Self, Other, And The World

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) is often regarded as one of the greatest literary stylists in English fiction with extraordinary skills of narrative, characterization, and irony. He made unconventional and poetic use of a language that he was forced to master by circumstance and hence has made a tremendous contribution to English literature, both technically and thematically. Conrad is taken as one of the defining founders of literary Modernism for his innovative narrative structures and writing style. His narrative techniques of dualism involve readers more deeply in story suspense and character conflict than traditional works of his time. What's more, he had a greater personal experience of "other" world populations than most contemporary writers, and the characters of his novels reflect these different races and nations.During a writing career of twenty-nine years, Conrad produced more than forty-one pieces of works, including novels, novellas, short stories, and essays. It has been noted that most of Conrad's greatest works take place on board ships or in the backwaters of civilization in distant territories. His fiction is usually classified into three major categories by scholars:sea fiction, jungle fiction and political fiction. Most scholars, especially those in China, tend to regard Conrad's jungle fiction as romantic and adventurous stories, for most of them are set against the Eastern Malayan islands or African jungles. It is such setting of his jungle fiction that brings him into worldwide and lasting controversy: whether Conrad's jungle stories show the view of colonialism and imperialism or just the opposite—anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism.In this respect, Joseph Conrad is indeed a very controversial writer, and his fiction has evoked and continues to evoke quite antithetical responses from scholars around the world. The unique mixture of cultures, traditions, and conventions found in Conrad's jungle fiction presents an invitation for readers to read and wonder. In order to seek a reasonable solution to such a controversy, this dissertation conducts a thorough study on dualism in Conrad's jungle fiction and in his worldview from cultural perspective. According to this study, there truly exists a kind of dualism in both Conrad's jungle fiction and his worldview. Many virtually contradicting things co-exist in Conrad:conventional and innovative, traditional and modern, conservative and radical. As a multi-cultured writer associated with dualism, Conrad hence can be examined from any cultural stance, and it is not surprising at all that he is very controversial. Regarding dualism found within Conrad's, worldview, he follows the traditional division of the world into the "self" and the "other"; yet these twins (self and other) are kinly related and indispensable to each other in his jungle fiction. Each of the twins is accepted as different but of equal and fraternal standing. It can be noticed that figures of different cultural backgrounds appear in Conrad's cross-cultural fiction, yet no one group is idealized absolutely or demonized entirely. In a word, dualism makes Conrad unique and distinctive from all the English writers, particularly writers of traditional imperial romance, before and after.The dissertation consists of four chapters besides an introduction and conclusion.Introduction provides background information for Joseph Conrad; the reasons, significance and purpose of this study; the scope of this study, including a literature review in China and abroad; the focus of this dissertation; and the theoretical foundations and analytical approaches employed by this study.Chapter One gives an overall account of dualism in Conrad's creation of his jungle fiction, such as dualism in Conrad's treatment of the English literary tradition, dualism in the settings, dualism in characterization, and dualism in plot. Born a Pole, Conrad was a British writer; he found himself in a dualism from the very beginning. Moreover, Conrad employed this dualism in writing his jungle fiction. Thematically, Conrad antithetically adheres to and betrays the English literary tradition of writing imperial romance. Much of Conrad's jungle fiction reflects the colors of English imperial romance:exoticness, oversea adventure, imperial enterprise, colonialism, and colonization. Conrad immigrated to Britain at a young age, so he was surely cultivated by English culture and influenced by British literary tradition; then he naturally adhered to this "great tradition"—the tradition of English imperial romance writing. In his book The Great Tradition, British eminent critic F.R. Leavis justifies Conrad's status in English literary tradition. However, Conrad is different from other British writers of "the great tradition" named by Leavis, for those writers all share one common, dominating feature:their Englishness. As a cross-cultural writer, Conrad is unique and distinctive. Born with a Polish noble temperament, having suffered two exiles, and given varied and cosmopolitan influences, he began to hold a distinct perception of European life and culture. Therefore, to a certain extent, Conrad betrays that literary tradition with a cross-cultural writing perspective.Besides, technically Conrad employs a similar dualism in all other aspects of his jungle fiction writing. For example, the settings are dualistically contra posed, the characters are culturally mixed, and the hero's action is always exercised in the context of a dualism of antagonistic forces. Generally speaking, Conrad's dualism in setting is presented as land vs. sea and Europe vs. "others" like Europe