Race Relations in \"Disgrace\" Upon

race relations in "Disgrace"

Upon initial analysis, it would largely appear that J.M. Coetzee's 1999 novel Disgrace appears to be an incisive critique of the state of interracial relations within post-Apartheid South Africa. After all, the novel was composed a few years after Nelson Mandela was elected president of the country in which the iniquitous practice of apartheid had reigned for the better part of 25 years. Furthermore, this viewpoint appears to be largely supported by the fact that the central drama within the novel is the raping of a white woman by three black men. However, a closer look at the language and its implications within the novel actually reveals that in many ways, whether knowingly or not, Coetzee is actually reinforcing and reproducing conventionally racist modes of representation and repression. This facet of the novel becomes particularly lucid after examining the principles of intersectionality outlined by Kimberle Williams Crenshaw in an article entitled "Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color." The author primarily manifests these conventional racist modes through the means of the novel's central character, David Lurie, and his interactions with a bevy of women (including, interestingly enough, one of whom is his daughter).

Perhaps one of the most integral expression of European colonialism and dominance of Africa that apartheid typified, and which was also present in the system of chattel slavery in other parts of the world, is the treatment administered to African women. Colonialism, essentially, is the wanton appropriating of resources of another country or continent -- one of the most valuable resources of all, of course, is the women of a particular region. The premise of Coetzee's novel revolves around the fact that its white protagonist, Lurie, is something of a womanizer whose particular interest in this subject is women of color. Lurie is used by the author to represent Europe and European sentiments, and the women whom he sexually conquers, the vast majority of which are women of color, represent the subjugated resources of Africa. In this respect (that the author has a main character who is sexually having his way with women of color) Coetzee's novel is extremely typical in its depiction of race relations in South Africa.

Furthermore, deconstruction of the 52-year-old professor's sexual relationships with two women of color effectively corroborates this viewpoint. The most eminent of these would have to be his relationship with the college student Melanie, who is quite obviously a representation of Africa and its subjugation to Europe (represented by Lurie). Melanie is of mixed heritage, which is largely indicative of Europe's influence in South Africa in itself. Furthermore, her name symbolizes the country she represents, as the following quotation indicates. "Shift the accent. Melani: the dark one" (Coetzee 1999, 18). Yet the most prudent evidence regarding Melanie's ill-fate (she is raped by Lurie) and the little chance she stood against it can be found in Crenshaw's work. Intersectionality is the notion that women of color are alienated from both conventional feminist and racist defense (and therefore more subject to attack) due to the fact that few people consider the category of being female and black (Crenshaw, 541). Yet there are certain facets of Melanie's situation and her relationship to Lurie, who was her professor, that doubly underscored this concept in relation to her character, as the following quotation evinces.

Patterns of subordination intersect in women's experience of domestic violence. Intersectional subordination need not be intentionally produced; in fact it is frequently the consequence of the imposition of one burden interacting with preexisting vulnerabilities to create yet another dimension of disempowerment (Crenshaw, 281).

The "intersectional subordination" that Crenshaw refers to can certainly apply to Melanie, who was not only a woman of color, but also a student of Lurie's. These three facets of her character certainly make her subordinate to him, a white male in South Africa -- which of course was widely colonized by Europeans. Melanie witnessed "domestic violence firsthand when Lurie raped her. In many circumstances and in many different ways, rape is chiefly about power or, for the female, it is about "disempowerment." Coetzee's description of this sexual encounter between Melanie and Lurie certainly reinforces the notion of her disempowerment, as the subsequent quotation effectively demonstrates.

He has given her no warning, she is too surprised to resist the intruder who thrusts himself upon her. When he takes her in his arms, her limbs crumple like a marionette's…nothing will stop him…she does not resist. All she does is avert herself: avert her lips, avert her eyes…as though she had decided to go slack, like a rabbit when the jaws of the fox close on its neck (Coetzee, 1999, p. 25).

This quotation indicates that the sexual encounter between Lurie and Melanie was forced by him and a grotesque violation of her will -- and body. Most disturbing of all about this quotation and this salacious act is Melanie's immediate subjugation and acquiescence to this vileness -- the likes of which can be attributed to her insubordinate status due to the aforementioned intersectionality as a woman of color who is a student of her attacker. By depicting such scenes as this that symbolizes Europe's conquest over Africa and her peoples, Coetzee is definitely representing conventional racists modes.

This point is also demonstrated in Lurie's relationship with Soraya, a female prostitute who is also a black woman. Due to the fact that Lurie is paying Soraya's agency money to meet with her every Thursday, he is able to have his way with her. Significantly, that way is for her to assent to all of his needs and desires, sexually, of course, and to inject as little of her personality, or even voice, as possible. Doing so allows Lurie to imagine all sorts of ridiculous notions about his perceived affection for her. In this respect, Lurie is able to take from Soraya all he likes, which was quite traditional of Europe's relationship with Africa, which is again represented by these two characters, respectively. However, the circumstances that put Soraya in the position in which she is working as a prostitute are definitely related to a pattern of structural intersectionality, as the following quotation sufficiently proves.

Many women of color, for example, are burdened by poverty, child care responsibilities, and the lack of job skills. These burdens, largely the consequence of gender and class oppression, are then compounded by the racially discriminatory employment and housing practices often faced by women of color, as well as by the disproportionately high unemployment among people of color (Crenshaw, 280).

Virtually all of these circumstances apply to Soraya, who is a mother of two and is just trying to earn a living in conditions that are ripe for her to fail -- and for her to succumb to the money and whims of high paying Europeans, who consider her ethnicity to be exotic. Again, this relationship with Lurie and Soraya demonstrates how Coetzee is presenting traditional racial representations of Africa and Europeans' effect upon it.