J.M. Coetzee once said: The standard is the body. §Whatever else, the body is not ''that which is not'', §and the proof that it is is the pain that it feels. §[...] it is not that one grants authority to the §suffering body: the suffering body takes this §authority: that is its power. Using this statement §as a departure point this book examines how the §suffering body functions as a deconstructive trope §in J.M. Coetzee s novels Waiting for the Barbarians §and Age of Iron. It has been argued that it is §impossible to find a space outside discourse where §one can create a true counter-discursive narrative. §However, this reading claims that the trope of the §suffering body acts as counter-discourse regardless §of these issues because its efforts rest not on §language, but on silence. The study makes use of a §deconstructive theoretical basis and narrative §analysis to refute previous claims both within the §critical reception of J.M. Coetzee s works and §within the field of post-colonial studies. The study §should be of interest to anyone who is §looking for an original approach to one of the most §complex and critically acclaimed authors of our time. schovat popis