STYLE AS A MEANS OF SUBVERSION: FOE'S POSTMODERNISM.

 Coetzee's "Foe" is a subversive novel for it challenges the ideology that underlies colonialism to present a story that deconstructs some of the myths historically associated to the imperial project

Foe demonstrates that colonialism can also be questioned through form and style, crucial mechanisms to unveil the decisive role played out by literature in the expansion and consolidation of the colonialist agenda.

Coetzee's work draws on postmodernism to reformulate several 18^th-c literary expressions such as:

·          the epistolary genre,

·          the adventure romance,

·          the realist novel.

For postcolonial literature, postmodernism emerges as the best means of depicting the fragmented identity of the colonised, historically exposed to the alienating pressure of the empire:

-          The situation of the colonised cannot be depicted from a realist point of view because the postcolonial context is no longer uniform and stable.

-          Foe emerges as a novel that questions the pillars of realism and the ideological component that underlie it. Coetzee questions the omniscient narrator who knew and controlled the life and the thoughts of his characters.

-          Foe's reaction to Susan's conception of the novel leads him to reshape her story and thus he ostracises her plans and reveals the extent to which the 18t^h-c realist author tended to adopt a God-like pose.

-          Through his words, Foe manifests that the characters, the action and the style ultimately depend on his personal decisions and narrative manipulations.

-          At this moment, characters lose all their autonomy to become fictional in Foe's hands.

-          Coetzee's critique is also directed at all the ideological constraints that were implied in these novels, since most authors took advantage of their narrative position in order to manipulate the events according to their own will.

-          Coetzee appears as Foe's "other" since his narration lacks the predictability, organisation and time-order that Foe wants Susan's account to display:

·         Foe articulates his novel within a rigid cause-and-effect linearity that clashes with Coetzee's temporal and spatial disjointedness.

·         In Foe there is not a fixed time-line, but a series of flashbacks.

·         Coetzee suggests that the nature of truth is fragmented and that its apprehension as a totality is merely an illusion. Our conclusion can only be that we can simply have an impression of truth, which dismantles the claims for truthfulness in realist novels.

Post-colonialism and postmodernism also converge in that they give voice to those who have been historically silenced in both literary and socio-political terms:

-          Coetzee's novel is narrated by a woman

-          and one of its main protagonists is black.

However, Foe's distortion of Susan's story and how he addresses Friday is Coetzee's way of telling the reader that power is still in the hands of a white male character, turning literature in a mere source of benefits.

FAREWELL, MUM!

I woke up this morning to very sad news that my English mum, Pauline Tring, had passed away. 

I met Mum years ago, when she came home on holiday and from teh very first moment a connection was born between her and me. She was such a lovely lady who liked to live her life to the full each day. with her I learnt that  life is short and you never know the day so we must enjoy every day and make ourlife as special as it can be and never put off telling the people we love how much we love them.

After this terrible illness that has taken her, I can say I'm glad though that she didn't suffer or get too much time to dwell on things.

As my English sister, Alison said, "Mum has graduated and got her wings ...... there is a new angel."

I cannot but think of this poem for her, since I am unable to write anything else on my own:

"Funeral Blues" - W.H. Auden 

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, 
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, 
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum 
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. 

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead 
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead. 
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, 
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. 

He was my North, my South, my East and West, 
My working week and my Sunday rest, 
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; 
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. 

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, 
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, 
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods; 
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

 Rest in peace, Mum, you'll always be in our hearts xx

SETTING IN "FOE" by J. M. Coetzee

The postcolonial framework turns out to be crucial to understand the differences that colonialism established between First and Third World countries.

The colonies were regarded as trading freight that could be bought and sold and whose only function was to contribute to the metropolis's economic and territorial expansion.

From a feminist point of view:

-          these settlements epitomised the female powerlessness as opposed to the patriarchal domination represented by the empire.

-           These colonial territories, like women, were subdued to the male/imperial authority, which usually took the form of rape or physical harassment.

-          This feminised version of the colony facilitated the attribution of all the sterotypes that were traditionally associated to women, weakness, sentimentality and dependence.

