Ten Literary Theories Sasa Perovic

SS 2014 a1276519


Coetzees Disgrace and the Position of Madness in the Discourse of
Post-Apartheid South Africa

Literary Approach - Deconstruction
[t]o deconstruct a discourse is to show how it undermines the philosophy it asserts, or the
hierarchical oppositions on which it relies by identifying in the text the rhetorical operations that
provide the supposed ground of argument, the key concept or premise. (Culler )

Theoretical Term - Supplement
It convey*s+ the unstable relationship between couplets (Selden, Widdowson, Brooker 166)
Deconstruction can begin when we locate the moment when a text transgresses the laws it appears
to set up for itself. At that point text goes to pieces, so to speak. (167)

Method Double Reading
1
st
stage a confidently singular interpretation (Parker )
2
nd
stage a moment of undecidability, beyond the capacity of the system to confine
the text to one meaning ( )
Example 1
What if we dont call it a visit? What if we call it refuge? Would you accept refuge on indefinite
basis?
You mean asylum? Its not as bad as that, Lucy. Im not a fugitive. (Coetzee 65)

Example 2
Lucy says you are back in town. Why havent you been in touch? Im not yet fit for society, he
replies. Were you ever? comments Rosalind drily. (187)

Bibliography
Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. New
York: Oxford UP, 2008.
Selden Raman, Peter Widdowson, and Peter Brooker. A Readers Guide to Contemporary Literary
Theory. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd, 2005.
Coetzee, John Maxwell. Disgrace. London: Secker & Warburg, 1999.
Ten Literary Theories Sasa Perovic
SS 2014 a1276519

Culler, Jonathan. On Deconstruction. New York: ? 1983.