earticle

영어

This paper examines the protagonist John’s independence and growth as a poet in J.M. Coetzee’s Youth. With respect to an autobiographical confession, ‘colonial provincial’ destiny impedes upon John’s aspirations of becoming an artist despite his displacement to London, the kingdom of poets. First, deeper truths disclosed through John’s “countervoices” compel him to create works with intrinsic value, such as the great classics, and then to become a poet like Eliot and Pound. However, John finds himself in a position in which he cannot be freed from South African restrictions in both colonial and provincial aspects. As Coetzee puts it, “South Africa is like an albatross around his neck.” Fortunately, John experiences a moment of epiphany in which he intuitively realizes he belongs to ‘the world’. This intuition, with regard to the term of Henri Bergson, shows he could be a writer overcoming and transcending his colonial provincial destiny.