1. Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
Africa, Imperialism, and Conquest

2. Joseph Conrad Born 1857 in Russian-occupied Poland
Patriot father & family exiled in 1862
Both parents dead of illness by 1869
Conservative uncle took him in

3. Conrad (Continued) Joined French Merchant Marines in 1874 at age 16
Kicked out due to nationality & suicide attempt
Joined British Merchant Marines in 1878
Left the sea, began writing in 1894
Died in 1924
Buried in Canterbury

4. Real Life vs. Fiction
Conrad's personal crisis mirrors collective crisis
: Conrad goes to Congo & captains river steamboat to retrieve Klein
Trauma & illness haunt him the rest of his life
HOD: Marlow goes to Congo and captains river steamboat to retrieve Kurtz
Traumatized for life

5. Africa and Imperialism

6. The People of the Congo

7. Africa: the heart of darkness?

8. Africa: the heart of darkness?

9. Modernist Literature Style
"Narrative frame" - narrator tells story of another character telling a story
Marlow’s 1st-person narration = “limited” omniscient [not all-knowing]: introspective, discontinuous, fragmented, suggestive/evocative, a-rational connections
Interior monologue, “stream of consciousness," flash-forward/ flash-back
Associative (vs. linear) “logic” intertwines present awareness & memory