Time without Beginning and End: A philosophical Implication of 'Waiting' in J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians
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概要
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By assessing the construct of "waiting" in J. M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians with the purpose of defining the novel's distinct concept of History, this paper attempts to shed new light on both the structural and philosophical implications of the novel that are yet to be properly discussed. The primary focus of the study is placed on the two main characters, the magistrate and Colonel Joll, particularly on their actions, which revolves around the act of "waiting." As the magistrate of a city, the protagonist "I" performs various acts of interpretations: He attempts to decipher the meaning of ancient letters on wooden slabs; he tries to interpret the scars on a girl he takes care of. Colonel Joll is also bent on interpreting the unknown, chasing around uncertain rumors and shadowy figures as signs of his enemy, the Barbarians. The actions of the two characters are then juxtaposed with the theme of time, which the novel depicts as being separated between the natural, seasonal/circular, eternal flow of time and the fabricated, vertically oriented, finite time of the Empire. By relating and contrasting the development of the "waiting" actions of the characters, this paper attempts to maintain that in this novel, arbitrary and unilateral interpretations of events and objects ("not waiting") accumulate to construct imaginary dichotomy that function to promote the Empire's history of hostility, and that in order to escape this it is essential for men to refrain from making ungrounded interpretations and in doing so attempt to remain "waiting" in the perpetual present.