Epilogue 191brittle ideological narrative brings disastrous consequences. Coetzee
encourages us to value singularity that inheres in idiosyncrasy,
humor, and occasional lapses of judgment. Phillips focuses more on
the specter of history and encourages the reader to acknowledge its
influential role in shaping the individual; but he also prompts us not
to reduce subjectivity simply to a collection of responses to historical
forces. All three employ sophisticated stylistic techniques to raise
our awareness of how easy it is for such individualism to be lost,
overwritten, misrepresented, or destroyed.
What is hoped has been demonstrated in the chapters above is
that the novels under discussion all exhibit a variety of ideas and
themes commonly attributed to cosmopolitan theory, and that each
novelist achieves this in ways that are not only unique and inno-
vative, but are also compatible with—and complementary to—a
materially-grounded ontology. It is also hoped that this book will
therefore serve to highlight cosmopolitanism’s legitimacy and value
a s a n interpretive approach to litera r y criticism a nd a lso to encoura ge
further analysis into the manifold ways in which writers are engag-
ing with issues related to the field. Indeed, endeavors that investigate
and scrutinize such variety in artifice and technique—the different
stylistic devices and strategies that are being deployed—will be of
indispensible importance to cosmopolitan theory, particularly if it is
to live up to its universal promise.