Discourse, Power, and the Body A Study of Postcolonialism in the Works of J.M. Coetzee

Abstract

J.M. Coetzee, one of the most esteemed authors in the English-speaking world today, exhibited clear postcolonial tendencies in his early works. In his later writings, he gradually shifted his focus away from the South African context to explore themes such as rewriting classics, marginalized communities, and immigration. This paper, rooted in Foucault's theory of discourse-power and theories of the body, examines Coetzee's reflections and critiques of the discourse-power relationship and social disciplinary practices in his works. Furthermore, drawing from postcolonial scholars like Homi Bhabha, the paper investigates the consistent central-peripheral colonial geometric relationships in Coetzee's works and summarizes the strategies of "appropriation" and "mimicry" as means to challenge and subvert these power dynamics.