Heart of Darkness and Postcolonial criticism
Postcolonial literature and postcolonial criticism 1
As my term paper, I decided to analysie the work of Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness. I will examine this work according to methods of Postcolonial criticism. he 1!th cent"ry is also known as the era of #"ropean domination. he $ritish #mpire emerged as the largest and most powerf"l imperial states. In the %& th cent"ry the $ritish #mpire controlled almost '"arter of the #arth(s total land area, with colonies s"ch as India, A"stralia or Canada and significant holdings in Africa, )est Indies, *o"th America, +iddle #ast and *o"theast Asia. he coloniers -elieed that their own Anglo/*axon c"lt"re was more sophisticated, ciilied and metropolitan. 0atie people of colonies were considered to -e "nderdeeloped, saage and -ackward. he coloniers -elieed that their c"lt"re was more adanced -eca"se their technology was far more s"perior. hey also ignored, or een swept aside the religions, c"stoms and codes of -ehaio"r of the people they s"-"gated. he postcolonial era refers to the phase, when the hird )orld co"ntries finaly got o"t of the grasp of their oppressors and were in the process of recoery. Among the many challenges that postcolonial a"thors were facing were attempts to res"rrect their c"lt"re -"t also to com-at the preconceptions a-o"t their c"lt"re. D"ring this era a new form of literary criticism was -orn 2 the postcolonial criticism. he postcolonial criticism defined the formerly colonied people as any pop"lation that had -een s"-ected to the political domination and oppression of another pop"lation. It analyes literat"re prod"ced -y c"lt"res that deeloped in response to colonial domination, from the first point of colonial contact to the present. he main themes on which the postcolonial literat"re foc"se were iss"es s"ch as the initial enco"nter with the coloniers and the disr"ption of indigeno"s c"lt"re3 o"rney of the #"ropean o"tside thro"gh an "nfamiliar wilderness with a natie g"ide3 othering and colonial oppression3 mimicry 4an attempt of colonied people to imitate the coloniers53 the feeling of natie people that they are o"tsiders in their own land3 disill"sion of natie people and the loss of hope for -righter f"t"re3 str"ggle for indiid"al and collectie c"lt"ral identity and related themes of alienation, "nhomeliness, do"-le conscio"sness and hy-ridity3 the need of the colonied people to ret"rn to their pre/colonial state3 self/definition of the political f"t"re. he literary text can -e analyed as colonialist or anti/colonialist, which can -e detected from the way how the text is oriented 2 whether it reinforces the idea of colonialism or it resists the idea of colonial oppression. +ost of the postcolonial literat"re was written -y colonied or formerly colonied people, -"t there were also a"thors from the ranks of coloniers. %
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness is a noella written -y Joseph Conrad, which tells "s the story of +arlow, an iory transporter. he main setting of the story is in Congo, Africa, which was a $elgian territory. he main narratie of the story is +arlow(s oyage "p the Congo rier, which he took as a yo"ng man. here are 6 men on the ship 2 captain and Director of Companies, the 7awyer, the Acco"ntat, the "nnamed 0arrator and +arlow. )hen the darkness falls, +arlow says that it is one of the dark places of the world. 8 (And this also,( said +arlow s"ddenly, 9has -een one of the dark places of the earth.( :
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his statement
already s"ggests that we are dealing with an iss"e of foreign co"ntry, which is seen as wild, dangero"s and may-e een primitie -y e"ropean occ"pants of the -oat. Also rier hames is mentioned. hames eokes images and memories of famo"s $ritish adent"rers and explorers that set o"t on glorio"s oyages from rier hames. Pro"dly and with praise, the narrator mentions many achieements and s"ccesses that these explorers gained, calling them 8knight/errants: of the sea. his title implies that he considered their deeds to -e something that helped the $ritish #mpire to achiee greater glory and it was for no-le p"rpose. he narrator -eliees that these men contri-"ted to the spread of ciiliation and enlightement to the rest of the planet. Here we can see significant signs of colonialism. Praising the #mpire and gloryfying is a typical sign of coloniers. his also s"ggests the main topic of the story, which will -e the preailing factor d"ring the whole -ook 2 the imperialism and the desire to gain more and more infl"ence oer foreign co"ntry, to s"-"gate and colonie it thro"gh political, economic and military oppression. At the time the -ook takes place, the $ritish #mpire was at the peak of its power, there was een saying that 8the s"n neer sets on the $ritish #mpire:, which was in fact tr"e, -eca"se the $ritish #mpire had colonies and territories all oer the world. In those times, the opinion that the imperialism is worthy and glorio"s thing, preailed. Howeer, +arlow slightly differs from this direction. ;rom the first moment he opened his mo"th, he sets himself as a kind of an opposition to his co/passengers. Instead of agreeing with their praise and glorification of the $ritish #mpire, he says that also $ritain was once a saage land and the hames was not always a starting point of fantastic and glorio"s o"rney into the heart of wilderness. his characteries +arlow thro"gho"t the whole -ook. He is depicted as 1
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness 4Harlow, Peng"in $ooks, %&&<5=.
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a slightly ironic narrator that gies the impression that his co/passengers are wrong, -"t offers no alternatie opinion. ;rom +arlow(s way of storytelling, we can see that he is a -ig critic of imperialism, howeer he does not criticie the things that the coloniers do to the natie people, -"t he criticies what the imperialism does to the #"ropeans. He despises the fact that the imperialism l"res the #"ropeans o"t of their ciilied homes and draws them toward the iolent wilderness and lawlesness of Africa. He does not approe the attempts to ciilie and ed"cate the natie people. $"t this disapproal has not its origin in +arlow(s -elief that the naties hae a deeloped and ciilied c"lt"re of their own, -"t he -eliees that these attempts are f"tile, -eca"se the naties are too saage. Howeer he watches with horror the iolent mistreatment of the naties. He -elieed that there is a sort of kinship -etween white #"ropeans and naties of Africa. An "gly, horrifying and extremly distant kinship, -"t still a kinship. 8hey howled and leaped, and sp"n, and made horrid faces3 -"t what thrilled yo" was "st the tho"ght of their h"manity? like yo"rs?the tho"ght of yo"r remote kinship with this wild and passionate "proar. @gly. es, it was "gly eno"gh3 -"t if yo" were man eno"gh yo" wo"ld admit to yo"rself that there ywas in yo" "st the faintest trace of a response to the terri-le frankness of that noise, a dim s"spicion of there -eing a meaning in it which yo"?yo" so remote from the night of first ages?co"ld comprehend.: 2 here is also a passage where +arlow sees a map of Africa in the Company offices. he map shows ario"s colo"rs, which represent ario"s colonies owned -y ario"s #"ropean powers. he map itself may appear as an insignificant o-ect, -"t it is '"ite important and clear sign of colonialism and imperialistic presence in Africa. +arlow comment on the map tells "s that not all imperial powers are same. 0ot that one is good and the other is eil, it is more a-o"t fact that one is eil and the other is een more eil. +arlow was in serice to $elgian king 7eopold, who treated Congo like his personal property and $elgians were known as the most cr"els and inh"mane coloniers. 8I(e seen the deil of iolence, and the deil of greed, and the deil of hot desire3 -"t, -y all the starsB these were strong, l"sty, red/eyed deils, that swayed and droe men?men, I tell yo". $"t as I stood on this hillside, I foresaw that in the -linding s"nshine of that land I wo"ld -ecome ac'"ainted with a fla--y, pretending, weak/eyed deil of a rapacio"s and pitiless folly.: 3 In this '"otation Conrad shows "s another of +arlow(s opinions a-o"t imperialism. he weak/eyed deil8 represents the colonists and their -ehaio"r. I tis %
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness 4Harlow, Peng"in $ooks, %&&<5<%.
