J. M. COETZEE’S WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS: A PORTRAYAL OF INTER-RACIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Abstract

The depiction of the problems of conflicts and contradictions and graphical portrayal of the web of human relationship among people of varied races in South African society by Coetzee has been identified as the focus of the study. The British rule had an impact on South Africa that comprised the native South Africans or black race, Afrikaners or the white South Africans and the white people of colonial authority. A close reading of select novels of Coetzee also reveals the effects of racism and colonial oppression. More importantly, his writings transcend political, geographical and social boundaries to achieve universal significance. The study of related literature in the works of Coetzee further discloses his ability not only to delineate local situations and characters but to infuse them with universal ideology and characteristics of his mission as well. His use of the country’s apartheid system and its post-apartheid transition to represent the bareness and desolation of the human state has also been brought under the discussion. Thus, the present study intends to bring out social relationship existing amidst the native South Africans, the Afrikaners or the white South Africans and the people from white authority in apartheid society of South Africa, with specific reference to select novels. It’s proven that the web of social relationship and social reality are not a fixed presence. Human relationships are considered both the cause for societal ills and a remedy for the malady of the society. What is required is the propagation of the essential and everlasting ethical codes for human relationship in a multilayered society in order to maximize the remedy through the web of human relationships.