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About this book
Winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature.
J. M. Coetzee presents a coherent, unorthodox analysis of censorship from the perspective of one who has lived and worked under its shadow. The essays collected here attempt to understand the passion that plays itself out in acts of silencing and censoring. He argues that a destructive dynamic of belligerence and escalation tends to overtake the rivals in any field ruled by censorship.
From Osip Mandelstam commanded to compose an ode in praise of Stalin, to Breyten Breytenbach writing poems under and for the eyes of his prison guards, to Aleksander Solzhenitsyn engaging in a trial of wits with the organs of the Soviet state, Giving Offense focuses on the ways authors have historically responded to censorship. It also analyzes the arguments of Catharine MacKinnon for the suppression of pornography and traces the operations of the old South African censorship system.
"The most impressive feature of Coetzee's essays, besides his ear for language, is his coolheadedness. He can dissect repugnant notions and analyze volatile emotions with enviable poise."āKenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"Those looking for simple, ringing denunciations of censorship's evils will be disappointed. Coetzee explicitly rejects such noble tritenesses. Instead . . . he pursues censorship's deeper, more fickle meanings and unmeanings."āKirkus Reviews
"These erudite essays form a powerful, bracing criticism of censorship in its many guises."āPublishers Weekly
"Giving Offense gets its incisive message across clearly, even when Coetzee is dealing with such murky theorists as Bakhtin, Lacan, Foucault, and RenĆ©; Girard. Coetzee has a light, wry sense of humor."āBill Marx, Hungry Mind Review
"An extraordinary collection of essays."āMartha Bayles, New York Times Book Review
"A disturbing and illuminating moral expedition."āRichard Eder, Los Angeles Times Book Review
J. M. Coetzee presents a coherent, unorthodox analysis of censorship from the perspective of one who has lived and worked under its shadow. The essays collected here attempt to understand the passion that plays itself out in acts of silencing and censoring. He argues that a destructive dynamic of belligerence and escalation tends to overtake the rivals in any field ruled by censorship.
From Osip Mandelstam commanded to compose an ode in praise of Stalin, to Breyten Breytenbach writing poems under and for the eyes of his prison guards, to Aleksander Solzhenitsyn engaging in a trial of wits with the organs of the Soviet state, Giving Offense focuses on the ways authors have historically responded to censorship. It also analyzes the arguments of Catharine MacKinnon for the suppression of pornography and traces the operations of the old South African censorship system.
"The most impressive feature of Coetzee's essays, besides his ear for language, is his coolheadedness. He can dissect repugnant notions and analyze volatile emotions with enviable poise."āKenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"Those looking for simple, ringing denunciations of censorship's evils will be disappointed. Coetzee explicitly rejects such noble tritenesses. Instead . . . he pursues censorship's deeper, more fickle meanings and unmeanings."āKirkus Reviews
"These erudite essays form a powerful, bracing criticism of censorship in its many guises."āPublishers Weekly
"Giving Offense gets its incisive message across clearly, even when Coetzee is dealing with such murky theorists as Bakhtin, Lacan, Foucault, and RenĆ©; Girard. Coetzee has a light, wry sense of humor."āBill Marx, Hungry Mind Review
"An extraordinary collection of essays."āMartha Bayles, New York Times Book Review
"A disturbing and illuminating moral expedition."āRichard Eder, Los Angeles Times Book Review
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Yes, you can access Giving Offense by J. M. Coetzee in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literary Collections. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Publisher
University of Chicago PressYear
2018Print ISBN
9780226111766, 9780226111742eBook ISBN
9780226111773Table of contents
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- 1. Taking Offense
- 2. Emerging from Censorship
- 3. Lady Chatterleyās Lover: The Taint of the Pornographic
- 4. The Harms of Pornography: Catharine MacKinnon
- 5. Erasmus: Madness and Rivalry
- 6. Osip Mandelstam and the Stalin Ode
- 7. Censorship and Polemic: Solzhenitsyn
- 8. Zbigniew Herbert and the Figure of the Censor
- 9. Apartheid Thinking
- 10. The Work of the Censor: Censorship in South Africa
- 11. The Politics of Dissent: AndrƩ Brink
- 12. Breyten Breytenbach and the Reader in the Mirror
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index