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Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness 4Harlow, Peng"in $ooks, %&&<5%!.
another cl"e that +arlow thinks the imperialism and colonisation of foreign co"ntries in s"ch way is wrong. $"t again he does not criticies the typical deilish attri-"tes, which the colonists possessed and "sed on the naties 2 iolence, greed, desire 2 -"t he criticied the foolishness and ineffectiity of their actions. In another section of the -ook, +arlow sees a pict"re painted -y E"rt. +arlow is slightly astonished -y the pict"re 2 a -lindfolded woman wieldeng a torch. he pict"re itself represents the -lindness of #"ropeans to horrors and atrocities commited on the s"-"gated Africans. 8It was "nearthly, and the men were?0o, they were not inh"man. )ell, yo" know, that was the worst of it?this s"spicion of their not -eing inh"man. It wo"ld come slowly to one. hey howled and leaped, and sp"n, and made horrid faces3 -"t what thrilled yo" was "st the tho"ght of their h"manity? like yo"rs?the tho"ght of yo"r remote kinship with this wild and passionate "proar.:
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In this part +arlow feels like he is entering the
prehistoric earth. his is in accord with the common #"ropeans( iew of African naties as primitie -easts. Howeer +arlow realies that this what Freat $ritain co"ld look like h"ndreds years ago d"ring the era of Goman coloniation of $ritain. he whole idea of #"ropean c"lt"ral s"periority and African primitiism is p"t into contradiction when depicting the 8pilgrims8 and the 8canni-als8. Pilgrims are ro"gh, iolent men, while on the other hand the canni-als, despite their sit"ation, -ehae with dignity. #en in their condition 2 h"nger and exha"stion 2 they perform their d"ties witho"t any compliant and een show sense of h"mor when oking that they wo"ld like to eat the oices they hear. 7ater in the story, E"rt starts to -e nearly insane. He appears to -e ery drastic, iolent and een -loodthirsty towards the naties. He starts to maintain a godlike attit"de especially towards the Africans and claimed that the iory is only his own. He wrote a doc"ment of 1< pages that s"ppresses the saage c"stoms of naties in order to ciilie them. Howeer this attempt to ciilie the locals is in strong contradiction to the postscript which states that all the -r"tes m"st -e exterminated. his can -e "nderstood as Conrad(s hidden message stating that the proclaimed attempts to ciilie the saages is "st a poor exc"se for exploiting the locals. his part of the story also reeals E"rt(s hipocrisy. Despite the fact that he considers the locals to -e nothing more than saages that need to -e ciilied or exterminated, he maintains a relationship with a -lack woman. Howeer, later in the -ook when E"rt dies, despite the fact what he has -ecome, +arlow -lames the
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness 4Harlow, Peng"in $ooks, %&&<5<%.
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#"rope promises of -ringing ciiliation and enlightement, and een Africa itself for E"rt(s corr"ption. +y oerall feelings and "nderstanding of the story is that Heart of Darkness is -ook that condemns the colonialism. Conrad shows "s the mistreatment and in"stice commited on the African people. ;or me, the title is a metaphor that says that the real darkness is not in Africa, -"t in #"rope and its ideals of colonisation. he end of the -ook offers "s the most important '"estion 2 can the eils of colonisation -e exc"sed in the name of tr"th or knowledge I think that eeryone will find the answer after reading this -ook.
Bibliography: Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Harlow Peng"in, %&&<.
Internet sources: =
Postcolonialism, Accessed Jan"ary !, %&1>, httpwww.enotes.compostcolonialism/ essayspostcolonialism
A Postcolonial and Psychological Approach to Heart of Darkness, Accessed Jan"ary 1&, %&1>, httpep"-l.lt".se1&%/166%%&&=&!&7@/D@PP/&=&!&/*#.pdf
Post/Colonial theory and Heart of Darkness, Accessed Jan"ary 1&, %&1>, httpwww.1%>helpme.comiew.aspidK<<%&
Post/Colonial Criticism, Accessed Jan"ary 11, %&1>, httpowl.english.p"rd"e.ed"owlreso"rce<%%1&
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