Disgrace of Boundaries: On Daoism in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace

Abstract

So far, many articles have been published worldwide on J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace from different angles to delimit and dig out the deep meanings hidden in the novel. Undeniably, those articles are reasonable in their own terms, but meanwhile when coming together they appear a little bit chaotic. What all of them have in common is the setting of certain boundaries. This paper adopts a Daoist perspective and focuses on Daoist ideas, which are beyond any man-made boundary, in Lurie’s sexual life, attitudes and actions towards animals and thoughts on literary creation. No matter whether on the levels of content, idea or narration, the novel Disgrace reveals that all the disgraces result from the setting of boundaries, and the ideal of living in this world is to live beyond all the set boundaries, in tune with the natural Dao.

Keywords

Disgrace / sexual life / attitude towards animals / creation of works / Dao

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