Conrad’s Negotiation: An Interpretation of Heart of Darkness from the Perspective of New Historicism

Abstract

New Historicists hold the belief that literary texts should be interpreted under given historical contexts and that rebellion is set strictly by the rebelled powers. That is to say, a writer has to deal with different discourses in his work in order to meet the needs of both readers and the official power. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, two conflicting discourses unfold respectively, namely anti-colonialism and Euro-centrism. Conrad’s anti-colonialism ideology comes through the exposure of the white’s hypocrisy as well as the criticism of environmental destruction while the dominant discourse, Euro-centrism shows its presence by depicting Africa as a savage other world along with African people to be animal-like, silent others. It is demonstrated that Conrad not only expresses anti-colonialism to challenge but also strengthens Euro-centrism to compromise the dominant ideology of his day under the perspective of new historicism.