vs. Asia, Europe vs. Africa, and Europe vs. America; dualism in characterization is presented as the whites vs. the colored, hero vs. anti-hero; and dualism in plot is presented as "a tale within a tale," use of the hysteron proteron technique, individual vs. the whole outside world, and ideal vs. reality. It is the use of dualism that makes him worthy of permanence in reading.Chapter Two focuses on Conrad's dualism in portraying the world of "self," revealed through his dream of and disillusionment with "Pax Britannica." Like god Janus, Conrad always looks in opposite directions at the same time, so there are always dualistic tensions in his psyche. This no doubt leads to his dualism and his janiform portrayal of "self"—the Western world. Conrad is a British writer, so he is a part of Western civilization. Hence, the "self" from Conrad's stance should refer to the West, individually and wholly. According to this research, a distinctive dualism exists in the depictions of the world of "self" in Conrad's jungle fiction. Under his pen, the world of "self" stands out with either the angel image of great civilization; or, absolutely opposite, the demon image of brutality.On the one hand, Conrad's jungle fiction naturally manifests some features of imperial romance:the whites' superiority and the whites'burden of civilizing. As an English writer in the age of a great empire and being soaked in the collective unconsciousness of imperialist knowledge, propaganda, passion, and world politics, Conrad also conceived a dream of "Pax Britannica," instilled unwittingly in his jungle fiction. For instance, Conrad shows a personal inclination for English civilizations through his strong desire for the sea and homely feeling for Britain. Conrad carries on imperial romance writing by creating Robinson's mode of one-man imperialism, introducing the chivalric white gentleman, and portraying the distinctive "one of us."On the other hand, Conrad challenges and changes the English literary tradition of imperial romance very antithetically. This study mentions that Conrad's imperial romance is totally different from that of his forerunners and even his followers. Conrad's jungle fiction is anti-imperial romance in a certain way, for he subverts many things acclaimed by traditional imperial romance, such as the whites'superiority, the whites' heroism, the imperial justice, and the whites' omnipotence. This indicates Conrad's great disillusionment with "Pax Britannica" in the jungle fiction. In his jungle fiction, Conrad questions the "progress" of the British Empire under imperialism and predicts the collapse of the outpost of "progress." From the very start of his writing, Conrad shows his great concern for imperial exploitation and brutality, exposes the destructiveness of imperialism, and subverts the chivalric gentlemanliness of the white hero. In predicting the collapse of the outpost of "progress," Conrad criticizes the insatiable greed of the white man and mocks at the white man's impotence of action, moral degeneration and unavoidable rivalries among the whites. Conrad points out that the real heart of darkness actually lies in the soul of Western civilization—those appearing benign at the beginning turn out to be the most ferocious in nature. The white colonizers go to the "other" world to bring civilization there in the name of benign God. However, these evangelists actually are brutal exploiters and oppressors, who turn those virgin lands into a hell of human existence. Conrad finally presents an inverted "heart of darkness" in his jungle fiction.Chapter Three provides a detailed analysis of the dualism in portraying the world of "other," conveyed through Conrad's descriptions of the "other" as a land of wonder and an antithesis of the world "self"—the Western world of the white. Due to ethnocentrism, the world is generally divided into two halves by each individual culture—the "self" and the "other." Moreover, the world of "self is always better than that of the "other." Taking the stance of Western culture, Conrad also sees the rest of non-Western cultures as the "other." Yet, Conrad is a double man and a janiform writer, so he cannot be freed from the dualistic paradox in viewing the exotic "other" world. Thus, in portraying the "other," dualism again divides Conrad into two halves. One-half is attracted to the novelty of the "other," while the other half observes the weakness and primitiveness of the "other."Equipped with rich exotic cultural experiences, most of Conrad's novels—jungle novels in particular—are set in the exotic "other" world. Most of his jungle stories more or less relate to one of his travel experiences. On the one hand, Conrad's jungle fiction presents the "other" world as a land of wonder, displaying an exotic beauty and naturalness unspoiled by human activities. It therefore presents a kind of exotic attraction to the eyes of white people, such as exotic landscape, conventions and customs, and beauty. The "other" also conceives a kind of primitive life vitality, justified by its service as a place for white men to escape to, a place full of wild vitality, a place containing primitive wisdom, and a place promoting fidelity.Nevertheless, Conrad, who is always looking in both directions, is never ready to simply take and believe. Although he is attracted by the exoticness, innocence, naturalness, beauty, and purity of the "other," he always distances himself from the inscrutable world of "other." In Conrad's jungle fiction, the "other" is antithetically portrayed as the antithesis of the "self" and as a world of absurdity. Firstly, the world of the "other" is set as a mirror of the "self," in which the white people can find