Colonial and Postcolonial in "Heart of Darkness"
By Joseph Conrad
Introduction
“Postcolonial" was initially used to describe the period that started after the Second World War with the retreat of colonial expansion and the rise of liberation movements in colonized countries. Building upon such understanding, postcolonial literature tended to be regarded as being that specific literature written by the members of the formerly colonized countries after the removal of colonial rule; that is, if the word "post" is seen as meaning "after", then the starting point of postcolonial literature was after the end of the colonial period. Therefore, In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, the British novelist (1857-1924) is preoccupied with sea and sea voyage in his work. Conrad tells us the story of Captain Marlow, who went deep into Africa by the river Congo in pursuit of Kurtz, in whom evil won a victory over good when he cut all his ties with civilization. Conrad’s use a sea and sea voyage symbolically, base his story on his personal experience, and it mainly concerned with the human nature and the existence of good and evil.In Heart of Darkness, Some social issues are carefully taken up and severely criticized by Conrad; he points out in details the evils side of colonialism in Africa. Conrad’s strong objection to colonialism is given at the very beginning of Heartof Darkness. It is the aim of this Paper to find Joseph Conrad's attitude towards colonialism in the light of the different critical readings of Heart of Darkness. (Conrad, Joseph; 1983)
1
Conrad Purely Anti-colonialist
Heart of Darkness is obviously an anti-colonial novel, which criticizes the crimes committed in the Congo in the name of civilization. What has complicated the matter and caused a division among critics is that Conrad has made several hints here and there in the novel which reveal his ambivalent attitude towards colonialism as a whole. A close reading of some...