I Or He, Us Or Them

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2003 is awarded to the South African writer John Maxwell Coetzee, "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider." The reason is "There is a great wealth of variety in Coetzee's works. No two books ever follow the same recipe. Extensive reading reveals a recurring pattern, the downward spiraling journeys he considers necessary for the salvation of his characters." The Swedish Academy said that "J.M. Coetzee's novels are characterized by their well-crafted composition, pregnant dialogue and analytical brilliance."The thesis consists of seven parts: "Introduction", "Chapter One" to "Chapter five", and "Conclusion"."Introduction" aims to give a brief survey and introduction to the Nobel Prize winner South African writer John Maxwell Coetzee and his masterpieces, and makes clear the writing purpose and perspective of the thesis. That is to let readers get a thorough conception of South Africa in Coetzee's fiction, and to reveal the connotation and meaning in his fiction by analyzing its art characteristics."Conclusion" attempts to briefly summarize the art characteristics, and to reiterate some social problems faced by South Africa in Coetzee's fiction that is how to deal with such problems as the discrimination, hatred, and revenge between different races and the suspicion, alienation, and collision among common people with the colonial strength being in the wane, and South Africa entering into the new...