Sobriquet 43.15

The following post was originally published on 6/15/08.

I passed the afternoon at Cornell, photocopying some of the journal articles I was unable to locate at my university's library. As always, I spent a good deal more time and money obtaining fewer materials than I would have liked, but it was a productive day nonetheless. Besides, it's always pleasant to be in a college town.

In addition to the gruntwork that is article-hunting, I read Jacques Van Der Elst's "Guilt, Reconciliation and Redemption: Disgrace and its South African Context," a rather unexceptional lecture on Coetzee's novel. Largely devoid of analysis, Van Der Elst's paper makes brief mention of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, summarizes the novel's plot, and rehashes the familiar accusations of authorial nihilism. Although I don't think the lecture will shed much light on the novel for people researching Coetzee, it may be of interest to readers unfamiliar with the more negative interpretations of the book.

For tomorrow: Read another essay.

Work Cited

Van Der Elst, Jacques. "Guilt, Reconciliation and Redemption: Disgrace and its South African Context." A Universe of (Hi)stories: Essays on J. M. Coetzee. Ed. Liliana Sikerska. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2006. 39-44.