-          The colony was forced to occupy a secondary and marginalised position and to assume its voicelessness, a stance that native women were forced to acknowledge on a daily basis.

The colonial environment was traditionally regarded as exotic, mysterious and unexplored, which justified the conquest of lands in the name of the empire:

-          This exoticism drew the attention of the explorers , whose devastation of the colonial soil was taken as an exercise of patriotism.

-           Once they took over the land, the next stage was to set up a private space in which only the colonial administrators could have access to, which helped them to be cut off from any contact with the native population and to widen the differences between the two groups.

-           This is reflected in Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", whose protagonist establishes an economic and working system that turns out to be a direct transposition of the British counterpart.

-          However, Cruso's emerges as its parodic reversal, since the exoticism in Defoe's novel turns into an impoverished and desolate setting in "Foe":

·         Such a depressing scenario reflects upon Britain's moral emptiness.

·          Cruso's "un-colonial" conscience deactivates the impulse of expanding his domain and triggers a conformist attitude in the character.

·         This explains why silence emerges as a distinctive trait of the island and why Susan's internal monologues occupy significant sections in "Foe"'s first two chapters.

·         Cruso's decision to remain silent most of the time can also be interpreted as another mechanism to interfere in the expansion of the colonial ideology through discourse.

With Susan Barton's return to Britain, the setting moves from the colonies to the metropolis, which she considers a way back to civilisation:

-          There is a great deal of postcolonial works that depict the difficult transition undergone by the immigrant who abandons his hometown in search of better economic and working opportunities in Europe or in USA, to leave a past of poverty and marginalisation behind and enjoy the advantages of the West.

-          Once they arrive at their destination, they realise that their expectations of rapid social and economic improvement clash with an environment that excludes them due to racial or gender prejudices.

-          Thus, their experience in the metropolis turns out to be a succession of disappointments that end up frustrating the immigrants' initial expectations.

-           In Susan's case, the situation is doubly ironic because, although she belongs to the mainstream, she approaches her return as if she were an emigrant. After a depondent year on the island, she looks forward to arriving in Britain in order to start a successful career as a novelist and to experiment the privileges that western, First world countries supposedly confer upon their citizens.

-           However, her arrival in England proves to be disheartening because:

·         She has difficulty locating Foe

·          London  is not the glittering and luxurious city she had imagined.

·          The riches she dreams of turn into homelessness, destitution and loneliness in London.

-          Contrary to the island, London seems to represent verbosity and communication, although what Susan encounters is a city in which personal interaction is practically non-existent.

-           Thus, the narration carries on focusing on Susan's interior monologues, which again gives an idea of the absence of dialogue or whatever form of intercommunication.

-           This lack of communication points at symbolical issues that go beyond the literary realm to find a parallel in how the bilateral relationships "North-South/East-West" have been traditionally configured. Here, Susan and Friday represent these two opposite realities and the South African situation lived under "apartheid", in which the black population was systematically silenced by the white authorities. 

Sant Valentí o les ganes de gastar?

Amb la festivitat d’aquest sant es relaciona la festa dels enamorats, que se celebra el 14 de febrer, i que en els darrers anys s’intenta reintroduir amb força al nostre país. Hi ha una varietat de llegendes que expliquen que, per una part,  sant Valentí és patró dels enamorats perquè la seva diada coincideix amb el moment de l’any en què les aus comencen a aparellar-se. En tot cas, tenim constància que ja se celebrava, si més no, a partir del segle XV a Anglaterra i a Escòcia, on es feia coincidir amb l’inici de la primavera, com podem trovar als “Canterbury Tales” de G. Chaucer. I per una una altra, se conta que al final de l'Edat Mitjana a França i Anglaterra  apareix la llegenda que Sant Valentí, el qual sembla ser que havia casat parelles en secret després que el matrimoni de soldats fos prohibit per l'emperador Claudi II. També se disposa de testimonis que va festejar-se a França, a Suïssa, als Estats Units i a d'altres llocs des de mitjan segle XVIII, malgrat l’oposició dels eclesiàstics, que titllaven aquesta celebració de pagana.

