us question the nature of understanding itself. This book was originally published as a special issue of Textual Practice.
In this collection, the question of understanding itself - how we understand or imagine our place in the world - is shown to be central to our conception of that world. That is, rather than beginning with forms developed in socio-political understandings, Coetzee's works ask us to consider what role fiction might play in relation to politics, in relation to history, in relation to ethics and our understanding of human agency and responsibility. Coetzee has a profound interest in the methods through which we make sense of the contemporary world and our place in it, and his approach appeals to readers of fiction, critics and philosophers alike. The central problems he deals with in his fiction are of the kind that confront people everywhere and so involve a "translatability" that allow the works to maintain relevance across cultures. Added to this, though, his fiction makes us question the nature of understanding itself. This book was originally published as a special issue of Textual Practice.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
429 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-138-72177-7 (9781138721777)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Anthony Uhlmann
J.M. Coetzee: Fictions of the Real
E-Book
05/2019
1st Edition
Routledge
€64.49
Available for download

Anthony Uhlmann
J.M. Coetzee: Fictions of the Real
E-Book
05/2019
1st Edition
Routledge
€64.49
Available for download

Book
02/2019
1st Edition
Routledge
€71.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Anthony Uhlmann is Director of the Writing and Society Research Centre at Western Sydney University, Australia. He is the author of Samuel Beckett and the Philosophical Image (2006), Beckett and Poststructuralism (2008), and Thinking in Literature: Joyce, Woolf, Nabokov (2011). He is currently completing a book on J. M. Coetzee.
Content
Introduction 1. In quest of 'other modes of being': J.M. Coetzee's ontological inquiries 2. Dusklands and the meaning of method 3. The violence of forgetting: trauma and transnationalism in Coetzee's Dusklands 4. Reading between life and work: reflections on 'J.M. Coetzee' 5. Coetzee & co: failure, lies and autobiography 6. The trial of David Lurie: Kafka's courtroom in Coetzee's Disgrace 7. Insects, worlds, and the poetic in Coetzee's writing 8. On (not) giving up: animals, biopolitics, and the impersonal in J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace