Individual and Collective Shame in Salman Rushdie's Shame (1983) and J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace (1999)

Abstract

Salman Rushdie and J.M Coetzee are two outstanding post-modern authors, whose works are widely known.Their famous novels entitled Shame and Disgrace deal with the issues of nation, nationalism and, primarily, the painful emotion of shame. These narratives illustrate the struggle of bridging the gap between individual and collective shame. In my thesis I focus on the representation of this individual and collective shame through the analysis of the personal histories of the main characters.