Abstract
The publication of Disgrace (1999) set off shockwaves of racial recriminations against Coetzee for his depiction of revenge-seeking black rapists. There followed a tidal surge of scholarship on Disgrace that has led, surprisingly, to its canonization. The first shock of negativity may have prompted Coetzee’s decision to leave South Africa for Australia, which also happens to be the country responsible for the film adaptations Disgrace (2008), starring John Malkovich, and Dust (1985), the adaptation of In the Heart of the Country, a 1977 novel that also centered on the rape of a white woman. This chapter compares the two adaptations to their sources, providing a close reading of scenes that capture, in cinematic terms, the guilt-induced angst and racial resentments that still afflict South Africa.
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Laws, P.R. (2016). Disgrace-full: Adapting J. M. Coetzee’s Racial Revenge Novel for the Screen. In: Arapoglou, E., Kalogeras, Y., Nyman, J. (eds) Racial and Ethnic Identities in the Media. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56834-2_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56834-2_9
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