323
See also: The Story of an African Farm 201 ■ Cry, the Beloved Country 286 ■
A Dry White Season 333–34CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
come out arthritic, bygone.” He has
no African words to reason with
the three black youths who attack
the farm and rape his daughter,
nor can he unveil her neighbor’s
complicity. Later, at a celebration
of Petrus’s new status as landlord, a
guest takes center stage to narrate
in the Xhosa language a future that
only the blacks can understand.An uncertain future
Disgrace, published five years after
the first free elections in South
Africa, sits in stark contrast to
postapartheid “honeymoon”
literature, suffused with theoptimism of the new nation.
Condemned by some for its violent
plot, the novel is finely balanced in
its portrayal of a state of disgrace
that has no cultural boundaries. In
the end, there is a parity between
the attack on Lucy and the
professor’s sexual abuse of black
prostitutes and the student
Melanie, who is assumed to be of
mixed race. While Lurie, in his
arrogance, refuses to speak at his
hearing, Lucy’s silence about her
ordeal suggests a realization that
life has to be stripped back to the
basics because there are no words
available to repair or heal. ■J. M. Coetzee
Novelist, linguist, essayist,
and translator John Michael
Coetzee was born in 1940 to
English-speaking Afrikaner
parents. Coetzee spent his
early life in Cape Town and
Worcester in the Western
Cape. After graduating in
the 1960s, he worked as
a computer programmer in
London. He has a PhD in
English, linguistics, and
Germanic languages from
the University of Texas.
From 1972 Coetzee held
posts at the University of
Cape Town, finishing in 2000
as Distinguished Professor
of Literature, and taught
frequently in the US. He
has won a raft of literary
awards, including the Booker
Prize (twice) and the 2003
Nobel Prize in Literature.
Coetzee now lives in South
Australia and is an advocate
for animal rights.Other key works1977 In the Heart of
the Country
1980 Waiting for
the Barbarians
1983 Life & Times of
Michael K
1986 Foe
1990 Age of IronApartheid
The many strands of disgrace underpinning
the novel suggest the wider disgrace of South
Africa’s history of colonialism and apartheid.Professional disgrace
The professor’s faltering
academic career is completely
destroyed by his sexual
harassment of a student.Treatment of animals
Shameful animal neglect and
maltreatment—a common
theme in Coetzee’s novels—
is reflected in the grim work
of the veterinary clinic.Racial violence
Lucy’s rape and the ongoing
coercion and threat to her
safety typify the tension
between black people and
the wealthy white minority.Sexual disgrace
Lurie’s sex life with prostitutes and
sordid casual seductions contrasts
with the Byronic romances that
haunt his imagination.The novel’s title
reaches further than
the disgrace of the
unrepentant David Lurie.
Inhuman acts, shame,
and humiliation threaten
to engulf a new and
fragile society.US_322-323_Disgrace.indd 323 08/10/2015 13:11