Silence of the Suffering Body

J.M. Coetzee once said: The standard is the body. §Whatever else, the body is not ''that which is not'', §and the proof that it is is the pain that it feels. §[...] it is not that one grants authority to the §suffering body: the suffering body takes this §authority: that is its power. Using this statement §as a departure point this book examines how the §suffering body functions as a deconstructive trope §in J.M. Coetzee s novels Waiting for the Barbarians §and Age of Iron. It has been argued that it is §impossible to find a space outside discourse where §one can create a true counter-discursive narrative. §However, this reading claims that the trope of the §suffering body acts as counter-discourse regardless §of these issues because its efforts rest not on §language, but on silence. The study makes use of a §deconstructive theoretical basis and narrative §analysis to refute previous claims both within the §critical reception of J.M. Coetzee s works and §within the field of post-colonial studies. The study §should be of interest to anyone who is §looking for an original approach to one of the most §complex and critically acclaimed authors of our time.