굴욕의 지점에서 찾는 자기담지와 이방인 수용의 문제—쿳시의 『슬로우 맨』

Many critics have remarked upon J. M. Coetzee's novels from dichotomous perspectives, mostly using either political or apolitical analyses. This tendency reflects a deep-rooted notion that Coetzee's writings would be most properly analyzed from post-colonial perspectives, regardless of the writer's true intentions. This standardized criticism causes need for an original investigation differing from earlier studies. This paper, therefore, focuses how the themes of Coetzee's novels have changed, with Slow Man displaying the rhetoric of hospitality and self-recognition, realized through the effect of a disability. Coetzee's so-called “Australia novels”, Elizabeth Costello, Slow Man, and A Diary of a Bad Year are a watershed that should not be seen solely through historical and political perspectives, as the importance of the theme of an individual, not a political theme, is highlighted. Slow Man, among the three novels, depicts individual narratives about ageing, disability, and immigration. This novel is a means of magnifying various relationships such as moving to Australia, contact with strangers, and the nature of hospitality. Through these themes, Coetzee presents his readers with a new narrative, with a new subject, in a new space. Slow Man begins as Paul Rayment is knocked off his bike and has his legs amputated. Because of his disability, he hires a nurse to care for him. The woman, Marijana Jokic, is a married Croatian immigrant with children. Slowly, Rayment comes to love Marijana. However, his love isn’t confined to erotic love, but instead he develops his love in a paternal way, wanting to protect her and her family. Expanding his love into hospitality for an “Other”, Rayment contemplates self-reflection and acceptance for “the Other”. To emphasize this process, Coetzee introduces Elizabeth Costello, main character of his another novel Elizabeth Costello, who in Slow Man wants Rayment to hurry up and become someone for her latest novel. As Rayment realizes her aim, he first rejects her and feels repulsion at her appearance. But, confronted with an existential dilemma through his accident, he comes to accept his strange guest as a performer of “conditional hospitality” and “unconditional hospitality”, as defined by Jacques Derrida.