One or The Other: Latent and Blatant Uses of Mimicry in Coetzee’s Foe

Rowen L. Conry
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor

How does fiction mimic history? How does a symbol mimic the idea it represents? This paper examines the use of mimicry in J.M. Coetzee’s novel Foe. It explores this relationship both as it appears at the novel’s intended symbolic forefront and, as well, how it arrives at the reader through the backchannels by which any novel mimics its inspirations. It relates Coetzee’s Foe to the changing landscape of Postcolonial literature: its dying ideals and their modern mimic counterparts.

Keywords: Coetzee, Foe, Postcolonial, Postmodern, Robinson Crusoe, Symbol

Topic(s):English

Presentation Type: Oral Paper

Session: 301-5
Location: MG 1000
Time: 2:00

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