A Catalunya el dia dels enamorats se celebra el 23 d’abril, diada de Sant Jordi, tot i que un esment a la festa de Sant Valentí en un poema del Cançoner Vega-Aguiló del segle XV podria interpretar-se com una referència a la seva condició de patró dels enamorats. En qualsevol cas, aquesta poesia ha permès a Martí de Riquer assegurar que la diada de Sant Valentí no és un invent nord-americà, sinó que podria tractar-se d’una antiga tradició catalana, tal i com suggereix en l’article “La canción de San Valentín del poeta Pardo” publicat l’any 1955 a la Revista de filología española. De fet, és una cançó amorosa, atribuïda al poeta Pardo que dedica a una dama anomenada només amb el  senhal o pseudònim de Fflums de coffort (vers 41). El poeta hi afirma que “el temps exigeix” que canti, ja que és “l’alegre dia del noble sant Valentí”, festa en la qual “els ocellets manifesten gran alegria pels prats i pels boscatges pel lleial amor que els donen els joiosos cors, de dos en dos, sense que ni un de sol no se’n retracti”.

Ens trobem, doncs, possiblement, davant d’una de les més antigues manifestacions de la festa dels enamorats, que va fer famosa Shakespeare amb la cançó del Saint Valentine’s day que canta Ofèlia en el Hamlet (acte IV, escena 5).

L’ànim pel lucre,però, l’ha estesa arreu en l’actualitat. Des del segle XIX es va introduir l'intercanvi de postals produïdes massivament. A aquesta pràctica es va sumar el donar altre tipus de regals com roses i xocolates, normalment regalats a les dones pels homes. Als  Estats Units, aquesta celebració també es va començar a associar amb una salutació d'amor platònic de "Happy Valentine's", enviat pels homes a les seves amigues -rarament als seus amics-. 

Tot això és arxi-sabut! No obstant, tornem a remarcar que aquestes celebracions no són sinó producte del màrqueting i del diner! No me canso de repetir que perqué esperar a un dia en concret per celebrar una cosa determinada? Que no celebrem cada dia el fet d’estar vius i tenir i gaudir de tot i tothom que ens envolta? Doncs si no és el cas, molt mal fet! La vida són dos dies i passem moltes d’aquestes hores emprenyats, cansats, de mal humor, … Canviem les nostres prioritats i aprenem a gaudir del dia a dia, aprenem a aprendre del dia a dia, sense grans expectacions, i, per damunt de tot, aprenem a ser feliços!

A més a més, i  no podía fer falta el meu punt de vista feminista, perquè hem d’esperar que el nostre enamorat ens doni una rosa o uns xocolates o el que sigui? Que no ens ho podem auto-regalar o què? Que nosaltres valem molt, però molt!!!!!!! Ja m’està bé que un enamorat o un amic o simplement algú que ens estima se’n recordi de nosaltres en un momento donat, però també ho podem fer nosaltres envers les seves persones, o no? No està ben vist? Se pensaran que busco algo més? I a qui li importa!!!!!! El que he dit, Carpe Diem, Tempus fugit!!!

Feminisme i feminitat

Ben sabut és dels i les que me coneixen que sempre he estat una gran defensora dels drets de les dones, sobre tot els meus alumnes! Ells m'han sentit parlar molts cops sobre el fet que les dones i els homes som iguals i que han de respectar-se els uns als altres. Val a dir que he usat la broma molts cops perquè m'escoltessin i entenguessin de què parlava. A més d'això, recordo fa uns anys que un grupet d'alumnes, noies i nois, van prendre's el temps d'apuntar "Els Manaments de Mònica" que no eren sinó un resum de les frases que més repetia a les classes ( Better late than never, a l'Aldea van una hora detràs, deixa-la que festeja, home i de l'Aldea... i tantes altres!!!). Me van fer riure en un primer moment i sobre tot al penjar-los a sobre la pissarra perquè tothom els veiés, però ara, mirant en retrospectiva, me n'adono de com d'importants han estat tots aquells comentaris fets enmig de la classe perquè puguessin riure i sentir-se còmodes i feliços mentre aprenien les llengües estrangeres que els hi estava ensenyant. Encara me trobo amb alumnes que se'n recorden de tots aquells "manaments", que encara els ténen presents, que encara me ténen com a un referent... això me fa avergonyir quan m'ho diuen però alhora me fa sentir orgullosa de la feina ben feta.

