FOE AND MODERNISM

POINT 1

MODERNISM

an emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in writing (and in visual arts as well); an emphasis on HOW seeing (or reading or perception itself) takes place, rather than on WHAT is perceived. An example of this could be stream-of-consciousness writing.

FOE

Coetzee rewrites "Robinson Crusoe" by reducing its storyline. As a matter of fact, half of the plot of "Robinson Crusoe is told in the first page of "Foe". This clearly shows that Mr Coetzee isn't interested in what happens, but in something else. After a deeper analysis, it is evident that the novelist wants to focus the reader's attention on the subjectivity of writing. As a matter of fact, Coetzee's thesis is that there isn't just one reality. Reality is reshaped  by the perspective from which it's conceived. As a consequence, reality has to be written and rewritten. An interesting observation is that whereas the writer of the architext, Daniel Defoe, wanted to write reality by describing the WHAT in detail , Coetzee brilliantly puts into question such belief. According to Coetzee "the" reality doesn't exist and only one perspective of it can be written.

POINT 2

MODERNISM

a movement away from the apparent objectivity provided by omniscient third-person narrators, fixed narrative points of view, and clear-cut moral positions. Faulkner's multiply-narrated stories are an example of this aspect of modernism.

FOE

"Foe" has been written using the first person narrator, predominantly Susan Barton's. Since she's a female, her point of view is described through an emotional filter (women are highly sensitive). Due to the fact that emotions are personal, there is no objectivity in her story. Moreover, Susan isn't the only narrator in "Foe". As a matter of fact, in chapter 4 a mysterious narrator is introduced  (the reader isn't provided with clear information about him). The puzzling narrator is far from omniscient: he asks himself a lot of questions concerning the reality which surrounds him.

POINT 3

MODERNISM

a blurring of distinctions between genres, so that poetry seems more documentary (as in T.S. Eliot or ee cummings) and prose seems more poetic (as in Woolf or Joyce).

FOE

Taking chapter 4 into consideration, a blurring of distinctions between genres can be found. As a matter of fact, there's a mixture of genres and an atmosphere of contamination, due to the presence of both Gothic and Modernism. As concerns Modernism, Coetzee uses words that are typical of T.S. Eliot's poetry such as dry, dust and lilac. As regards Gothic, there are darkness, corpses and a mouse or a rat, elements typical of Noir novels. Moreover, the chapter is full of gruesome details ("the skin, dry as paper, is stretched tight over their bones. Their lips have receded, uncovering their teeth, so that they seem to be smiling").

POINT 4

MODERNISM

an emphasis on fragmented forms, discontinuous narratives, and random-seeming collages of different materials.

FOE

"Foe" is a gender-marked novel. As a matter of fact, Coetzee decided to adopt a female narrator. There is evidence that women develop a reticular way of thinking. As a consequence, female thought is fragmented, not linear. Probably, Coetzee decided to introduce a female point of view to put emphasis on fragmentation. Moreover, such way of thinking is reflected in the structure of the novel itself: the book doesn't follow a chronological order, but the flux of thought. As regards novel structure,  the division into chapters should also be taken into consideration. Apparently, there is no connection between a chapter and another. Each chapter could be a story on its own. As a result, fragmentation is a relevant aspect of the novel.

POINT 5

MODERNISM

a tendency toward reflexivity, or self-consciousness, about the production of the work of art, so that each piece calls attention to its own status as a production, as something constructed and consumed in particular ways.

FOE

The book deals with the problem of writing novels. As an example, in chapter 3 Susan Barton and Mr Foe discuss about how Susan's story should be written. According to Mr Foe, a book should be subjected to the reader and satisfy his curiosities without leaving any doubt ("These are questions that are asked, which we must answer"). Furthermore, novels should follow a fixed structure ("loss, then quest, recovery, beginning , then middle, then end") and the writer should be conceived as the author  of the text ("It is thus that we make up a book"). Whereas Foe considers books from a seller's prospective (he wants to add fiction or a frame to the story to make it more interesting),Susan rejects such a point of view. As a matter of fact, she's just interested in communicating her truth ("You proposed to supply a middle by inventing cannibals and pirates. These I would not accept because they were not the truth"). Last but not least, Susan believes that writing has some limits, and is doubtful about its possibility of describing reality ("How can you ever close Bahia between the covers of a book? It is only small and thinly peopled places that can be subjugated and held down in words").

POINT 6

MODERNISM

a rejection of elaborate formal aesthetics in favor of minimalist designs (as in the poetry of William Carlos Williams) and a rejection, in large part, of formal aesthetic theories, in favor of spontaneity and discovery in creation.

FOE

"Foe" doesn't follow a fixed structure. It can be considered the result of a profound research of Coetzee on how a novel should be written. As a consequence, the art craft is a creation based on discovery. An example of such an experimentation is that Coetzee is a man, but writes the story from a woman's point of view. Women weren't considered important in colonial times, so they were far from being protagonists of a story which illustrated their point of view. As a consequence, rewriting a colonial novel from a female point of view, Coetzee rejected the elaborate formal aesthetics of colonial literature.