“The Darkness of a World of Illusions”. Conrad’s Colonial Landscapes Cover Image
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„Mroczna kraina złudzeń”. Conradowskie krajobrazy kolonialne
“The Darkness of a World of Illusions”. Conrad’s Colonial Landscapes

Author(s): Marek Pacukiewicz
Subject(s): Philosophy, Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Instytut Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Joseph Conrad;anthropology;literature

Summary/Abstract: The complexity of the colonial discourse in the works of Joseph Conrad has been the topic of multiple discussions, but the key to deciphering the problem consists of the manner in which the writer constructed the landscape. In this particular case we are dealing both with enormous frescoes, such as the ones encountered in The Heart of Darkness, and with extremely intimate landscapes, which appear to be the outright leitmotif of such short stories as The Lagoon. The landscapes in question are not reduced exclusively to the function of a backdrop since each comprises a structural model of the world and takes into account the dynamic of a variable, intercultural perspective – a clash of divergent taxonomies. The change of viewpoints applied by the author emphasises the role played by the cultural context conceived as the stuff of the colonial system.

  • Issue Year: 316/2017
  • Issue No: 1-2
  • Page Range: 168-176
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Polish