Cirrus@Austlit

'Alexandra Effe's J.M Coetzee and the Ethics of Narrative Transgression: A Reconsideration of Metalepsis is a timely contribution to the fields of Coetzee studies, narratology, contemporary literature and literary theory. Effe refocuses Coetzee criticism – recently dominated by the availability of archival material at the Harry Ransom Centre which is discussed in studies, such as David Attwell's J.M. Coetzee and the Life of Writing: Face to Face with Time (2015) – to consider his published texts as a site of dialogue. Her study unites ethical and narratological concepts to broaden a critical understanding of metalepsis – a rhetorical phenomenon of boundary transgression. Metalepsis is shown to generate tensions and uncertainties in Coetzee's works, thus exemplifying ethical impact as contingent on a dialogic process of communication between author and reader.'  (Introduction)