An infinite question: The paradox of representation in life & times of Michael K

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6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Life & Times of Michael K aims to portray the violence of subjectivity and the negation upon which representation is predicated, pointing to the ethical importance of literature. This paper asserts that, in Coetzee's drive to represent the writer’s encounter with the other, he exercises the very same powers of negation and self-constituting subjectivity engaged with thematically in the novel. The paper suggests that the theme of Life & Times of Michael K – the necessary paradox of representation resulting from the irreducible nature of alterity – cannot be read simply as the final word on the novel’s ethics. The problematic meta-representational theme of the novel, and the ethical position of the work, is investigated with reference to the work of Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Blanchot and Jean-Francois Lyotard.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)87-106
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Commonwealth Literature
Volume38
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2003
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • alterity
  • ethics
  • Representation
  • Levinas
  • Lyotard
  • Blanchot
  • J.M. Coetzee

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Literature and Literary Theory

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