Journal of Literary Writing and Evaluation

JLWE, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2025, pp.185-191.

Print ISSN: 3078-8129; Online ISSN: 3104-5073

Journal homepage: https://www.lwejournal.com

DOI: Https://doi.org/10.64058/JLWE.25.2.01

悬法：《铁器时代》中的赤裸生命

罗文杰（Luo Wenjie），史菊鸿（Shi Juhong）

摘要：对于库切小说《铁器时代》中的民众悲惨命运，学术界多将其归因于种族隔离制度本身，却忽略了制度背后更深层次的政治生命机制。本研究结合阿甘本和福柯的生命政治思想，揭示了小说中苦难的生成机制，分析了种族隔离如何通过“悬法”将个体降格为赤裸生命。进一步地，本文从个体、家庭和社会三个维度探讨了生命所遭受的生存困境，并分析了隐藏在压迫下的抵抗策略，展现个体在极权政治中的生存与抗争可能。

关键词：《铁器时代》；赤裸生命；悬法

作者简介：罗文杰：兰州大学外国语学院硕士研究生，研究方向：美国文学，电邮：1032955648@qq.com。史菊鸿（通信作者）：兰州大学外国语学院教授，主要从事英语小说研究，电邮：shijuhong@lzu.edu.cn。

Title: Suspension of Law: Bare Life in Age of Iron

Abstract: In Age of Iron by J.M. Coetzee, the characters’ misery is often ascribed to the apartheid system, yet the deeper political-biological mechanisms sustaining that system remain underexplored. This study, drawing on Agamben’s and Foucault’s theories of biopolitics, investigates the mechanisms of suffering in the novel, showing how apartheid, through the “suspension of law,” reduces individuals to bare life. It further examines the existential struggles of individuals, families, and society, and uncovers the subtle forms of resistance embedded within oppression, thereby highlighting the possibilities of survival and defiance under authoritarian rule.

Keywords: Age of Iron; Bare life; Suspension of law

Author Biography: Luo Wenjie: Master’s candidate at the School of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Lanzhou University. Research area: American literature. E-mail: 1032955648@qq.com. Shi Juhong (Corresponding author): Professor at the School of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Lanzhou University. Research area: English fiction. E-mail: shijuhong@lzu.edu.cn.

 Received: 10 Sep 2025 / Revised: 10 Sep 2025 / Accepted: 1 Nov 2025 / Published online: 30 Nov 2025 / Print published: 30 Dec 2025.