J.M. Coetzee by Kannemeyer J.C.; Heyns Michiel;

Author:Kannemeyer, J.C.; Heyns, Michiel;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BIO000000, BIO007000, FIC019000
Publisher: Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
Published: 2012-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

VI

When Coetzee began his lectureship in English at UCT, a new regime was instituted by David Gillham, a regime that sought to impose a dated form of ‘practical criticism’, modelled on the teachings of F.R. Leavis, on all members of the department. As an academic Leavis had reacted fiercely to the philological studies which were in vogue at Cambridge, and of which Guy Howarth, Gillham’s predecessor, had also been an exponent. Leavis, and Gillham after him, found this kind of factual ‘scholarship’ futile. Leavis also believed that no theoretical discussion of literature should be sustained for too long without recourse to critical practice. Gillham went even further. He found it unnecessary for any attention to be devoted in his department to the theory of literature. Like Leavis, he wanted lecture courses to be devoted to the ‘great tradition’, the great writers of British literature, with no space for writing originating in the colonies.

It was to be expected that Coetzee, with his extensive knowledge of the latest trends in literary theory, would not be happy with this. He was appalled at the fact that all South African literature and the writings of prominent writers in other former colonies were excluded, other than perhaps a few works prescribed in the first year. Gillham had not published prolifically: his single major publication, Blake’s Contrary States: The ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ as Dramatic Poems,76 was a reworking of his doctoral thesis. Coetzee, on the other hand, was producing, apart from his creative work, important critical studies. It would not be surprising if Gillham soon began to see Coetzee as a threat to his status as head of department, and he may even have resented his prominence. Gillham apparently did not realise that Coetzee was not in the least interested in burdening himself with a power base such as the headship, with all the red tape that it entailed. All he wanted was to reach a position in which he could teach his subject in peace and with his own insights, and carry on with his own creative work and research.

Colleagues complained that Gillham was autocratic in his dealings with them. He would, for instance, check their library orders, and scrap some of the titles, without informing the lecturer concerned. He would at times interfere when a lecturer had, according to him, awarded too high a mark to a student; and would moderate the mark. When one lecturer objected to this procedure, Gillham suggested that they take the matter to the dean or even higher in the university hierarchy, leaving the colleague intimidated.77

In spite of the friction between him and Gillham,78 Coetzee was promoted to senior lecturer and fellow, and at the beginning of 1981 was promoted ad hominem to associate professor. Perhaps Coetzee weathered the tension in the department thanks to his long spells as visiting lecturer at various US universities. In the first semester of 1984 he studied and lectured at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and in 1985 and again in 1989 spent a semester in each year at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

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