• Severine Pinto

John Maxwell Coetzee, a descendant of Africaner parents, developed a sensitivity to the happenings in South Africa in terms of colonialism, imperialism, racism, human oppression and loss of dignity to man. Impact of colonialism is even seen on earth, as the riverbanks burn, desertification sets in, fields are flooded. As a dissident literary voice speaking against the apartheid regime in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Coetzee’s writings bring to public his frustration with powerful themes and motifs. This paper lists the various motifs that are to be noticed in the works of J. M.Coetzee. Motifs in terms power conflict, racial supremacy and marital discord, the idea of cannibalism, optimism for better future have been used in Dusklands (1974), Waiting for the Barbarians (1980), Life &Times of Michael K (1983) and Foe (1986) that reinforces themes of relationships between colonizer and colonized. Review of literature indicates that the focus of the researchers has been on the motifs embedded in the protagonists and narration. The present study explores the literary strategy illustrating the point of view of the colonised and the characters at the periphery. Therefore, the study is directed to define motif, identify various motifs especially the optimistic ones in nature, illustrate the role of certain motifs employed only to reinforce the theme of the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized and explore the colonial discourse as a major motif. The research problem is analysed, discussed and interpreted in the spirit of investigation and literary interpretation. An adequate attempt of the descriptive and conceptual research has been made to identify the nature of literary motifs, the dominant motifs and the motifs used particularly by J.M. Coetzee to unearth the colonised and the colonizer divide, deeply rooted during the apartheid South Africa.

motifs, themes, colonialism, imperialism, oppression, desertification, colonial discourse

"Explication of Motifs in Select Novels of J.M.Coetzee", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 8, page no.a712-a716, August-2021, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2108093.pdf

"Explication of Motifs in Select Novels of J.M.Coetzee", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 8, page no. ppa712-a716, August-2021, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2108093.pdf