Date of Award

8-1-2023

Language

English

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School/Department

Department of English

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Richard Barney

Committee Members

Helen Elam

Subject Categories

English Language and Literature

Abstract

This thesis examines the authorial characters of Elizabeth Costello, from the novel of thesame name, and Susan Barton, the protagonist of the novel “Foe,” both authored by South African-born writer J. M. Coetzee, through the ontological concept of the Heideggerian Dasein. Both fictional characters contend with the issues of alienation of Self and the struggle for reciprocal Othering imposed upon them by the social constructs of their authorhood and struggle for an authentic self, specifically in view of the performative nature of their gendered roles and the issue of Coetzee’s male authorhood.

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