No obstant, la lluita continua. Porto vàries setmanes remarcant comentaris masclistes que pensava que ja estaven aparcats i oblidats, i sabeu què? Aquests comentaris els diuen les xiquetes!!! Estem en plé procès regressiu pel que fa a tot el que se va avançar durant la dècada dels 80 i això me fa temor!

Per exemple, no fa gaires dies vaig haver de "renyar" una xiqueta de 12 anys perqué va titllar de "puta" a una companya pel simple fet que en dues setmanes havia sortit amb dos nois! Definició de diccionari de "puta": "Persona que exerceix la prostitució". Definició de prostitució: "Activitat en la que una persona admet contactes sexuals a canvi de diners". I quan li vaig fer saber el significat autèntic de la paraula, la seva resposta va ser, "Bueno, val, però ja m'entens". Com? Encara en plé segle 21 tenim aquestes falses concepcions morals? Això és continuar tirant-se pedres a la pròpia teulada, i si elles no ho veuen, anem malament.

I un altre cop el maleit verb "ajudar"! La frase típica i maleïda "el meu marit m'ajuda a casa"! Què vol dir "m'ajuda"? que ell no viu a la mateixa casa? Que no hi dorm? Que no l'embruta com la resta? Que la casa és només de les dones? Per favor! Comentaris d'aquest tipus me fan enfadar i molt! I trist és quan ho sento en boca de xiques joves! Si continuem així, anem malament, molt malament! Perquè no inclouen en el seu diccionari particular el verb "col·laborar"? Amb lo senzill que seria!

Fa un temps, un masclista impresentable me va saber dir que com tenia més de 40 anys i no tenia parella no tenia vida social. Se veu que la dona, pobreta, si no té un mascle al seu costat no és res!!! Evidentment me guardo la meva opinió perqué si digués tot el que penso de mascles com aquest, probablement em censurarien el blog! no obstant, que s'ho facin mirar aquesta gentola perqué un dia les dones desperataran totes i ja veurem com els hi toquen les cames al cul fugint per evitar el puntapeu que se mereixen!

Un altre exemple va ser la setmana passada quan un amic me va dir que era molt estrany que amb lo femisita que jo era, anés sempre tan arreglada, maquillada i femenina! com si ser feminista vulgués dir que s'ha d'anar feta un drap de fregar! Això és una altra cosa de les que no acabo d'entendre. Què té a veure el porc amb la velocitat? No se pot ser femenina i feminista al mateix temps? Si s'és feminista s'ha de semblar el que se suosa que s'és? Si ets femenina, no se pot ser feminista? Comentaris massa freqüents i més entre els joves!

Volia pensar que les coses havien avançat i que tots anàvem en la mateixa direcció, però és veu que no!

El que he escrit avui és simplement un resum de coses qüotidianes que passen al meu voltant, però el que hem de tenir en compte és que no se pot baixar la guàrdia, MAI! Xiques, poseus les piles i espavileu! No permeteu que mai ningú us digui que no valeu res, que no sou res sense ells, si us tracten així, fora! si no us respecten, fora! I sobre tot, tireu endavant! No us apalnqueu! La vida és molt bonica si se sap  viure!

Heteronyms

This is something a dear friend of mine sent to me and I found it so interesting that I thought of sharing it with you all:

A little something to mess up your mind………………….

 

 

 

 Homographs  are words of like spelling but with more than one meaning. A  homograph that is also pronounced differently is a  heteronym.

                                                                         

     You  think English is easy??

    I  think a retired English teacher was bored...THIS IS  GREAT!  

Read  all the way to the end.................

This took a lot of  work to put together! 

    

1)  The bandage was wound around the  wound.

2) The farm was used to  produce produce.

3)  The dump was so full that it had to refuse more  refuse.

    4)  We must polish the Polish  furniture..

5) He could lead if  he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier  decided to desert his dessert in the  desert.

7) Since there is no time like  the present, he thought it was time to  present the present.

