Desonra by J.M. Coetzee
A middle-aged university lecturer in post-apartheid South Africa experiences a painful fall from privilege after an illicit relationship with a student leads to his professional ruin; he retreats to his daughter's remote smallholding, where a violent attack on their household exposes shifting racial and social power dynamics and forces both of them to confront the limits of law, justice, and personal pride. The daughter’s pragmatic refusal to seek formal redress and her insistence on remaining on the land unsettle him, and his ensuing humiliation and attempts at atonement—most starkly expressed in his work caring for and putting down animals—become a meditation on responsibility, vulnerability, and the fragile hold of dignity in a changing society.
- Published
- 1999
- Nationality
- South African
- Length
- Short
- Pages
- 192–224
- Original Language
- English
- Avg User Rating
-
(5.0)
- Alternate Titles
-
- Desonra
- Disgrace
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