Untenable Boundaries: J.M. Coetzee’s Summertime and the Autobiography of All Writing
Location
Science Center, A262
Document Type
Presentation
Start Date
4-24-2015 1:30 PM
End Date
4-24-2015 2:30 PM
Abstract
This project seeks to understand the traditional binary of fiction and nonfiction, as well as the origin and use of genre, via J.M. Coetzee’s assertion that “all writing is autobiography.” In Summertime, Coetzee achieves an interrogation of binaries and pursues a kind of truth by accessing many different voices and perspectives. Coetzee complicates narrative responsibility by implicating the reader in the formation of genre as a mode of reading and understanding.
Recommended Citation
Westbrook, Sarah, "Untenable Boundaries: J.M. Coetzee’s Summertime and the Autobiography of All Writing" (04/24/15). Senior Symposium. 24.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/seniorsymp/2015/presentations/24
Major
Creative Writing; English
Advisor(s)
Sylvia Watanabe, Creative Writing
Natasha Tessone, English
Project Mentor(s)
T.S. McMillin, English
April 2015
Untenable Boundaries: J.M. Coetzee’s Summertime and the Autobiography of All Writing
Science Center, A262
This project seeks to understand the traditional binary of fiction and nonfiction, as well as the origin and use of genre, via J.M. Coetzee’s assertion that “all writing is autobiography.” In Summertime, Coetzee achieves an interrogation of binaries and pursues a kind of truth by accessing many different voices and perspectives. Coetzee complicates narrative responsibility by implicating the reader in the formation of genre as a mode of reading and understanding.
Notes
Session 1, Panel 7 - Generative Cases: New Considerations of Puccini, Lewis Carroll, and J.M. Coetzee
Moderator: James O’Leary, Assistant Professor of Musicology