Abstract

VAN COLLER, H.P.  and  VAN JAARSVELD, Anthea. Deictical patterns in the film version of J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace (2008). Part 2. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2016, vol.56, n.3, pp.844-855. ISSN 2224-7912.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2016/v56n3a8.

In this second part of the article, the focus will be on the film version of Disgrace (2008). The narrative situation in the Afrikaans traditional farm novel is that of an omniscient narrator. In the novel Disgrace the narration is that of figural narration in the sense that the perspective is that of the main character, David Lurie. The filmic version of Disgrace is also in the main the subjective perspective of David Lurie. Through this perspective the spectator becomes part of Lurie's chaotic universe and thus shares the main character's traumatic personal experiences charged with existential anguish. In the older farm novel and film it is usually suggested that the farm is the centre of the universe, from which a son or daughter leaves for the city in search of a better life. Yet the farm is also the place to which one may return; the narrative structure is therefore cyclical and typical of this archetypal structure of becoming, evolution and acquisition. In Disgrace one finds exactly the opposite: the narrative structure is indicative of devolution: Paradise Lost, degeneration, devolution and loss. (This can include material things like status, position and affluence but also pride, love, happiness and security). The farm is no longer a safe, impenetrable haven; it is a place of departure rather than sojourn. In this second part of the article we will emphasise the way in which the cinematic elements of the film convey these different messages, not only by focussing, for example, on the interaction of characters, but rather the manner in which the camera can be manipulated.

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