Difference between revisions of "Joseph Conrad" - New World Encyclopedia
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== Biography == | == Biography == | ||
| − | Conrad was born | + | Conrad was born ''Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski'' (of the ''Nałęcz'' coat-of-arms) in Berdyczów (now Berdychiv, [[Ukraine]]) into a highly patriotic landowning noble family. |
| − | Conrad's father, a writer | + | Conrad's father, a writer best known for patriotic tragedies and translator from French and English, was arrested by the Russian authorities in Warsaw for his activities in support of the January Uprising, and was exiled to [[Siberia]]. His mother died of tuberculosis in 1865, as did his father four years later in [[Kraków]], leaving Conrad orphaned at the age of eleven. |
| − | He was placed in the care of his maternal uncle, | + | He was placed in the care of his maternal uncle, Tadeusz Bobrowski, in [[Kraków]] — a more cautious figure than either of his parents. Bobrowski nevertheless allowed Conrad to travel to [[Marseille]] and begin a career as a seaman at the age of 17, after the failure to secure Conrad Austro-Hungarian citizenship made him liable for 25-year conscription into the Russian army. Conrad lived an adventurous life, becoming involved in gunrunning and political conspiracy, which he later fictionalized in many of his novels. |
| − | Conrad | + | In 1878, after a failed suicide attempt, Conrad took service on his first British ship. He had learned English before the age of 21, and in 1886 gained both his Master Mariner's certificate and British citizenship. He first arrived in England at the port of Lowestoft, Suffolk, and later lived in [[London]] and near Canterbury. |
| − | In | + | In 1894, aged 36, Conrad put his life at sea behind him in order to become an author. His first novel, ''Almayer's Folly'', set on the east coast of [[Borneo]], was published in English in 1895. He continued to write prolifically, although he largely wrote in obscurity until late in his career, when the publication of the novel ''Chance'' finally brought him into fame and success. Ironically, scholars generally agree that the novels written after ''Chance'''s publication in 1913 are lesser works than the dark novels Conrad wrote in his earlier years. Conrad continued to write and publish up until his death from a heart attack in 1924, aged 66. |
| − | + | ==Legacy== | |
| − | + | It is remarkable to many readers that Conrad wrote in his third language, English. Not only did he forego writing in French (which, in Conrad's time, was the ''lingua franca'' of the educated classes), but he adopted English with such a fluency of command that most readers are surprised to learn that the author of such marvelous fictions was not writing in his native language. This phenomenon is the basis of what some linguists (e.g., T. Scovel, 1988) refer to as the "Joseph Conrad effect": while some language learners may easily be discernible from native speakers by their non-standard phonology pronounciation, they may be regarded as native speakers in terms of their syntax, morphology and lexicon. That is to say, although Conrad may have been noticeably foreign when speaking aloud, his mastery of the grammar and style of English was so thorough that his writing is indistinguishable from that of any native English author. In fact, some of Conrad's stylistic originality in English may be attributable to his command of other languages, which offered him a richer palette of idiom and image. | |
| − | + | Conrad's literary work bridges the gap between the realist literary tradition of writers such as [[Charles Dickens]] and [[Honore de Balzac]] and the emergent [[modernism|Modernist]] schools of writing. His prose is not nearly as abstruse as the likes of pure Modernists like [[James Joyce|Joyce]] or [[Virginia Woolf|Woolf]], and although Conrad deploys some Modernists techniques (most notably, the interior monologue) he still retains all the trappings of a standard, realistic narrative. Nevertheless, his works, like those of [[Henry James]], effuse a certain ethereal quality that suggest to the reader that there is much more going on in his stories than what one might assume. ''Heart of Darkness'' is perhaps Conrad's most masterful display of this strange aspect of his fiction: on the one hand, the story is a rather straight-forward narrative of a man traveling up the river of the Congo to apprehend a lunatic; but on the other hand, the reader cannot help but notice all the eerie touches that make the story about so much more: the way the tale of going up the Congo river is being related by a narrator going up another river; the way the novel itself is a story within a story, with the real narrator never being named nor ever identified, and the veracity of all the story's narrators left open to murky doubt. | |
| − | Conrad | + | Interestingly, Conrad despised [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoevsky]], another Slavc writer often cited as marking the transition between realist and modern fiction. Conrad despised Russian writers as a rule, due to his parents' deaths at the hands of the Russian authorities, and he made an exception only for [[Ivan Turgenev]]. |
| − | Conrad is now best known for the | + | Conrad is now best known for the novella, ''Heart of Darkness'', which has been seen as a scathing indictment of colonialism and which gazes unflinchingly into the depths of despair, human exploitation and suffering which he witnessed while in command of a Congo steamer; it also foreshadows Conrad's "golden period," which begins with ''Lord Jim'' (1901) and includes ''Nostromo'', ''The Secret Agent'' and ''Under Western Eyes'', all of which deal in one way or another with the extremely problematic history of imperialism and colonialism in the 19th century. These novels are all notable as being the highest exemplars of Conrad's nebulous, psychological style where the minds and voices of characters intermingle freely with the loose prose of the narrative. |
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==Style== | ==Style== | ||
Revision as of 19:40, 14 June 2006
Joseph Conrad (3 December, 1857 – 3 August, 1924) was a Polish-born British novelist. Some of his works have been labelled romantic, although Conrad's romanticism is tempered with irony and a fine sense of man's capacity for self-deception. Many critics have placed him as a forerunner of modernism.