     

     8)  A bass was painted on the head of the bass  drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove  into the bushes.

10) I did not object  to the object.

     

     11)  The insurance was invalid for the  invalid.

12) There was a row  among the oarsmen about how to  row.

13) They were too close  to the door to close it.

14) The  buck does funny things when the does  are present.

     

     15)  A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a  sewer line.

16) To help with planting,  the farmer taught his sow to  sow.

17) The wind was too  strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing  the tear in the painting I shed a  tear.

19) I had to subject  the subject to a series of  tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my  most intimate friend?

    

Let's  face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in  eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in  pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or  French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while  sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are animal organs. We take English for  granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that  quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a  guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And  why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers  don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is  teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2  geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it  seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you  have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of  them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why  didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables,  what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the  English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the  verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play  and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?  Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim  chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a  wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique  lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it  burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

English was  invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the  creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race  at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible,  but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. -  Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick'?

You lovers  of the English language might enjoy this.

There is a  two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other  two-letter word, and that is'UP.'

It's  easy to understand UP,  meaning  toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken  in the morning, why do we wake UP?

    At  a meeting, why does a topic come UP?

Why  do we speak UP  and  why are the officers UP  for  election and why is it UP  to  the secretary to writeUP  a  report?

We call UP  our  friends.

And we use it to brighten UP  a  room, polish UP  the  silver; we warm UP  the  leftovers and cleanUP  the  kitchen.

    We  lock UP  the  house and some guys fix UP  the  old car.

    At  other times the little word has real special  meaning.

People stir UP  trouble,  line UP  for  tickets, work UP  an  appetite, and think UP  excuses.

To  be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP  is  special.

A  drain must be opened UP  because  it is stopped UP.

    We  open UP  a  store in the morning but we close it UP  at  night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP  about  UP!

To  be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP,  look  the word UP  in  the dictionary.

In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes  UP  almost  1/4th of the page and can add UP  to  about thirty definitions.

If you are UP  to  it, you might try building UP  a  list of the many ways UP  is  used.

It will take UP  a  lot of your time, but if you don't give UP,  you  may wind UP  with  a hundred or more.

    When  it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.

    When  the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.

When  it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things  UP.

When  it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One  could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP,

for  now my time is UP,

so.......it  is time to shut UP!

Now  it's UP  to  you what you do with this email

REFLEXIONS D'UNA NIT DE REIS

Fa anys, molts anys, esperava aquesta nit amb candeletes. La  màgia d'aquesta nit omplia casa nostra, tots els racons! La nostra família no tenia diners, no teníem probablement moltes de les coses que se troben avui a qualsevol llar, i els regals tampoc no eren abundants, ben aviat escassos. No obstant, el cabàs amb herba i el poal amb aigua no faltava mai a la porta de casa!

Recordo que anàvem a la cavalcada de reis del poble, des de ben petits, i les cametes ens tocàven al cul quan sentíem que cridaven el nostre nom. Quanta il·lusió! Com tremolàvem tots per l'emoció! Com patíem quan tardaven a cridar-nos! Però sempre marxàvem cap a casa amb algun regalet!!! Devia ser que ens havíem portat bé!!!

Tot això ho he tornat a viure amb els menuts de la casa, any rera any, i ara que ja són grans trobo a faltar la màgia d'aquesta nit!

En algun moment que no hem notat, també s'han fet grans com nosaltres! Encara ens fem regals, encara ens agrada rebre'n, crec que això serà durant la resta de les nostres vides, però no sé què donaria per poder tornar a viure aquells moment d'infantesa, d'il·lusió, d'innocència!

Avui, quan parlem amb altres grans, i parlem de què demanaríem a la carta de reis, n'hi ha que diuen la pau, d'altres que s'acabi la violència, uns altres llibertat... jo voldria afegir que voldria que la innocència dels menuts durés més, molt més, perqué temps tindran de prendre consciència de la realitat, i ara per ara han de gaudir de la seva edat.

No he escrit la meva carta als Reis, com molts de vosaltres, suposo, però igual si l'escric aquesta nit encara hi seré a temps, què trobeu?