Doing philosophy means reasoning about questions that are of basic importance to the human experience—questions like, What is a good life? What is reality? How are knowledge and understanding possible? What should we believe? What norms should govern our societies, our relationships, and our activities? Philosophers critically analyze ideas and practices that often are assumed without reflection. Wesleyan’s philosophy faculty draws on multiple traditions of inquiry, offering a wide variety of perspectives and methods for addressing these questions.

What is philosophy

Waiting for the barbarians

2013 was a good year for South African literature, particularly for fiction. A wide range of novels were published; there was an increase in the short stories in print; strong new voices emerged and many books gained both popular and critical attention within South Africa and internationally. A number of authors who impressed with their debuts have now followed up with strong second or third novels. Names such as Lauren Beukes, Amanda Coetzee, Gareth Crocker, Jassy Mackenzie, Angela Makholwa, Brent Meersman, Niq Mhlongo, Kgebetli Moele, Nthikeng Mohlele, Gail Schimmel, Steven Boykey Sidley, Fiona Snyckers, Meg Vandermerwe, James Whyle and Rachel Zadok move from “names to watch” to a new generation of established South African writers. This year sees a number of impressive debuts, ensuring that there will be no shortage of new voices. Maren Bodenstein, Dominique Botha, Carol Campbell, C.A. Davids, Perfect Hlongwane, Charlie Human, Ron Irwin, Alex Latimer, Songeziwe Mahlangu, Maria Phalime and Claire Robertson are particularly noteworthy. The South African literary awards reflected the range of books published, with each of the main awards going to a different book. The Sunday Times Award for Fiction was won by Claire Robertson for The Spiral House, with The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, False River by Dominique Botha, Penumbra by Simphiwe Mahlangu and Wolf, Wolf by Eben Venter shortlisted. It is worth noting that three of the shortlisted books were debuts (Robertson’s, Botha’s and Mahlangu’s). Nadine Gordimer was honoured with a lifetime award from the Sunday Times. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Prize went to Lauren Beukes for The Shining Girls, with The Sculptors of Mapungubwe by Zakes Mda, Stepping Out by Steven Boykey Sidley and Sister-Sister by Rachel Zadok shortlisted. The Debut Prize went to Dominique Botha for False River, with The Blacks of Cape Town by C.A. Davids, Jozi by Perfect Hlongwane and The Spiral House by Claire Robertson shortlisted. False River and Wolf, Wolf by Eben Venter were among several books issued simultaneously in

South Africa and Zimbabwe

This article examines photographic ekphrasis in the first novella of J. M. Coetzee’s Dusklands (1974)—the narrative of Eugene Dawn—exploring how the properties and technical processes of photograph...

Bringing the Vietnam War Home: a study of photographic media in J. M. Coetzee’s Dusklands

This chapter discusses the gerontological implications of amputation and their influence on self-understanding in J.M. Coetzee’s Slow Man (2005). It considers the ways in which Paul Rayment’s response to the amputation of his leg following a cycling accident highlights the complex entanglements of age, masculinity, and the need for human connection. The chapter argues that Paul’s surgery effectively inaugurates his senescence, thereby casting him suddenly and irrevocably into the margins of Australian society. Emotionally unstrung and keenly aware of his mortality, Paul increasingly associates the loss of his leg with the loss of opportunities to establish a legacy. Ultimately, Coetzee’s novel shows how the acceptance of an altered body can enable the individual to come to terms with broader existential concerns.

“Even at This Late Juncture”: Amputation, Old Age, and Paul Rayment’s Prosthetic Family in J.M. Coetzee’s Slow Man

SummaryThe concept of frame and its inherent tensions, as addressed by contemporary thinking, is the theoretical focus of this article, which examines representations of photography in three of J.M. Coetzee’s novels (Dusklands ([1974]1983), Age of Iron (1990) and Slow Man (2005)). Photography is treated as a site where Coetzee explores the issues that preoccupy him throughout his work: subjectivity, its boundaries and the possibility of intersubjectivity in relation to the very act of storytelling. The article offers a metaphorical reading of such elements of photography as the blow-up, the negative and digital photography in order to reflect upon Coetzee’s engagement with the possibility of openness to transformation, otherness and futurity implied by both the photographic frame and intersubjectivity in life as well as in fiction.

Ayala Amir

Papers

“What Used to Lie Outside the Frame”: Boundaries of Photography, Subjectivity and Fiction in Three Novels by J.M. Coetzee