Biography
Conrad was born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski (of the Nałęcz coat-of-arms) in Berdyczów (now Berdychiv, Ukraine) into a highly patriotic landowning noble family.
Conrad's father, a writer best known for patriotic tragedies and translator from French and English, was arrested by the Russian authorities in Warsaw for his activities in support of the January Uprising, and was exiled to Siberia. His mother died of tuberculosis in 1865, as did his father four years later in Kraków, leaving Conrad orphaned at the age of eleven.
He was placed in the care of his maternal uncle, Tadeusz Bobrowski, in Kraków — a more cautious figure than either of his parents. Bobrowski nevertheless allowed Conrad to travel to Marseille and begin a career as a seaman at the age of 17, after the failure to secure Conrad Austro-Hungarian citizenship made him liable for 25-year conscription into the Russian army. Conrad lived an adventurous life, becoming involved in gunrunning and political conspiracy, which he later fictionalized in many of his novels.
In 1878, after a failed suicide attempt, Conrad took service on his first British ship. He had learned English before the age of 21, and in 1886 gained both his Master Mariner's certificate and British citizenship. He first arrived in England at the port of Lowestoft, Suffolk, and later lived in London and near Canterbury.
In 1894, aged 36, Conrad put his life at sea behind him in order to become an author. His first novel, Almayer's Folly, set on the east coast of Borneo, was published in English in 1895. He continued to write prolifically, although he largely wrote in obscurity until late in his career, when the publication of the novel Chance finally brought him into fame and success. Ironically, scholars generally agree that the novels written after Chance's publication in 1913 are lesser works than the dark novels Conrad wrote in his earlier years. Conrad continued to write and publish up until his death from a heart attack in 1924, aged 66.
Legacy
It is remarkable to many readers that Conrad wrote in his third language, English. Not only did he forego writing in French (which, in Conrad's time, was the lingua franca of the educated classes), but he adopted English with such a fluency of command that most readers are surprised to learn that the author of such marvelous fictions was not writing in his native language. This phenomenon is the basis of what some linguists (e.g., T. Scovel, 1988) refer to as the "Joseph Conrad effect": while some language learners may easily be discernible from native speakers by their non-standard phonology pronounciation, they may be regarded as native speakers in terms of their syntax, morphology and lexicon. That is to say, although Conrad may have been noticeably foreign when speaking aloud, his mastery of the grammar and style of English was so thorough that his writing is indistinguishable from that of any native English author. In fact, some of Conrad's stylistic originality in English may be attributable to his command of other languages, which offered him a richer palette of idiom and image.
Conrad's literary work bridges the gap between the realist literary tradition of writers such as Charles Dickens and Honore de Balzac and the emergent Modernist schools of writing. His prose is not nearly as abstruse as the likes of pure Modernists like Joyce or Woolf, and although Conrad deploys some Modernists techniques (most notably, the interior monologue) he still retains all the trappings of a standard, realistic narrative. Nevertheless, his works, like those of Henry James, effuse a certain ethereal quality that suggest to the reader that there is much more going on in his stories than what one might assume. Heart of Darkness is perhaps Conrad's most masterful display of this strange aspect of his fiction: on the one hand, the story is a rather straight-forward narrative of a man traveling up the river of the Congo to apprehend a lunatic; but on the other hand, the reader cannot help but notice all the eerie touches that make the story about so much more: the way the tale of going up the Congo river is being related by a narrator going up another river; the way the novel itself is a story within a story, with the real narrator never being named nor ever identified, and the veracity of all the story's narrators left open to murky doubt.
