Coetzee speaks with the voice of a dying woman, gradually disinherited from her body, home and country, excluded from the title age of iron, from the age of the young and the strong. South africas apartheid shocks a retired professor, mrs. Jun 05, 2018 similarly, coetzees age of iron confronts the themes of motherhood, female agency, and transformation, but against the stark backdrop of cape town, south africa in the midst of apartheid. Attridge, d 2010 to speak of this you would need the tongue of a god. Coetzees age of iron, township violence, and the classics. Reviews of the age of iron so far in regards to the guide weve got age of iron comments end users havent however left his or her writeup on the game, or otherwise not read it but. Nobel laureate and twotime booker prizewinning author of disgrace and the life and times of michael k, j. Age of iron is a 1990 novel by south african nobel prize winner j. African studies american studies ancient near east and egypt art history asian studies book history and cartography biblical studies classical studies education. As if that werent bad enough, she comes home from that visit to find a homeless man camped out in the alleyway beside her house. In cape town, south africa, an elderly classics professor writes a letter to her distant daughter, recounting the strange and disturbing. Coetzee and the ethics of encounter with the other a levinasian analysis. Coetzee uses cancer as a trope for apartheid by way of suggesting the obscenity and fatality of such a system of segregation. Curren herself is dying slowly of cancer and she writes letters to her longgone daughter in a day by day journal form this book.
Coetzee has always seemed to this reader an idealist, harping eloquently against human imperfections and the flawed institutions. Its an important part of the larger body of coetzees work for which. In it, he paints a picture of social and political tragedy unfolding in a country ravaged by racism and violence. The novel starts off on a pretty rough day for our narrator, mrs. One for a man of his age, fiftytwo, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well. For convenience and to mark widespread events, we divide it into three periods. Momentous works like mark twains the adventures of huckleberry finn, chinua achebe. Coetzee s apartheid thinking, explores apartheids roots in attempting the task of reformingthat is to say, deforming and hardeningthe human heart.
Age of iron introduction published in 1990, age of iron is j. This paper explores the complex nature of narrative authority in. Curren, when her maids black son is murdered by police security forces. Coetzee, who himself is a native south african, gives mrs curren a chance to come on good. Coetzee s 1990 novel age of iron, a social and political tragedy in a country ravaged by apartheid and racial. In 1972 he returned to south africa and joined the faculty of the university of cape town. This study guide consists of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more. Coetzee and the ethics of encounter with the other a levinasian analysis find, read and cite all the. Coetzee as the nobel prize laureate in literature for. Similarly, coetzees age of iron confronts the themes of motherhood, female agency, and transformation, but against the stark backdrop of cape town, south africa in the midst of apartheid. Coetzees novel age of iron 1990 is generally considered to be his most immediate work to date. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Coetzee s age of iron it is the ninth book by this author that i have read my reactions ranged from extreme awe to slight irritation. M coetzee, first published in 1990, we follow the life of mrs curren, an old professor, dying of cancer, through a letter to her daughter in america.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading age of iron. Coetzee tells the remarkable story of a nation gripped in brutal apartheid in his sunday express book of the year awardwinner age of iron. Subsequent references to this text will be included in parentheses in the text. Download nobel laureate and twotime booker prizewinning author of disgrace and the life and times of michael k, j. Eric voegelin, the german university and the order of german society. J m coetzee was awarded the nobel prize for literature in 2003. Coetzees 1990 novel age of iron, a social and political tragedy in a country ravaged by apartheid and racial discrimination, from a cultural studies standpoint. Coetzee s age of iron is a novel about loss of innocence. Coetzee surprises the reader with highly ambivalent, disconcerting and even alarming notions about childhood and old age.
Curren has all her life been opposed to the lies and brutality of apartheid, but she has lived insulated from its true horrors. Life and times of michael k, 1984 has never before written so undeliberate and passionate a novel as this, an agonizing valediction by an old womana south. Because these early farming people also made their own iron tools, archaeologists all this block of time the iron age. Conventional characteristics are modified by the writer in terms of history, race and gender. Curren is a widow and former classics professor living in cape town, south africa, and the book opens with her revealing that she has just received a terminal diagnosis. Perversions and reversals of childhood and old age in j. The salvation of mrs curren in coetzees age of iron. An early novel in coetzees list of achievements, age of iron, depicts the authors distaste for apartheid, the revolution against it, and gives prescient hints of what was to come of south africa after mandela. Coetzees age of iron it is the ninth book by this author that i have read my reactions ranged from extreme awe to slight irritation. The lives of animals, delivered for the tanner lectures on human values, princeton, 1997. This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion and a free quiz on age of iron by john maxwell coetzee. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Ruthlessness and exclusion, pervasive cult of strength and youth. The epistolary novels narrator and protagonist, the cancerstricken elizabeth curren, is a retired professor of classics, writing to her daughter, who.
Sterility emerges as a central motif in the novel, corresponding to south africas apartheid history of racial hatred, discrimination, and violence. Christiane bimberg perversions and reversals of childhood. The novel contains so many passages of unparalleled wisdom, depth, and beauty, yet it is marred by a few instances of sermonizing preachiness. Now she is suddenly forced to come to terms with the ironhearted rage that the system has wrought. Coetzees 1990 novel age of iron, a social and political. We present age of iron jm coetzee and numerous ebook collections from fictions to scientific research in any way. A classics professor, mrs curren has always been opposed to the brutality of apartheid, but has lived insulated from its true horrors. In age of iron 1990 coetzee dealt directly with circumstances in contemporary south africa, but in the master of petersburg 1994 he made reference to 19thcentury russia particularly to fyodor dostoyevskys work the devils. Coetzee speaking at the jaipur literature festival video. The words of the book are a long letter she is writing to her estranged daughter, who has lived in the united states since 1976.
It is among his most popular works and was the 1990 sunday express book of the year. Coetzees 1990 novel age of iron, a social and political tragedy in a country ravaged by apartheid and racial. Hereafter, references to the novel will appear in the text as aoi. Oddly, however, age of iron has been viewed from just about every lens but the christian one. Born in 1940, the son of a sheep farmer, he grew up with apartheid, absorbed its crimes into his consciousness and.
This paper examines the interrelationship between the body and politics in j. Coetzee started writing in 1969 and his first novel dusklands was published in 1974. Coetzee is set in cape town, south africa, where an old woman is dying of cancer. Coetzees age of iron is a novel about loss of innocence. Coetzees narratives, cruel at best, and bitingly clear in their. The social and political situation in the country grew increasingly unstable during the 1980s. Coetzee speaking at the university of texas, austin video. A classics professor, mrs curren has always been opposed to the brutality. Taking a decidedly inward turn, age of iron becomes what all of coetzees novels are. Coetzee, 9780241983935, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. A classics professor, mrs curren has always been opposed to the brutality of apartheid, but has lived insulated.
Coetzees age of iron and the poetics of resistance. Ambiguous motherfigures dominate the fictional world of j. Curren, is old and dying, unlike the traditional protagonist associated with that type of story. About the author 1998 born in cape town, south africa, on february 9, 1940, john michael coetzee studied first at cape town and later at the university of texas at austin, where he earned a ph. A reconsideration of the nazi era, in published essays 19661985, volume 12 in the collected works of eric voegelin, ed.
1244 1449 398 1211 223 1641 287 701 532 710 17 102 1640 429 415 784 748 160 1526 660 861 1497 1246 695 428 845 1427 720 1250 1212 698 1084 19 1575 284 622 142 1057 114 235 868 71 951 168 615 719