인종적 화해를 향한 포스트식민 윤리: J. M. 쿳시의 『철의 시대』

As African literature has been actively discussed and written about recently, motivated by postcolonial discourse, John Maxwell Coetzee(1940- ), one of the most influential writers of the Republic of South Africa, has attracted public attention in the world of English literature. Much attention has been given to the ways in which his postcolonial imagination enters into and shapes the living form of his novels. In his novels, Coetzee criticizes unjust domination and violence, on one hand and on the other, deals deeply with the ethical responsibility of individuals who have supported the ruling classes. This paper explores how anti-racism and the ethics of the Other are embodied in his novel, Age of Iron. Age of Iron is examinined in the positive aspects of a white woman's changing ethical orientation from antagonism between white and black, to reconciliation in the turbulent conditions of South Africa. This text is a type of letter-narrative composed of a monologue by the female main character, Curren suffering from terminal cancer. Her individual narrative parallels the history of racial discrimination in South Africa and is connected with its ethical matters. Curren's ethical evolution begins when she accepts Vercueil, a reliable mediator, delivering her letter to her daughter who lives in the United States. This symbolizes that a white woman trusts an unidentified colored man, Vercueil, and suggests hope for coexistence of white and black, beyond racial and class differences. This novel deals with how such racial and political antagonism can be transformed into reconciliation through ethical practice toward the Other. Curren's limitations as a white were overcome by the surrounding blacks’ reputations. Through this process, the novel shows that Curren is regenerated as a subject of ethical reconciliation and this fact incites blacks and whites to coexist.