Representation in Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Dusseldorf 'Heinrich Heine', language: English, abstract: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, first published serially in Blackwood's Magazine in 1899, has been regarded not only as the first truly modern work of fiction in the English language but also as the 'first great work of literature in which a characteristic feature of the colonial experience' is recorded. Based on Conrad's own experiences in the African Congo region between June and December 1890, when he was working for a Belgian trading company that exploited the Upper Congo for raw materials, Heart of Darkness can been seen as a historical document of its time, the time of European imperialism. During this time the European colonization of the world set up a hierarchy by dividing the world into the West and the non- West. This division caused a consciousness for the 'Other', so that the question of identity arose. Due to the fact, that constructing identity implies constructing the identity of the 'Other', differences between the West and the non- West became the center of interest. For the first time in history the idea of culture and race turned up. Since its publication Heart of Darkness has been read as an assault upon imperialism and has been attacked as being offensively racist in projecting 'the image of Africa as 'the other world', the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization'. Starting from Stuart Hall's theory of 'Representation', this paper is supposed to demonstrate the problem of representation and to offer a discussion as to whether or to what degree Conrad's Heart of Darkness can be considered imperialist and racist. By the established dichotomy between Africa and Europe, the presence of stereotypes in the novel will be investigated and connected to Achebe's conclusion, that Conrad 'was a bloody racist'.