ReaderResponse and the Co-construction of Meaning in J. M. Coetzee’s Foe

ZheHuang

College of Foreign Languages andLiterature, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

Abstract: This essay looks intosome of the underexplored aspects of J. M. Coetzee’s seminal novel Foe (1986),which has often been analyzed from a feminist ｏｒ postcolonial perspective.While these critical frameworks have offered some invaluable insights, theyhave also played down the importance of the minor characters in the novel,which should be an integral part for the construction of meaning on thereader’s part. Additionally, this essay addresses the question of coherencewith regards to the disparity in style and narration in the first threesections and the last section of the novel, drawing attention to itsmetafictional features which require the reader to actively participate andrespond to the intellectual and philosophical undertakings of this novel. Inthe end, what can be gained from the novel are more than the criticism ofpatriarchal and colonial oppression, it is also a reflection upon thetraditional form of realism, narrativity, and language itself.

Keywords: J. M. Coetzee; Foe; Readerresponse; Construction of meaning