"HEART OF DARKNESS" RACISM AND REACTION

ONE OF THE MANY EDITIONS OF THE CLASSIC NOVEL

 An enduring classic of English literature is the novella "Heart Of Darkness" first published in serial form in 1899 in "Blackwood's Magazine" and then as a book in 1902. But the spotlight shone on it with greater intensity in February, 1975 when the then 45 years old Nigerian Author Chinua Achebe made it the subject of an important public lecture. Achebe was already renowned for his novels "THINGS FALL APART"  (1958), "NO LONGER AT EASE" (1960) and ARROW OF GOD" (1964). At the administrative and communications level, he had been intensely active in the Biafran War (1967 -1970), in support of the effort to create Biafra out of the Igbo region of Nigeria.

CHINUA ACHEBE THE MOST RENOWNED AFRICAN AUTHOR

The lecture Achebe had been invited to give, was the prestigious Chancellor's Lecture at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on 18th February,1975, and it was later published in the Massachusetts Review in Vol. 18 No. 4 in the Winter of 1977. It was published in book form in 1983. Achebe gave the Lecture the title " An Image of Africa : Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." That very title signalled Achebe's view of Conrad's attitudes.


Anyone who has read Achebe's works is accustomed to his generous and measured style of writing , even when he is making harsh criticisms through the mouths of his characters. It comes as a something of a shock then, to encounter the vigour of his language in his assault on Conrad's work. But vigorous he is, and he does not simply make his targets the easy and obvious marks, but is carefully analytic in his approach. The result is to cause one to reassess one's view of "Heart of Darkness" entirely. 

Obviously the Western reader will come to the task of assessing the work from a different direction to that of this African intellectual and active patriot. When their minds have met, the result is bound to be interesting

CHINUA ACHEBE A MOST IMPRESSIVE AUTHOR

Heart of Darkness

Conrad's novella is a fascinating creation.  There is about it, from its very beginning, an air of the surreal, a group of friends on a sailing vessel at the mouth of the Thames waiting for the turn of the tide as evening falls, listening to Conrad's character Marlowe recount his experiences on the great Congo River in Africa. Marlowe touches reflectively on the ancient history of the Thames, and the people unknown who knew it then.

He begins to recount how he came to take a position as Captain of a small steam boat making its way up the Congo in an effort to reach the mysterious and legendary representative of a Belgian trading company.
But that reality is subordinated in the text , to an almost dream-like contemplation of the mystery of the great river and the jungle surrounding it, and the native people that populate the territory. The jungle, the river and the people , are presented as deeply mysterious, unknowable and menacing. The only black people who are known to Marlowe are a small group of cannibal crew members, and a solitary steersman who becomes important for his ability, but we never learn his name. There is an air of weird unreality about the whole setting. The only value that the place or the people have is their part in creating the air of mystery and menace Marlowe is experiencing. The climax of the tale is itself suitably weird, as is Marlowe's return to the Company's  Head Office to report the results of his mission. 

Reading the novella it is surprising to encounter routine use of the word "nigger" . I am 75 ,and even in far distant Australia it was never acceptable in my lifetime. Nevertheless I can accept that it might have been in common use in some stratas of English society in  1899.Or at least sufficiently so, for Conrad to put it in Marlowe's mouth. He also makes Marlowe comment critically about the Belgian company's treatment of the native people , but this is done in an oblique fashion and not with any systematic sense of moral outrage. But, by and large, river, jungle and the black people of the Congo are merely part of the surreal environment that menaces Marlowe. The book is, as it was no doubt intended to be, disturbing - leaving one with an uncomfortable sense of distaste for the experience it has presented. But one never doubts that it is a remarkable piece of work.

JOSEPH CONRAD (1857  -1924)

Joseph Conrad was born in 1857 in Imperial Russia in the Kiev region. He was Polish by birth, but was granted British Citizenship in 1886. He was a highly successful novelist writing at the height of British Imperialism. He is generally  regarded as having been very influential on many other authors with his modernist style and pre-occupation with human psychology in his characters.


Chinua Achebe 's Assessment

Achebe fully realised that he was dealing with a work and an Author of great reputation. The work was a standard classic in American academic circles and in his immediate audience there would be many academics specialising in English literature.

But , in considering "Heart of Darkness" he had come to the realisation that , as in so much literature involving Africa, the land and her many peoples, were given no recognition for their reality and inherent dignity , characteristics and achievements. They became mere wallpaper for Western performers and their preoccupations and intentions.

But , a man of great literary achievements himself, and an active participant in the inspired , yet ultimately tragic Biafran War he knew better than most the great reality of Africa : places, peoples and aspirations. These had and have the right to be treated with respect, consideration and recognition of their inherent dignity and merit.  What was it  that drove Conrad to refuse all of these and proceed as he did? One word summed it up : Racism.

Achebe carefully and thoroughly examined Conrad's work, his past works and was satisfied that yes, that was Conrad's real heart of darkness.

Needless to say, the occasion of the Lecture itself - immediately upon its conclusion - found Achebe  surrounded by outraged academic critics and some who actually approved of his view, others still were to come to him later and acknowledge conversion to his point of view. In time Achebe's view came to be accepted as correct. But again , in time - such is the nature of academic opinion - the revisionists came forward and at least put a contrary view once again.

What Are We to Believe?

What a cheeky question! There is only one thing to do : Read "Heart of Darkness" - the novella is easy to read in a short period. Then read the Lecture ! Both are continually available. Then judge for yourself.

For my money, the question hinges upon how far we are prepared to distance Conrad's creation from his personal views at one level. Then we need to consider the structure he has chosen to give the novella - and here is where , I believe it is hard to avoid Achebe's conclusion.

The very fact that Conrad's creation is not purposefully vicious in the nature of its racism does not avoid the fact that it is, that he is, racist. For he chooses to refuse the African peoples identity, presents them solely as menacing phantoms,menacing cannibals or a competent, but somehow ridiculous steersman whose life is nothing. He denies them their human dignity, motivation and any aspirations. And the whole of Africa becomes merely a stage for his European real people to act out their intentions.This attitude was wholly unsurprising in its time . Indeed it would have been regarded as simply the natural order of things.

This is not the view I had of the book until I read Achebe's Lecture and I resisted his presentation at first. I had been inclined to accept Conrad's scheme for the novella as  merely a legitimate choice of presentation.  But I have come to see that it was NOT a legitmate choice and it was reflective of a very deep seated and distasteful attitude in Joseph Conrad.

Altogether a very interesting exercise.