The Returning to the Land: An Analysis of the Construction and the Liberation of the other in Life & Times of Michael K with a Perspective of Discourse Criticism

Abstract

As one of Coetzee’s representative works, Life & Times of Michael K is highly appreciated not only for its artistry but for its revelatory insight in Coetzee’s views of South African society and human existence, which claims a crucial position in criticism of Coetzee’s early works. From the perspective of discourse criticism, this paper analyzes how the social hierarchy presented in this novel achieves the production and control of the other, and how Mickael K cancels his identity of the other and regains his liberty by escaping and ploughing. Through the position and the attitude presented in the novel, the paper tries to reveal Coetzee’s understanding in identical equality and human liberation, as well as his heroism in modern context.