Subversion of Colonial Discourse in (J)ohn (M)axwell Coetzee's Foe

Abstract

J. M. Coetzee's Foe is a radical revision of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. It subverts allegorical and canonical Robinson myth from postcolonial perspective. Defoe's eighteenth century novel was built upon the false ideologies imposed by the western colonizers. It valorizes the European values such as the eighteenth century Enlightenment rationality, individuality, capitalism, patriarchy and so on. The novel disregards the significant aspects of the females as well as the colonized subjects. It is because Defoe writes Robinson Crusoe from the perspective of the white colonizer, an Englishman. In order to counter colonialist discourse, Coetzee writes his novel from the perspective of the marginalized and colonized (in terms of biological and geographical colonization). Because of Defoe's indifference towards the pain and sufferings of the non-Whites, Coetzee deliberately represents him as foe--an enemy of the colonized. So, it is essential for him to subvert such European notions in his masterpiece,Foe. Coetzee's Foe gives adequate role to the females as well as the blacks such as Susan Barton and Friday. He makes his female narrator, Barton evaluate every incident of the story to give voice to the marginalized or colonized non-White Africans so that their pains and sufferings will be heard throughout the world.