Concetti Chiave
- John Michael Coetzee was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and later pursued his academic career in the USA before returning to his native country.
- He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003 and is known for works like "Waiting for the Barbarians" and "Disgrace".
- Coetzee's writing style is described as veiled and oblique, with a personal life that is reserved and disciplined.
- His novels, though not explicitly mentioning apartheid, deeply explore the consciousness of being white in apartheid-era South Africa.
- The Nobel Academy praised his novels for their composition, dialogue, and critical examination of Western civilization's moral flaws.
Origini e formazione
John Michael Coetzee (an Afrikaner name) was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and brought up in rural Cape Province. He studied at Cape Town University and then moved to London, where he worked as a computer programmer.
He earned his Ph.D at the University of Texas at Austin and was eventually appointed Butler Professor of English at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1984 he returned to his native country as Professor of General Literature at the University of Cape Town. In 2002 he moved to Australia, and in 2003 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Vita personale e stile di scrittura
His best work include Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) and Disgrace (1999). Coetzee's reserved personality is well known. He leads a solitary life based on a tough, self-imposed discipline. According to Rian Malan ("Time", October 13th, 2003) "his writing is veiled, oblique, his personal style aloof and monastic. He declines to take sides, join causes or reveal anything interesting about his private life". Malan himself, on the other hand, had already described him in the past as a solitary person, a vegetarian, a non-drinker and a non-smoker.
Riconoscimenti e critica letteraria
But Coetzee is a also the writer who "described more truly than any other, what it was to be white and conscious in the face of apartheid's stupidities and cruelties although the word apartheid is never uttered in his novels and the settings are not necessarily South African. In its citation, the Nobel Academy said his novels are characterized by their well-crafted composition, pregnant dialogue and analytic brilliance. "But at the same time, he is a scrupulous doubter, ruthless in his criticism of the cruel rationalism and cosmetic morality of Western civilization".
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è il percorso formativo di John Michael Coetzee?
- Come viene descritto lo stile di vita e di scrittura di Coetzee?
- Quali sono i riconoscimenti letterari ricevuti da Coetzee e come viene vista la sua opera?
John Michael Coetzee è nato a Città del Capo, Sudafrica, e ha studiato all'Università di Cape Town. Successivamente si è trasferito a Londra come programmatore informatico, ha conseguito il dottorato all'Università del Texas ad Austin e ha lavorato come professore negli Stati Uniti prima di tornare in Sudafrica.
Coetzee è noto per la sua personalità riservata e uno stile di vita solitario e disciplinato. Il suo stile di scrittura è descritto come velato e obliquo, e lui stesso è un vegetariano, non beve né fuma, e non si schiera né rivela dettagli sulla sua vita privata.
Coetzee ha vinto il Premio Nobel per la Letteratura nel 2003. Le sue opere sono apprezzate per la loro composizione ben strutturata, dialoghi pregnanti e brillantezza analitica. È riconosciuto per aver descritto la condizione dei bianchi durante l'apartheid senza mai menzionare direttamente il termine nei suoi romanzi.
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