confidence and superiority. As presented in traditional imperial novels, the "other" world in Conrad's jungle fiction is shown as the weak counterpart of the "self," a place for white heroes to prove manliness, and a world of savages. Secondly, the "other" world is seen as a place of absurdity, for it is depicted as a land haunted by superstitions, a dystopia of human existence, and a place of the white man's nightmare.Chapter Four conducts a comprehensive analysis on dualism in Conrad's worldview. Conrad is a cultural composite that should not be entirely attributed to a certain cultural circle, neither Polish nor British. He goes through many phases of cultural awareness until he finally has formed his unique cultural identity—one that consists of key characteristics of many cultures in the world. The concept of dualism roots in Conrad's deep consciousness and supplies for him the philosophical foundation for his worldview.Conrad moves from the marginal form to janiform and finally takes dualism as his philosophical foundation for his worldview. Conrad is a marginal man, a restless figure all through his life. He was born in Poland, but he has not been spiritually bred and educated by that culture; he immigrated to and finally settled in Britain, but kept a heightened sense of his social and cultural alienation. Therefore, Conrad often walks in and out of the marginal circles of several cultures, free from the absolute manipulation of any single culture. However, this relative sense of cultures and cultural identity may have led Conrad to be a richly composite individual—one combining the key elements of many cultures. Conrad's innate double personality and cross-cultural experiences prompt him to be a writer of dualism, which is his philosophical foundation for observing and judging the world.Conrad follows the imperial romance writers'belief regarding the dualistic division of the world into the "self and the "other"—the West and the East to be specific. This is further evidence that Conrad has a high sense of dualism. The "self" and the "other" or the West and the East meet in Conrad's jungle fiction, which exhibits cultural encounters between these twins. However, Conrad never attempts to idealize or demonize either one of the twins. He questions Western civilization, wonders on the seas, lingers in the jungles, and finally stands "in-between"—between the East and West. Conrad, in the state of "in-between," actually speaks for and bridges the different cultures. Most of Conrad's jungle fiction presents a community consisting of people from different cultural backgrounds, which is very similar to today's miniature global village. Moreover, Conrad never takes extreme in views of political action and idealism, patriotism, nationalism, sacrifice and so on. In his eyes, the "self" and the "other" are two indispensable parts of the "world," like two wings of a bird. The damage or the loss of either of them means paralysis of the collective whole.Conclusion summarizes the arguments and main findings of this study. Conrad is unique among the English writers. His uniqueness includes his life experience, two careers, language gift, and writing styles. According to this study, the most important point of his uniqueness lies in the dualism presented in his jungle fiction and in his worldview. Firstly, there is distinctive dualism in his jungle fiction and other fictional writing—in novel creation, in portraying the "self," and in portraying the "other." Secondly, after going through various stages of cultural awareness, Conrad moves from marginal form to janiform and employs dualism as the philosophic foundation for his worldview. By his very ability to cross boundaries, Conrad dualistically enjoys the best of several worlds. Thus, Conrad is able to bring together the West and the East in his jungle fiction and gives equal voices to the white characters as well as native ones. Conrad is always ready to accept the "other" as different but of equal standing and ready to respond to the call of the "other." In his eyes, the "self" and the "other," the West and the East, are different, but related and inseparable twins.Although dualism very often produces tensions and ambivalence in the literary content of Conrad's jungle fiction, it indeed brings suspense, mysteries, and metaphysics too, adding graveness and immenseness to the insights and revelations of Conrad's writing. Conrad is a writer for the future—not the kind of writer who can be understood just with one reading, for his works contain deep understanding and profound insights on human relationships, cultural communication, and human nature. His writings and his ideas, a great spiritual legacy for us today, anticipate the decadence of contemporary Western civilization and cultural clashes. They also imply significant instructions for us:prompting dialogue among cultures, establishing the solidarity with other people, and sharing the common bond of human beings. From this point of view, Conrad is not pessimistic at all. He is in fact too practical to seem to be pessimistic. The sharp insight of human nature makes him suspicious of human wisdom and any good action under this wisdom. Since a mob of seaman would unite together immediately at a threat to the safety of their "ship," people of the world, either from the world of "self" or the "other," can surely live harmoniously together once they realize that the loss of any of them means the reduction of companions and that the "earth" is their only ship in which to survive. Therefore, in Conrad's jungle fiction, cultural encounter, suffering, pain, life and death could paradoxically mean something or at least shock slumbering people awake.