Envisioning Africa: Racism and Imperialism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness

by Peter Edgerly Firchow

Overview

For one hundred years Heart of Darkness has been among the most widely read and taught novels in the English language. Hailed as an incisive indictment of European imperialism in Africa upon its publication in 1899, in recent years it has been repeatedly denounced as racist and imperialist.

Peter Firchow is the first to counter these claims. His rational, carefully argued response allows the charges of Conrad's alleged bias to be evaluated as objectively as possible. He begins by contrasting the meanings of race, racism, and imperialism in Conrad's day to those of our own time. He then responds in detail to negative interpretations of the novel by revealing what they distort, misconstrue, or fail to take into account.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813181455
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	03/17/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Peter Edgerly Firchow, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota, is the author of several books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature and culture, including The End of Utopia: A Study of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

Editorial Reviews

Firchow's research is exact and interesting.... Offers a cautionary note against reductive readings by demonstrating the interplay of contexts operative in all such acts of criticism.

Canadian Review of Comparative Literature

Successfully calls into question what many interpretations of Conrad's attitudes toward racism and imperialism distort, misconstrue, or fail to take into account.

English Literature in Transition

Firchow's magisterial study should be required reading for everybody embroiled in the post-Achebe and heated postcolonial critical debate of the last tow decades.

Yearbook of English Studies

Heart of Darkness has assumed the status of a politically controversial text. It has been repudiated as racist and interpreted as an apology for imperialism and colonialism. Firchow's book successfully counters these accusations and offers a far more nuanced reading of Conrad's narrative.

Johns Hopkins University Avrom Fleishman

A work of impressive scholarship.

Research in African Literatures

A thorough investigation of Heart of Darkness and its historical, cultural, and biographical context.

Modern Fiction Studies

An energetic and expansive attempt to reassess Conrad's attitudes toward race and imperialism.

Year's Work in English Studies

Will be essential for Conrad scholars and a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in literary polemics and/or late 19th-century European colonial activities in central Africa.

Virginia Quarterly Review

" Heart of Darkness has assumed the status of a politically controversial text. It has been repudiated as racist and interpreted as an apology for imperialism and colonialism. Firchow's book successfully counters these accusations and offers a far more nuanced reading of Conrad's narrative." — Avrom Fleishman, Johns Hopkins University

"Firchow's research is exact and interesting.... Offers a cautionary note against reductive readings by demonstrating the interplay of contexts operative in all such acts of criticism." — Canadian Review of Comparative Literature

"Successfully calls into question what many interpretations of Conrad's attitudes toward racism and imperialism distort, misconstrue, or fail to take into account." — English Literature in Transition

"A thorough investigation of Heart of Darkness and its historical, cultural, and biographical context." — Modern Fiction Studies

"A work of impressive scholarship." — Research in African Literatures

"Will be essential for Conrad scholars and a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in literary polemics and/or late 19th-century European colonial activities in central Africa." — Virginia Quarterly Review

"An energetic and expansive attempt to reassess Conrad's attitudes toward race and imperialism." — Year's Work in English Studies

"Firchow's magisterial study should be required reading for everybody embroiled in the post-Achebe and heated postcolonial critical debate of the last tow decades." — Yearbook of English Studies

From the Publisher