ABSTRACT

The notebooks that accompany J. M. Coetzee’s early drafts of The Life & Times of Michael K (1983) reveal the importance of cinematic modes of representation for Coetzee’s conception of the eponymous Michael K. With reference to early drafts of the novel, this paper argues that Michael K’s characterisation is particularly influenced by Alain Robbe-Grillet’s filmmaking practices. Specifically, this article illustrates the importance of Robbe-Grillet’s treatment of subjectivity and objectivity for Coetzee’s experimentation with modernist modes of writing. Coetzee’s experiments with cinematic form during the drafting process illustrate the ways in which he navigates his fidelity to modernism’s formalist values in relation to the political and literary concerns that encircle him as an author in apartheid-era South Africa. By analysing the implicit and explicit influence of Robbe-Grillet’s aesthetic values as a filmmaker on Coetzee’s writing, this article illustrates the importance of acknowledging cinematic modes of representation in Coetzee’s fidelity to the nouveau roman, and his continuing investigation of modernism during this era.

摘要

与 JM Coetzee 的早期草稿一起使用的笔记本The Life & Times of Michael K(1983) 揭示了电影表现模式对于 Coetzee 的同名迈克尔 K 概念的重要性。参考小说的早期草稿，本文认为迈克尔 K 的人物塑造尤其受到阿兰罗伯 - 格里耶的电影制作实践的影响。具体来说，本文说明了罗伯-格里耶对主观性和客观性的处理对于库切对现代主义写作模式的实验的重要性。库切在起草过程中对电影形式的实验说明了他如何忠实于现代主义的形式主义价值观，这与他作为种族隔离时代的南非作家所面临的政治和文学问题有关。通过分析罗伯-格里耶作为电影人的审美价值观对库切创作的隐含和显性影响，新小说，以及他在这个时代对现代主义的持续研究。