Configurations of imperialism and their displacements in the novels of Joseph Conrad.
Abstract
This thesis examines certain configurations of imperialism
and their displacements in the novels of Joseph Conrad
beginning from the premise that imperialism is rationalised
through a dualistic model of self/"other" and functions as
a hierarchy of domination/subordination. In chapters one
and two it argues that both Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim
configure this model of imperialism as a split between
Europe/not-Europe. The third and fourth chapters consider
displacements of this model: onto a split within Europe and
an act of "internal" imperialism in Under Western Eyes and
onto unequal gender relations in the public and private
spheres in Chance.
Each chapter provides a reading of the selected novel
in relation to one or more contemporary (or near
contemporary) primary source and analyses these texts using
various strands of cultural theory. Chapter one, on Heart
of Darkness, investigates the historical background to
British imperialism by focusing on the textual production
of history in a variety of written forms which comprise the
diary, travel writing, government report, fiction. It
considers how versions of (imperial) history/knowledge are
constructed through the writing up of experience. In
chapter two, on Lord Jim, the hero figure is analysed as a
product of the imperial ideology and the protagonist's
failure is explored through the application of evolutionary
theory.
Chapters three and four, on Under Western Eyes and
Chance, investigate displacements of the imperial model:
the failure of an "enlightened" Western Europe to challenge
Russian imperialism in Poland forms the basis for reading
Under Western Eyes with Rousseau's writings and a
nineteenth-century history of the French Revolution. Chance
presents a further displacement of this model in its
relocation of imperialist imperatives in the sexual/gender
inequalities practised in the "mother" country.
Authors
Marcus, MiriamCollections
- Theses [4116]