Tuesday, 5 June: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, pp. 3-54 (up to part III); Chinua Achebe, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Norton Critical Edition of Heart of Darkness, pp. 251-262 ; Charles Larson, "Heroic Ethnocentrism: The Idea of Universality in Literature" (PCSR 62-65)

·        Presentation relating PCSR (or other critical readings) with primary text:

reader: Verena Ollikkala
respondent: Kimberly Jones
recorder: Carolyn Richard

Josef Conrad, Heart of Darkness & Chinua Achebe, "An Image of Africa ":

Chinua Achebe – as an African – critiques Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as an epitome of racism. I believe that Chinua Achebe is partially justified in condemning Conrad’s writings as promoting prejudicial views of Africa, yet we have also to keep in mind that Conrad is a product of his time frame in history.

Conrad uses verbal expressions to evoke moods or mental pictures, as we read his descriptions of the two rivers framing the story of the Congo exploitation, told by Marlowe. The river Thames is a concoction of beautiful lights, of calmness and reason. This river had been tamed by civilized Britain, to provide a peaceful refuge to Marlowe the traveller, who tells of his experience as a river boat captain in a strange, dark continent.

The river Congo and its surrounding banks provide the scenery for the search for "Kurtz", an enigmatic man, somewhere in the upriver jungles of Central Africa. This river setting is described in words like dark, dank, rotten, sluggish and primeval. It transports our minds to an alien and threatening world, which is incomparable with civilized standards, as European man is accustomed to.

Chinua Achebe strongly rejects this description of Africa and its people. He points out that Conrad uses "Western psychology" as a the reason to exemplify Europe’s superiority and its "spiritual grace"; leaving Africa as the uncivilized, childlike and uneducated entity. Africa is not to be put on equal footing with the Western world. Conrad, Achebe claims, puts Africa and all it contains – its natural features and its people - in opposition to Europe, which is personified by the refined and cultured man.

The class discussion focused mostly on Achebe’s rejection of Conrad’s "Africa". The respondent (Dale) found that Achebe’s critique was not too harsh, when his African viewpoint was taken into account. She pointed out that an African would assume his own landscape as non-threatening and rather beautiful, as the African is familiar with his own surrounding. Therefore, presumably, the European would find Africa strange and dangerous. This difference constitutes one part of a culture clash.

Dale also found that the "the way the text is written" provides reason for guilt by describing local people animal like. Other participants in the class discussion pointed out that there are degrees of racism: an example cited points to Albert Schweitzer, who claimed Africans are "the younger brothers", who needed to be helped. Dr. White mentioned that Achebe is justified, because nobody seems to be speaking for Africans or allowing history from their point of view. Another opinion voiced, that "all have Hearts of Darkness," because their main concern was profiteering for the benefit of the Empire.