Joseph Conrad And The Anthropological Dilemma

By situating Conrad's work in relation to other writings on 'primitive' peoples, John Griffith shows how his fiction draws on prominent anthropological and biological theories regarding the degenerative potential of contacts between European and other cultures. At the same time, however, Conrad's work reflected an anthropological dilemma: he constantly posed the question of how to bridge conceptual and cultural gaps between various peoples.

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Constance, course: Post-colonial Short Stories, language: English, abstract: On the basis of two of Joseph Conrad's early writings, this paper tries to examine the effects of colonialism on the Westerner, as Conrad depicted them. The first object of this analysis will be the short story “An Outpost of Progress”. Questions that will be addressed are the origin of the influences, their nature and their results as well as the depiction of the protagonists, their environment and their interaction. Secondly, this paper will attempt to compare the occurring patterns of the short story to Conrad’s most prominent work, the novel “Heart of Darkness”. The question whether the short story can actually be compared to the novel at all, and finally the reconsideration of the popular thesis that “An Outpost of Progress” merely represents a sketch for “Heart of Darkness” will form the latter part of the analysis.

This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date history of the commentary written about the life and works of Joseph Conrad.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- Free Will and Determinism: A Philosophical Introduction -- Free Will and Determinism in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Britain -- Conrad and the Problem of Free Will -- Heart of Darkness and the Empire Machine -- Nostromo and the Mechanics of History -- The Secret Agent and the Urban Jungle -- Conclusion -- Works Cited.

Joseph Conrad achieved worldwide literary renown in his third language. Despite not having learned English until his twenties, Conrad succeeded in breaking new ground with his portrayal of anti-heroes & distinctive narrative style, becoming a major influence on 20th century English language fiction.

This highly original study opens up a new dimension to Joseph Conrad by revealing his lifelong fascination with the popular culture of his day. Drawing on original archival materials and treating subjects as diverse as Bovril advertising, spirit photography, sea shanties, global tourism, and the new sport of speed-walking, it shows how Conrad's fiction makes a sustained response to early-twentieth-century popular culture and will be of interest to all students, scholars and enthusiasts of Conrad.

This book focuses on the complex relationships between inheritance, work, and desert in literature. It shows how, from its manifestation in the trope of material inheritance and legacy in Victorian fiction, “inheritance” gradually took on additional, more modern meanings in Joseph Conrad’s fiction on work and self-making. In effect, the emphasis on inheritance as referring to social rank and wealth acquired through birth shifted to a focus on talent, ability, and merit, often expressed through work. The book explores how Conrad’s fiction engaged with these changing modes of inheritance and work, and the resulting claims of desert they led to. Uniquely, it argues that Conrad’s fiction critiques claims of desert arising from both work and inheritance, while also vividly portraying the emotional costs and existential angst that these beliefs in desert entailed. The argument speaks to and illuminates today’s debates on moral desert arising from work and inheritance, in particular from meritocratic ideals. Its new approach to Conrad’s works will appeal to students and scholars of Conrad and literary modernism, as well as a wider audience interested in philosophical and social debates on desert deriving from inheritance and work.

The Fourth Edition is again based on Robert Kimbrough’s meticulously re-edited text. Missing words have been restored and the entire novel has been repunctuated in accordance with Conrad’s style. The result is the first published version of Heart of Darkness that allows readers to hear Marlow’s voice as Conrad heard it when he wrote the story. "Backgrounds and Contexts" provides readers with a generous collection of maps and photographs that bring the Belgian Congo to life. Textual materials, topically arranged, address nineteenth-century views of imperialism and racism and include autobiographical writings by Conrad on his life in the Congo. New to the Fourth Edition is an excerpt from Adam Hochschild’s recent book, King Leopold’s Ghost, as well as writings on race by Hegel, Darwin, and Galton. "Criticism" includes a wealth of new materials, including nine contemporary reviews and assessments of Conrad and Heart of Darkness and twelve recent essays by Chinua Achebe, Peter Brooks, Daphne Erdinast-Vulcan, Edward Said, and Paul B. Armstrong, among others. Also new to this edition is a section of writings on the connections between Heart of Darkness and the film Apocalypse Now by Louis K. Greiff, Margot Norris, and Lynda J. Dryden. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.