The literary text in turbulent times: an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of ‘critical’ bliss. Notes on J M Coetzee’s Life and times of Michael K
The article is developed as a “counter-cultural” response to the socio-utilitarian formulations around artistic production typically found in current mission statements of the EU Culture Program. In its argument against the instrumentalisation of art, the article builds on the hypothesis that the e...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of the Free State
2013-12-01
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| Series: | Acta Academica |
| Online Access: | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/1417 |
| _version_ | 1797271019207000064 |
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| author | Marlene van Niekerk |
| author_facet | Marlene van Niekerk |
| author_sort | Marlene van Niekerk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
The article is developed as a “counter-cultural” response to the socio-utilitarian formulations around artistic production typically found in current mission statements of the EU Culture Program. In its argument against the instrumentalisation of art, the article builds on the hypothesis that the ethical import of art lies not in the “messages” (e.g. about the need for European social cohesion and “cosmopolitan feelings”) that could be extracted from it, but in its own formally coherent and conceptual complexity. With reference to perspectives on art developed by Jean-Luc Nancy, Roland Barthes and Deleuze and Guattari, a reading is offered of J.M. Coetzee’s fourth novel Life and Times of Michael K. that suggests how it could be used as an oppositional intervention through analysis of its outrageously subversive conceptual charge, its abject main character and its self-conscious deconstructivist anti-realist style.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:43:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0955ba472b844083818b3e9f8fb1fd8b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0587-2405 2415-0479 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T02:13:30Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | University of the Free State |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Academica |
| spelling | doaj.art-0955ba472b844083818b3e9f8fb1fd8b2024-03-07T11:11:00ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Academica0587-24052415-04792013-12-01454The literary text in turbulent times: an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of ‘critical’ bliss. Notes on J M Coetzee’s Life and times of Michael KMarlene van Niekerk0Stellenbosch University The article is developed as a “counter-cultural” response to the socio-utilitarian formulations around artistic production typically found in current mission statements of the EU Culture Program. In its argument against the instrumentalisation of art, the article builds on the hypothesis that the ethical import of art lies not in the “messages” (e.g. about the need for European social cohesion and “cosmopolitan feelings”) that could be extracted from it, but in its own formally coherent and conceptual complexity. With reference to perspectives on art developed by Jean-Luc Nancy, Roland Barthes and Deleuze and Guattari, a reading is offered of J.M. Coetzee’s fourth novel Life and Times of Michael K. that suggests how it could be used as an oppositional intervention through analysis of its outrageously subversive conceptual charge, its abject main character and its self-conscious deconstructivist anti-realist style. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/1417 |
| spellingShingle | Marlene van Niekerk The literary text in turbulent times: an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of ‘critical’ bliss. Notes on J M Coetzee’s Life and times of Michael K Acta Academica |
| title | The literary text in turbulent times: an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of ‘critical’ bliss. Notes on J M Coetzee’s Life and times of Michael K |
| title_full | The literary text in turbulent times: an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of ‘critical’ bliss. Notes on J M Coetzee’s Life and times of Michael K |
| title_fullStr | The literary text in turbulent times: an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of ‘critical’ bliss. Notes on J M Coetzee’s Life and times of Michael K |
| title_full_unstemmed | The literary text in turbulent times: an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of ‘critical’ bliss. Notes on J M Coetzee’s Life and times of Michael K |
| title_short | The literary text in turbulent times: an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of ‘critical’ bliss. Notes on J M Coetzee’s Life and times of Michael K |
| title_sort | literary text in turbulent times an instrument of social cohesion or an eruption of critical bliss notes on j m coetzee s life and times of michael k |
| url | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/1417 |
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