Considered the masterpiece of the long career of John Maxwell Coetzee, which spans more than a dozen novels and various collections of short stories and essays, Disgrace is a pivotal work of post-apartheid South African literature. It tells the story of the fall and reconciliation of Cape Town university professor David Lurie, while also depicting the state of a nation in which society, power and politics are undergoing major change.
ROMANTIC POETS
The book begins with sex, and compares many situations of consent and abuse to show the disempowerment of women, and the vulnerability of the white minority. Twice-divorced David Lurie is an authority on the Romantic poets, but has resigned himself to teaching communication studies to apathetic students. His decision to pursue an affair with one of them threatens to end his career, but he remains stubbornly unapologetic:
“That is his temperament. His temperament is not going to change, he is too old for that. His temperament is fixed, set. The skull, followed by the temperament. The two hardest parts of the body.”
“Quello è il suo carattere, e non cambierà più, ormai è troppo vecchio.Il carattere è fissato per sempre. Il cranio, seguito dal carattere: le due parti più dure del corpo”.
VIOLENT TIMES
Exiled from teaching, Lurie visits his daughter Lucy, who runs a smallholding in the countryside. Isolated, she is helped by her black South African neighbour, Petrus. Their relationship symbolises the changing face of the ‘rainbow nation’, a term used to describe post-apartheid South Africa. Disgrace reveals a legacy of uncertain and violent times. Crime is common and justice rare. When Lucy is attacked and raped, Lurie suspects that Petrus knows more than he claims to:
“In the old days he could have had it out with Petrus. In the old days one could have had it out to the extent of losing one’s temper and sending him packing and hiring someone in his place. But though Petrus is paid a wage, Petrus is no longer, strictly speaking, hired help. It is hard to say what Petrus is, strictly speaking.”
“Ai vecchi tempi David avrebbe parlato chiaro con Petrus. Così chiaro da potersi permettere di montare su tutte le furie, cacciarlo e prendere un altro al suo posto. Ma anche se salariato, Petrus non è più, a rigor di termini, un bracciante. D’altronde non è facile dare una definizione esatta di Petrus”.
ANIMAL RIGHTS
Famously reclusive, Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003 and was the first writer to win the Booker Prize twice, for Life & Times of Michael K in 1983 and for Disgrace in 1999. A supporter of animal rights, throughout Disgrace Coetzee points out human indifference towards the suffering of animals. Bev Shaw, a friend of Lucy’s, runs a clinic and animal charity. Lurie talks to Lucy about her friend’s work:
“‘It must be a losing battle.’
‘Yes, it is. There is no funding any longer. On the list of the nation’s priorities, animals come nowhere.’
‘She must get despondent. You too.’
‘Yes. No. Does it matter? The animals she helps aren’t despondent. They are greatly relieved.’”
“– Una battaglia persa.
– Sì, lo so. Non ci sono più fondi. Nell’elenco delle priorità nazionali, gli animali non sono nemmeno considerati.
– Finirà con lo scoraggiarsi. Anche tu.
– Sì. No. Che importanza ha? Gli animali che aiuta non la pensano così. Bev riesce ad alleviarne le pene”.
BETTER UNDERSTANDING
While reluctant at first, Lurie agrees to help Bev tend to stray dogs and other animals; feeding, treating, but also euthanising them as required. Perhaps it is this work that brings him to a better understanding of his daughter. As she explains the reason why she has decided to remain on her land, to seek protection from Petrus, it becomes evident that a significant change has taken place in South Africa:
“’Yes, I agree, it is humiliating. But perhaps that is a good point to start from again. Perhaps that is what I must learn to accept. To start at ground level. With nothing. Not with nothing but. With nothing. No cards, no weapons, no property, no rights, no dignity.’
‘Like a dog.’
‘Yes, like a dog.’”
“– Sì, concordo con te, è umiliante. Ma forse è il punto di partenza giusto per ricominciare da capo. Forse è una lezione da accettare. Bisogna saper ricominciare dal fondo. Senza niente. Senza una carta da giocare, senza un’arma, senza una proprietà, senza un diritto, senza dignità.
– Come un cane.
– Sì, come un cane”.