Download or read book "Heart of Darkness" and the ambivalence of imperialism written by Silvia Gert and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2014-02-17 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, LMU Munich (Englische Philologie), language: English, abstract: Set at the turn of the last century and consequently at the peak of imperialism, Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, published in 1899, is to this day still one of the most critically and controversially treated works about English colonial history in Africa. The research concerning this novella has been carried out in many directions; it has been compared to Dante’s Inferno (Goonetilleke 2007, 12) and is said to have anticipated Freudian ideas of psychoanalysis (ibid. 14), it is discussed whether its main intention is to portray an image of Africa (as envisioned in Europe), the decay of European imperialism or - on a more individual level - the development and inner conflict of a subject, namely Marlow, the latter leading to the novella even being viewed as a Bildungsroman (Cahir 2004, 183). A further point of inquiry deals with the portrayal of Africa and Africans in Conrad’s work; here, Chinua Achebe’s essay has been of particular interest as he, firstly and most prominently, questions the legitimacy of Heart of Darkness being part of the literary canon and accuses Conrad of being a xenophobe (1988, 269) and a “thoroughgoing racist“ (ibid. 267). To him the novella is “offensive and deplorable“ and not worthy of being titled one of the greatest works in the English language (ibid. 268). While Achebe’s ideas have also met criticism, through their provocative nature they have nevertheless forced readers to address the issue of racism and imperialism in Heart of Darkness critically.