DISABILITY AS AN ALLEGORY OF COLONIALISM IN J.M. COETZEE’S FOE

Year 2025, Issue: 38, 90 - 102, 28.02.2025

Ersoy Gümüş

https://doi.org/10.15182/diclesosbed.1526154

Abstract

This paper explores the use of disability as an allegory for colonialism and its consequences in J.M. Coetzee's novel Foe. By referring to colonial and postcolonial literary criticism, the study claims that disability is used allegorically to represent the broader silencing and marginalization of colonized peoples. It also investigates how Coetzee underscores the erasure of the colonized voice and identity through physical and psychological violence which results in disability. The analysis also delves into the relationship between the metaphorical colonizer and the disabled colonized, the former of which perpetuates the suppression of latter’s autonomy and cultural expression by making use of the colonized’s disability to justify the colonizer’s violent acts. Besides, by framing disability within postcolonial criticism, the study reveals the intricate power dynamics and dehumanization inherent in colonial contexts. Thus, the paper ultimately attempts to show how Coetzee's Foe uses disability to critique colonialism, illustrating the profound and lasting impact of colonial oppression on individual and collective identities.

Keywords

disability, colonialism, postcolonialism, J.M. Coetzee, Foe

J.M. COETZEE'NİN FOE ROMANINDA SÖMÜRGECİLİĞİN ALEGORİSİ OLARAK ENGELLİLİK

Abstract

Bu makale, J.M. Coetzee'nin Foe romanında sömürgecilik ve onun sonuçları için bir mecaz olarak engelliliğin kullanımını incelemektedir. Sömürge ve postkolonyal edebi eleştiriye atıfta bulunarak, çalışma engelliliğin, sömürgeleştirilmiş halkların daha geniş bir bağlamda susturulmasının ve marjinalleştirilmesinin temsili olarak kullanıldığını iddia etmektedir. Coetzee'nin, fiziksel ve psikolojik şiddet yoluyla sömürgeleştirilenlerin seslerinin ve kimliklerinin silinmesini nasıl vurguladığını araştırır. Analiz ayrıca mecazi sömürgeci ile engelli sömürgeleştirilmiş kişi arasındaki ilişkiyi ele alır; sömürgeci, sömürgeleştirilenin engelliliğini kendi şiddet eylemlerini meşrulaştırmak için kullanarak, sömürgeleştirilmiş kişinin özerkliğini ve kültürel ifadesini bastırmaya devam eder. Ayrıca, engelliliği postkolonyal eleştiri çerçevesinde ele alarak, sömürge bağlamlarında içkin olan karmaşık güç dinamiklerini ve insanlıktan çıkarmayı ortaya koyar. Böylece, makale nihayetinde Coetzee'nin Foe eserinin engelliliği, sömürge baskısının bireysel ve toplumsal kimlikler üzerindeki derin ve kalıcı etkisini göstererek sömürgeciliği eleştirmek için nasıl kullandığını ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

engellilik, sömürgecilik, postkolonyalizm, J.M. Coetzee, Foe

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