Closure in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace

Abstract

This article explores the politics of J. M. Coetzee’s writing style in Disgrace. Drawing on Marie-Laure Ryan’s theory of textual universe and Barbara Dancygier’s narrative space construction strategies, we argue that Coetzee’s narrative is set up to expose David Lurie’s deliberately distorted self-representation. Indeed, the conflict between the protagonist’s private worlds and the textual actual world (TAW) results from the protagonist’s distorting of the TAW by his deliberately distorted self-representation clouding his judgment and, accordingly, his so-called knowledge worlds (K-worlds). Also discussed is the process through which the protagonist is brought to a reckoning – not grace – through ontological re-orientation by undergoing a three-step process of social stigmatization, recognizing his vulnerability and situatedness, and coming to terms with his actual environment (TAW).