Fictionalization of current socio‐political issues in J. M. Coetzee's writing: Narrative strategies in age of Iron and Foe∗

Summary

In this paper it is argued that self‐conscious reflection on the relevance of writing in two recent novels by J. M. Coetzee, namely Foe (1986) and Age of Iron (1990), is determined by two distinguishable yet simultaneously complementary strategies: a narrativization of contemporary theoretical discourses in the earlier postmodernist text as opposed to a fictionalization of a discernible real referent in the later novel. Whereas Foe provides an extensive dramatization of the problems underlying an attempted re‐writing and re‐contextualization of eighteenth century tales of adventure, in Age of Iron Coetzee resorts to a far more direct scrutiny of the effects of the cultivation of violence in a changing South Africa in the years 1986 to 1989. Despite the contrast between the fictional and real settings in the two novels, it is argued that the fictionalization of current socio‐political issues in the later novel cannot be properly understood without considering the manner in which the self‐conscious probing of the nature of writing in Foe serves as a preparation for the construction the later novel seeks to superimpose on a contemporary and familiar reality.

Opsomming

Daar word in hierdie bydrae geredeneer dat die self‐bewuste besinning oor die relevansie van skryf in J. M. Coetzee se resente romans Foe (1986) en Age of Iron (1990) bepaal word deur twee van mekaar onderskeibare maar terselfdertyd aanvullende strategieë: ‘n narrativisering van kontemporere teoretiese diskoerse in die vroeëre postmodernistiese teks teenoor die fiksionalisering van ‘n herkenbare reële referent in die meer resente roman. Waar Foe gekenmerk word deur ‘n uitgebreide dramatisering van die probleme wat pogings tot ‘n her‐skrywing en her‐kontekstualisering van agtiende eeuse avontuurverhale onderlê, word in Age of Iron gebruik gemaak van ‘n veel direkter beskouing van die uitwerking van die geweldskultuur in ‘n veranderende Suid‐Afrika gedurende die tydperk 1986 tot 1989. Ten spyte van die kontras tussen die fiksionele en werklike omgewings in die twee romans, word geredeneer dat die fiksionalisering van huidige sosio‐politieke kwessies in die meer resente roman nie behoorlik begryp kan word sonder om kennis te neem van die manier waarop die selfbewuste ondersoek van die aard en funksie van skryf in Foe gesien kan word as ‘n voorbereiding vir die konstruksie wat in Age of Iron superponeer word op ‘n kontemporere en bekende werklikheid nie.