Coetzee in/and Afrikaans

Abstract

This article investigates Coetzee’s complex attitudes towards the Afrikaans language, and, by extension, his views on language, translation, and the potential and performative subject positions, or “fictions of the” – enacted in and determined by a given language. It reflects on relevant passages from Coetzee's criticism (including "Achterberg’s ‘Ballade van de Gasfitter’”, “Emerging from Censorship”, “What is a Classic?”, and “He and His Man”) and fiction (including In the Heart of the Country, Boyhood, Youth and Diary of a Bad Year). Partly concerned with the (auto)biographical, this essay also explores the idea of embarrassment (rather than the more frequently discussed shame) as a key affect in Coetzee's oeuvre.

Opsomming

Hierdie artikel ondersoek Coetzee se emosioneel gekompliseerde gesindheid teenoor die Afrikaanse taal. Dit raak ook aan die breër temas van vertaling en van die (performatiewe) identiteitsposisies – die "fiksies van die ek" – wat bepaal en gevorm word binne die strukture van ’n gegewe taal. Dit besin relevante passasies uit Coetzee se kritiese werk (onder andere “Achterberg’s ‘Ballade van de Gasfitter’”; “Emerging from Censorship”, “What Is a Classic?” en “He and His Man”) asook sy fiksie (onder andere In the Heart of the Country, Boyhood, Youth en Diary of a Bad Year). Vanuit ’n meer (auto)biografiese oogpunt, ondersoek hierdie artikel ook die moontlikheid dat verleentheid (eerder as skaamte, wat dikwels deur kritici bespeek word) die mees deurslaggewende emosie in Coetzee se oeuvre mag wees.