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Idea of (anti)Imperialism in Joseph Conrad's Novel "Heart of Darkness" Joseph Conrad’s famous novel “Heart of Darkness” became an object of intense discussions. After famous Chinua Achebe’s article An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad‘s Heart of Darkness published in 1977 where he accuses J. Conrad of being “bloody racist”, scholars remain divided. Some of them agree with Ch. Achebe and continues with criticism on racism, feminism, imperialism and other issues. However other group defends J. Conrad and claims he was anti-imperialist and revealed cruel ruling of imperialists of the Victorian times. The debate continues for almost forty years without any clear answer. But there is one obvious conclusion – political ideas in the novel is the most important thing. That is why in this thesis political science interpretation is offered. History of ideas humanitarian school used in this work was created by A. O. Lovejoy and later on it was developed by many scholars. Q. Skinner criticism of A. O. Lovejoy approach is especially significant in this work since it provided groundwork for synchronic micro-study which is used to analyze “Heart of Darkness”. Q. Skinner offers research strategy which involves both text and context. It is really important for novel analysis since it takes into account specific time period of imperialism and J. Conrad’s biography. Political science point of view can provide new perspective of this topic since history of ideas usually focus on political or philosophical texts. But as it is interdisciplinary approach its specific aspects can provide entertaining results. Josephs Conrad’s “Heart of darkness” analysis is divided by three aspects – biography, discourse and text itself. This combination helps to understand the intention of the author, which is really important for history of ideas. Understanding original intentions of the novel allows to accept or reject accusations made by most famous critic Ch. Achebe who is often criticized for interpreting only text and not taking specific historical context into account. Ch. Achebe raises another important question whether novel which uses racist language can be considered as literary canon. Text like this cannot be read in schools since it creates a backward image of Africa. “Heart of darkness” analysis which involves context allows to decide whether racism is a product of its own time period or specific intention of the author. If it comes from the discourse of the time, another important question can be raised – should we remove all books written in controversial times despite its literary value since appropriate discourse has changed? |
