Chinua Achebe, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness
-Conrad's Heart of Darkness most fully embodies the desire (or need) of Western psychology to set Africa up as a foil to Europe
-Though Conrad sets up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his history, he neglects to even hint at an alternative frame of reference by which we may judge the actions and opinions of his characters
-"The point of my observations should be quite clear by now, namely that Joseph Conrad was a bloody racist."
-Achebe says that because of this, Heart of Darkness cannot be called a great work of art
-Conrad's own diary is evidence that he and Marlow have similar theories
-Though Conrad did see and condemn the evil of imperial exploitation, he was strnagely unaware of the racism on which it sharpened its iron tooth
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment