Paper_203 Subverting the Canon_ Feminism and Identity in Foe.pptx

Subverting the Canon Feminism and Identity in Foe

1. Subverting the Canon: Feminism and Identity in Foe

2. NAME :- HARDII VHORA ENROLLMENT NO. :- 5108230050 SEM. :- 3 BATCH :- 2023-2025 ROLL NO. :- 08 PAPER-CODE :- 22408 PAPER NAME :- The Postcolonial Studies SUBMITTED TO :- SMT. GARDI DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH MKBU E-MAIL:- [email protected]

3. T able of contents 01 05 04 02 06 03 Introduction Identity and Silence Postmodern Narrative Techniques Subverting the Canon Conclusions Feminism in Foe

4. Research Question How does J.M. Coetzee's ‘Foe’ utilize feminist and postcolonial perspectives to subvert the literary canon, and what role do silence and marginalization play in reconstructing narratives of identity and agency? Hypothesis J.M. Coetzee's ‘Foe’ effectively subverts the canonical narrative of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ by foregrounding feminist and postcolonial perspectives, using silence and the marginalization of characters such as Susan Barton and Friday to challenge traditional constructs of identity, agency, and authorship. This approach demonstrates the limitations of canonical texts in representing diverse voices and underscores the necessity of alternative narratives to achieve inclusivity and equity in literature.

5. Introduction :- Subvering Canon means, "Subverting the canon" means to intentionally challenge or overturn the established, widely accepted body of works or ideas within a particular field, often by presenting alternative perspectives, characters, or narratives that contradict the traditional norms or power structures within that canon; essentially, it's about actively going against the "standard" or "official" understanding of something to disrupt the existing hierarchy.”

6. In full: John Maxwell Coetzee Born: February 9, 1940, Cape Town, South Africa Awards And Honors: Nobel Prize (2003), Booker Prize (1983,) Booker Prize (1999)

7. Foe is a 1986 novel by J. M. Coetzee that retells the story of Robinson Crusoe from the perspective of Susan Barton, a castaway on an island. The novel introduces Susan Barton, a female narrator, and reimagines the events on Crusoe’s island. It critiques colonial, patriarchal, and canonical literary traditions. Through characters like Friday, it explores themes of silence, marginalization, and identity. Foe blurs the boundaries between authorship, truth, and fiction, emphasizing alternative narratives.

8. 2. Subverting the Canon:- Coetzee critiques ‘Robinson Crusoe’ for reinforcing Eurocentric dominance through its portrayal of colonization and control over "the other." He challenges patriarchal norms by introducing Susan Barton, a female protagonist, who resists being silenced in a male-driven narrative. As a male author, Coetzee amplifies a woman's voice in the context of Defoe's canonical tale. The novel represents postcolonial literature's freedom from traditional narrative boundaries. Susan Barton embodies the empowered feminist, showcasing women's struggles, conflicts, and freedoms in a post-colonial society. (Azam)

9. ‘Foe’ offers Susan Barton’s perspective, reimagining Crusoe’s adventure through a woman’s lens. Susan explores Crusoe’s island while striving to author her own story. Her voice alternates between personal truth and societal expectations imposed on women. The novel highlights the tension between agency and conformity in a patriarchal context. (Azam)

10. 3. Feminism in Foe:- Susan Barton represents the feminist struggle to reclaim voice and agency in a patriarchal narrative. Feminism in ‘Foe’ critiques the cultural production that perpetuates women’s oppression. Susan embodies resistance to patriarchal expectations, aligning her struggle with postcolonial subjugation. The novel highlights the convergence of feminist and postcolonial concerns through Susan’s voice and silence. Susan’s silence becomes an alternative form of storytelling, challenging the oppressor’s ideology. ‘Foe’ underscores the political relevance of feminist resistance within broader postcolonial contexts. (Neimneh 50)

