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ofthenovelist(ultimatelytherepresentativeofcolonisingpower).
Thusthemeaningofthevictimremainsinaccessiblewithinsuchdis-
course,althoughitleavesitstracethere,thetracethatwillalways
constituteachallenge.Butthisisnotall,forwithinthecontextof
suchliberalattitudetheirretrievablemeaningofthevictimdoes
notonlyposetheinaccessibletruthasthetruthofpainofwhich
itisimpossibletospeakbydefinitionbutthisveryimpossibility
seemstoradiateacertaintranscendence,acertainhumanuniversal,
theproperlyexistentialmeaningofwhatitistobeahumanbeing,
whichcanbesummarisedasKthisfragilecreaturewhocanbehurt.”
Inthiscontext,afteraseriesofKenigmatic”novels,Coetzee’sAge
ofIrontakesanunexpectedstep:fromitsnarrativethecentralKin-
accessibility”characteristicoftheearliernovelsvanishesandwhat
appearsinitsplaceisthesplitcolonisedother:ontheonehand,the
actualviolentinsurgentagainstapartheid,ontheother,theblack
alcoholicderelict.whatismore,thesetwoincompatibleattitudes
areconfrontedbyaproperrepresentativeoftheliberaldiscourse
completewiththesanctionoftheidealofKharmonious”humanity
bestowedonherbyhereducation–aretireduniversitylectureron
theclassics.AndalthoughAgeofIronisinmanyrespectsartistically
inferiortoitspredecessors,orperhapsbecauseitisinferior–that
is,becausethecrucialantagonisminitescapestosomeextentbeing
aestheticallysublimated–thetruthoftheinaccessibleotherisput
intoasharperfocus:thechiasmusappearswhichillustrateswhy
theother’sineffabletraceisonlyaruseofthecolonialistdiscourse.
Insuchaconfrontationboththespeakableandtheunspeakable
situatethemselvesoneachsideofthesplit.whentheotherappears
intheformoftheinsurgent,theKhumanist”discourseknowsexactly
whatisthemeaningofthemessageoftheother(violentoverthrow
ofpower)butsuchmessageiswithintheliberalparadigmutterly
incomprehensible(howcanhesacrificeallthatisKhuman”inhim
forKdeath-drivenmaleconstructions”).whentheotherisincarnated
bythederelict,hismeaningisincomprehensible(whatishisdark
secretwhichmakeshimlivelikethat?),whilehismessageisper-
fectlyunderstood:hedemandspityandhumanheart.Oneshould
notethatonlyinthesecondcaseissomethingakintothekernel
oftranscendence(amenabletobenovelisticallydevelopedandam-
plified)hidden(thedarksecret,thecauseofbecomingthevictim),
whiletheinsurgentistakentobeutterlytransparent–hismotiva-
tionsarealltooobviousandthereforenotamenabletobecominga
subjectofaKhumanistic”novel,whichwouldtreatthemassimplistic
propagandalackinginKhuman”truth,thatis,inanexistentialdi-
~10~
