Forms and functions in J.M. Coetzee's "Foe" (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2, , language: English, abstract: The main aim of this seminar paper is to introduce the novel "Foe" by J. M. Coetzee and to give an overview about the forms and functions of it. Therefore, a closer look at metafiction, historiographic metafiction and meta-narrative techniques is necessary, due to the fact that the novel is "meta-narrative".

Since the story of the island, narrated by the protagonist Susan Barton, is important for an analysis, it is not enough just to focus on that. Susan's island story serves as a kind of framework because the novel is about "the art of writing and story-telling".

Firstly, the author, J. M. Coetzee, his biography and his many works will be presented. Secondly, the term metafiction, its definition and different forms will be discussed. After that there will be a short overview of the novel, including plot, characters and narrative techniques, which are important to understand the meaning of the book. This will be followed by the chapter "metafiction", in which some forms of metafiction as well as some elements of the story, supported by some examples, will be presented.
The final section will give an overall picture of Coetzee's story "Foe".