{"product_id":"9781350138421","title":"J. M. Coetzee's Poetics of the Child : Arendt, Agamben, and the (Ir)responsibilities of Literary Creation","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eJ. M. Coetzee's Poetics of the Child\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Charlotta Elmgren\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eTracing how central tensions in J.M. Coetzee's fiction converge in and are made visible by the child figure, this book establishes the centrality of the child to Coetzee's poetics. Through readings of novels from \u003ci\u003eDusklands \u003c\/i\u003eto \u003ci\u003eThe Schooldays of Jesus\u003c\/i\u003e, Charlotta Elmgren shows how Coetzee's writing stages the constant interplay between irresponsibility and responsibility-to the self, the other, and the world. \u003cbr\u003eIn articulating this poetics of (ir)responsibility, Elmgren offers the first sustained engagement with the intersections between Coetzee's work and the philosophical thought of Giorgio Agamben. With reference also to Hannah Arendt's thinking on natality, education, and \u003ci\u003eamor mundi\u003c\/i\u003e, Elmgren demonstrates the inextricable links in Coetzee's writing between freedom, play, and serious attention to the world. \u003cbr\u003eThe book identifies five central dynamics of Coetzee's poetics: the child as a figure of truth-telling and authenticity; the ethics of the not-so-other child; the child, new beginnings and care for the world; childish behaviour as perpetual study; and the redemptive potential of infancy. Offering a fresh contribution to the field of literary childhood studies, Elmgren shows the critical possibilities in thinking about-and with-childlike openness and childish experimentation when approaching the writing and reading of the work of J.M. Coetzee and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e“In an assured and insightful reading of J.M. Coetzee's entire oeuvre, Charlotta Elmgren shows convincingly that the child-figure is central to Coetzee's fiction-making-not only as subject, but as an essential feature of his \u003ci\u003ears poetica\u003c\/i\u003e.” —\u003ci\u003eDavid Attwell, Professor of Modern Literature, University of York, UK\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781350138421\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40717504839886,"sku":"9781350138421","price":115.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_7083fe0c-0a52-4d23-9e15-bafb52714de1.jpg?v=1641014529","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781350138421","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}