J.M. Coetzee and the art. of conversion : "The life & times of Michael K" from an anthropotechnic perspective

Online First 2021-12-29

The article is an attempt to interpret Life and Times of Michael K as a work focused on building a conversion situation. Conversion is understood here, according to theory of Rob Wilson, as the secularized equivalent of metanoia. The basic theoretical context is the game of concepts by Peter Sloterdijk, who redefines religion as a spiritual exercise system, and presents modernity as the domain of alternative systems of vertical tension. From this perspective, the novel by J. M. Coetzee offers a spiritual exercise for the epoch of "despiritualization of asceticisms". The protagonist's repeated escapes and his voluntary hunger strike (juxtaposed with a similar theme in Franz Kafka's short story) elude simple interpretations. The writer experiment with narrative strategies aimed at building a meta-allegory and ironic inversion of interpretive clichés, that the reader must face the imperative of a complete change of life.