1. HEART OF DARKNESS

2. Jozef Konrad Korzenioswi was born in Russian-occupied Poland in 1857
JOSEPH CONRAD
Jozef Konrad Korzenioswi was born in Russian-occupied Poland in 1857
1874 Left for Marseilles, France, and became a sailor.
1878 Joined an English ship
1878 Became a British citizen
1890 Voyage to Africa
He later abandoned the sea and devoted himself to writing
MAIN WORKS
Heart of Darkness (1899)
Nostromo (1904)
Lord Jim(1900)
The Secret Agent (1907)

3. IMPERIALISM was the key issue in most of Conrad’s works
WRITING IN A TIME OF CRISIS
IMPERIALISM was the key issue in most of Conrad’s works
Justified by Western powers as a noble enterprise, bringing the «light» of civilization to savages
Conrad strongly criticized the imperial exploitation of Africa, which he defined as
«The vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience […]»

4. «Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold» (W.B. Yeats)
WRITING IN A TIME OF CRISIS
Like many Late Victorian writers, he perceived that the values of society were collapsing
«Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold» (W.B. Yeats)
Conrad sought to portray the COMPLEXITY OF EXPERIENCE through both content and form

5. PORTRAYING COMPLEXITY - CONTENT
What happens to the codes we live by in society when we are on your own and we go through
a moment of crisis?
INADEQUACY

6. PORTRAYING COMPLEXITY - FORM
Conrad is considered by many a FORERUNNER of MODERNISM
No more third- person, omniscient narrator
(Victorian)
DISRUPTION of CHRONOLOGICAL NARRATION
Fragmented perspective  HISTORY presented from DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW
Frame narration
Psychologically laden symbolism
CHINESE BOXES TECHNIQUE