Globalisation And The Cosmopolitan Novel: An Analysis Of The Later Novels by J.M. Coetzee And Kazuo Ishiguro

Abstract

Unlike J. M. Coetzee?s and Kazuo Ishiguro?s past works?the former engaged with themes of colonialism and engaged frequently with life in a politically-troubled South-Africa, while Ishiguro created Japanese protagonists who found themselves unable to move on from the historically-traumatic past?the later novels by these authors not only provide a critical and aesthetic reflection on the complex political realities, inherent contradictions and ethical quandaries within perceived conceptions of global culture, they also reflect on what is at stake within a cosmopolitan position, particularly with regards to the tensions between local affiliations and global responsibilities. My purpose in analysing their recent works is to discover what it has meant for these authors to write a cosmopolitan novel and how the writing of such a work grapples with a critical consciousness of states of multiple belonging.