11. 4. Identity and Silence:- # Friday:- - Friday represents the silenced "other," embodying the colonial erasure of native voices and agency. - His inability to speak or write highlights the enforced muteness of colonized subjects under imperialism. - The ambiguity surrounding Friday’s mutilated body symbolizes the violent suppression of identity and autonomy. - Susan’s ambiguous language reflects the struggle to articulate Friday’s trauma and silencing. - Friday’s violated body serves as a postcolonial metaphor for the cultural and physical oppression of enslaved and native peoples. - His silence contrasts with Susan’s constrained voice, emphasizing layered forms of marginalization. (Neimneh 51)

12. > Susan articulates the ambiguous nature of Friday's whole story: ‘Cruso gazed steadily back at me. Though I cannot now swear to it, I believe he was smiling. “Perhaps the slavers, who are Moors, hold the tongue to be a delicacy,” he said. “Or perhaps they grew weary of listening to Friday’s wails of grief, that went on day and night. Perhaps they wanted to prevent him from ever telling his story: who he was, where his home lay, how it came about that he was taken. Perhaps they cut out the tongue of every cannibal they took, as a punishment. How will we ever know the truth?” (Neimneh 51)

13. Friday embodies a collective history of oppression, with his body serving as a text of colonial violence. His silence and physical wounds symbolize the erasure of identity and voice under colonial domination. Susan’s attempt to teach Friday to write results in empty circles, symbolizing his communicative and sexual absence. Friday’s silenced body “speaks” symbolically, negating its muted condition through its wounds and presence. Attempts to voice Friday’s story often risk appropriating his narrative, highlighting the complexities of representing the colonized. (Neimneh 51)

14. 5. Postmodern Narrative Techniques:- ‘Foe’ employs fragmented storytelling to disrupt linear narrative structures and challenge traditional storytelling norms. Metafiction in the novel questions the authority and reliability of canonical narratives. The interplay of language and silence destabilizes established truths, emphasizing marginalized perspectives. Susan’s narrative reflects self-awareness and critiques the construction of "truth" in storytelling. Friday’s silence serves as a counter-narrative, highlighting the limits of language in representing colonial histories.

15. Friday’s story remains a gap in the narrative, or as Susan puts it, “a puzzle or hole in the narrative”. She tells Foe in a letter, “To tell my story and be silent on Friday’s tongue is no better than offering a book for sale with pages in it quietly left empty. Yet the only tongue that can tell Friday’s secret is the tongue he has lost!”. Silent and mutilated as he is, Friday has no voice or history in the dominant Western discourses. His is a story that cannot be told by others. It can be appropriated, like Susan's own story, but it cannot be an authentic one without Friday's validation. In one sense, Susan and Friday reject being represented in colonialist language or patriarchal discourse. They have to find their own language and communicate it in their own ways, not using the “phallic” tongue/pen of patriarchal literary creativity presided over by a writer like Foe. (Neimneh 50)

16. 6. Conclusion:- ‘Foe’ reimagines canonical literature, offering a platform for marginalized voices and silenced histories. Coetzee critiques the reliability of traditional narratives by blending feminist and postcolonial perspectives. The novel underscores the limitations of language in capturing identity and oppression. Through silence and fragmented storytelling, ‘Foe’ challenges readers to question authority and authorship in literature. Ultimately, it calls for the inclusion of diverse narratives to reshape our understanding of history and identity.

17. # References:- Azam, Nushrat. “A Feminist Critique of “Voice” and the “Other” in J.M. Coetzee’s Post-colonial Novel “Foe.”” International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature , vol. 7, no. 7, December 2018, p. 7. www.ijalel.aiac.org.au , https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331840804_A_Feminist_Critique_of_Voice_and_the_Other_in_JM_Coetzee's_Post-colonial_Novel_Foe. Accessed 14 November 2024. Coetzee, J M. Foe. Spain, Penguin Books Limited, 2015. Neimneh, Shadi. “POSTCOLONIAL FEMINISM: SILENCE AND STORYTELLING IN J. M. COETZEE’S FOE.” Journal of Language and Literature , vol. 5, no. 2, 2014, p. 8, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263849320_Postcolonial_Feminism_Silence_and_Storytelling_in_J_M_Coetzee's_Foe/link/0c96053c1043f66d69000000/download?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIn19. Accessed 14 November 2024.