Thee Poverty of Desire: Spivak, Coetzee, Lacan and Postcolonial Eros

Abstract

This article's point of departure is Gayatri Spivak's insistence that, if greater global and social equity are to be obtained, "an uncoercive rearrangement of desire" needs to take place. I examine what might be learned about desire from selected works by J.M. Coetzee, finding within these texts a postcolonial interrogation of the nature of eros and a concern with its ethical underside. Such a concern parallels that of Jacques Lacan and, more specifically, relates to his reworking of the concept of sublimation. I also endeavour, through a consideration of Plato, to undo the double bind between classical notions of eros and postcolonial social realities (a double bind ostensibly supported by Coetzee's novels). Ultimately, it is the contention of this article that Spivak, Coetzee, Lacan and Plato all locate ethical potential in desire and that, perhaps, any "re-arrangement" might first require reacquainting ourselves with what it is that desire conveys about the human condition.

Opsomming
Hierdie artikel se vertrekpunt is Gayatri Spivak se aandrang dat 'n "dwingende herrangskikking van begeerte" moet plaasvind as groter globale en sosiale gelyk­heid bereik wil word. Ek ondersoek wat dalk oor begeerte geleer kan word uit gekeurde werke van J.M. Coetzee en het in hierdie tekste 'n postkoloniale ondersoek na die aard van eros en 'n besorgdheid met sy etiese ondersy gevind. So 'n bemoeienis loop sy aan sy met die van Jacques Lacan en is meer spesifiek verwant aan sy verwerking van die konsep sublimasie. Deur 'n oorweging van Plato street ek ook daarna om die dubbele band -tussen die klassieke begrip eros en post­koloniale, sosiale werklikhede ('n dubbele band wat oenskynlik ondersteun word deur Coetzee se romans) -ongedaan te maak. Uiteindelik is die standpunt in hierdie artikel dat Spivak, Coetzee, Lacan en Plato alma! etiese potensiaal in begeerte vind en dat enige "herrangskikking" dalk eers 'n hervertroudraak van ons vereis met wat begeerte aangaande die menslike toestand oordra.