Comment on:
Edward Said,
“Two Visions in Heart of Darkness”
Edward Said claims that Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness contains two visions. On the one hand the novel can be seen as a vision on colonialism in general and on the other hand it can just be seen as a story, which is set in the time of colonialism.
I personally support the second vision and think of Heart of Darkness as a story. Although it contains many issues of that time, after all it is a novel and not a scientific book on colonialism. Therefore I think the author cannot be criticized for not presenting a full picture of the historical and political background.
Hi Wibke,
AntwortenLöschenFirst, your page demonstrates a highly artful design, thank you.
Regarding Said's reading of Conrad--I should first say that Said's whole concern in the book Culture and Imperialism from which we have read just an excerpt is to highlight the connections and dependencies between colonialism as a historical condition, and the works of art and literature that were produced under the influence of those conditions.
So for Said the novel of the Empire tells us a lot about the oolonial enterprise, and we can and indeed must read it as a manifestation of how the native people are cast in the colonial imaginary.
Regarding the two alternative ways this can be done while reading The Heart of Darkness, you may take a look at the comments I have left at Hande's blog:
http://handecakir.blogspot.com/
aufwiedersehen,
Ayşe
:) Hi Wibke,
AntwortenLöschenAs you said, it should be interpreted in that way; I also agree to some degree, that is this is a novel with a specific story and therefore Conrad should not be criticized. However, I think that all these little pieces of literary writings do or should represent the "realistic" picture of the age. As for the novel, it really does but there are some controversial points throughout the novel, and this serves for imperialism according to Edward Said.