J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace: Expression of Disgrace in Contemporary Post-Apartheid South-Africa

From the perspective of a cultural researcher, it can be said this paper tries to unveil the meaning of the expression “disgrace” in the work Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee with the purpose of finding out how Coetzee depicts David Lurie’s disgrace in the entire novel, and what he does to gain his grace back. In addition, the approach of a New Historicism used in this article can help reflect something about Coetzee and his current society to today’s readers. Much more than that, at deeper level of research, it can be revealed that this novel is filled with both critique and judgment of the South African system, its moral standards as well as its citizens. And, it seems Coetzee is right when he says that he just depicts a factual state as he sees it because the entire novel is the description of a huge South African society.