Non-Arborealism in the Post-Modernist Fiction (Summertime and Foe) of John Maxwell Coetzee
Abstract
This research paper aims at a post-modernist study of Coetzee’s fiction i.e. Summertime and Foe in a rhizomatous frame work. French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and clinical psychoanalyst Felix Guattari have postulated a theory in A Thousand Plateaus (1980) and in Rhizome: Introduction(1976) where they have opposed an arboreal development of plot and characters from the foundation. The present research focuses on scrutiny of the above mentioned theory and its relevance to Coetzee’s fiction. It is avowed in this paper that rhizome like narrative and characters have no unique source un-like a tree from which all the heterogeneous and multiple surface development occurs. The research discusses that the rhizomatous attribute is demonstrated in the story-line of Summertime and Foe as well as the characters. Moreover, the objective of the paper is to explore how the characters are intertextually developed although the characters are non-consanguine yet they are tied by perusal of motifs that slides throughout the novels. This paper will detail various events that portray the characteristics which are propounded by Deleuze and Guattari in their theory. The research is qualitative in design.
Authors
Sarwat Javed
Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Government Post Graduate College (W), Satellite Town , Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan
Javeria Nadeem
BS English, Department of English Language and Literature, Government Post Graduate College (W), Satellite Town , Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan
Saadat Ali Khan
Lecturer, Department of English Language and Literature, Government Post Graduate College (Boys), Satellite Town , Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan