ABSTRACT

Foe (1986) is one of the most ambiguous and controversial novels written by J.M. Coetzee, and has been discussed extensively by criticism from a great variety of theoretical positions. This essay purports to contribute another intertextual reading of the novel, trying to elucidate some of its dark points, particularly section IV, which has been so much debated and for whose ambiguity no wholly satisfactory explanation has so far been produced. Our main contention is that, in addition to Borges’s narratives “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” (in Fictions, 1944) and “Borges and I” (in The Maker, 1960), Coetzee’s novel can benefit from a parallel reading of other Borgesian tales, particularly “Brodie’s Report” (1970) and “The Writing of the God” (1949), among others. Borges’s gnosticism is clearly followed by Coetzee, who has explicitly acknowledged his interest in the ethical and esthetic motivations that lie in some of Borges’s most mysterious stories.

摘要

Foe（1986）是由JM Coetzee撰写的最含糊和最具争议的小说之一，并且受到来自各种理论立场的批评的广泛讨论。本文旨在为小说提供另一种互文性解读，以试图阐明小说的某些暗点，尤其是第四部分，该部分已经进行了广泛的辩论，迄今为止，对于其模糊性还没有给出完全令人满意的解释。我们的主要论点是，除了博尔赫斯的叙述“皮埃尔·梅纳德，《吉x德》的作者”（在小说中，1944年）和“伯格和我”（在《创世纪》中），1960年），库切的小说可以得益于对其他博尔赫斯故事的平行阅读，特别是《布罗迪的报告》（Brodie's Report）（1970年）和《上帝的写作》（1949年）。库切（Bouges）显然遵循了博尔赫斯（Borges）的不可知论，他明确承认他对博尔赫斯（Borges）最神秘的故事中的伦理和审美动机感兴趣。