Interestingly, Conrad despised Dostoevsky, another Slavc writer often cited as marking the transition between realist and modern fiction. Conrad despised Russian writers as a rule, due to his parents' deaths at the hands of the Russian authorities, and he made an exception only for Ivan Turgenev.
Conrad is now best known for the novella, Heart of Darkness, which has been seen as a scathing indictment of colonialism and which gazes unflinchingly into the depths of despair, human exploitation and suffering which he witnessed while in command of a Congo steamer; it also foreshadows Conrad's "golden period," which begins with Lord Jim (1901) and includes Nostromo, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes, all of which deal in one way or another with the extremely problematic history of imperialism and colonialism in the 19th century. These novels are all notable as being the highest exemplars of Conrad's nebulous, psychological style where the minds and voices of characters intermingle freely with the loose prose of the narrative.
Style
Conrad, an emotional man subject to fits of depression, self-doubt and pessimism, disciplined his romantic temperament with an unsparing moral judgment.
As an artist, he famously aspired, in his preface to The Nigger of the Narcissus (1897), "by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel... before all, to make you see. That — and no more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there according to your deserts: encouragement, consolation, fear, charm — all you demand — and, perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask."
Writing in what to the visual arts was the age of Impressionism, Conrad showed himself in many of his works a prose poet of the highest order: thus, for instance, in the evocative Patna and courtroom scenes of Lord Jim; in the "melancholy-mad elephant" and gunboat scenes of Heart of Darkness; in the doubled protagonists of The Secret Sharer; and in the verbal and conceptual resonances of Nostromo and The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'.
Criticism
Chinua Achebe has argued that Conrad's language and imagery is inescapably racist, probably in large part on account of his first few novels, which show little insight into the natives he describes. Conrad associated the wild with despair, death, and savage, inhuman acts; nevertheless, in his depiction of London and industrial man he paints a similarly gloomy picture. He uses this symbolism in many of his novels, but most powerfully in Heart of Darkness. Achebe seems also not to have understood that in Heart of Darkness Conrad is in fact equating ancient northern Europeans with modern Africans — thereby suggesting that all humans must pass through a similar process of historic development.
Europeans and Africans are portrayed as being at different stages in their cultural development, but this does not mean that Conrad felt Africans to be inferior. Anyone aware of Conrad's other work will know how critical he is of modern civilization. Indeed, Kurtz's savage African truths are presented as almost attractive and superior to modern European civilization (hence Marlow's dejection on returning to Europe). Conrad seems to imply that what Imperial Rome once did to northern Europe, imperial Europe was doing to the whole world; whether this was a good or a bad thing, remains ambiguous in Conrad's assessment of history.
Novels and novellas
| 1895 | Almayer's Folly |
| 1896 | An Outcast of the Islands |
| 1897 | The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' |
| 1899 | Heart of Darkness |
| 1900 | Lord Jim |
| 1901 | The Inheritors (with Ford Madox Ford) |
| 1902 | Typhoon (begun 1899) |
| 1903 | Romance (with Ford Madox Ford) |
| 1904 | Nostromo |
| 1907 | The Secret Agent |
| 1911 | Under Western Eyes |
| 1913 | Chance |
| 1915 | Victory |
| 1917 | The Shadow Line |
| 1919 | The Arrow of Gold |
| 1920 | The Rescue |
| 1923 | The Nature of a Crime (with Ford Madox Ford) |
| The Rover | |
| 1925 | Suspense (unfinished, published posthumously) |
Short stories
- "The Idiots" (Conrad's first short story; written during his honeymoon, published in Savo 1896 and collected in Tales of Unrest, 1898).
- "The Black Mate" (written, according to Conrad, in 1886; published 1908; posthumously collected in Tales of Hearsay, 1925).
- "The Lagoon" (composed 1896; published in Cornhill Magazine 1897; collected in Tales of Unrest, 1898).
- "An Outpost of Progress" (written 1896 and named in 1906 by Conrad himself, long after the publication of Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness, as his 'best story'; published in Cosmopolis 1897 and collected in Tales of Unrest 1898; often compared to Heart of Darkness, with which it has numerous thematic affinities).
- "The Return" (written circa early 1897; never published in magazine form; collected in Tales of Unrest, 1898; Conrad, presaging the sentiments of most readers, once remarked, "I hate it").
- "Karain: A Memory" (written February–April 1897; published Nov. 1897 in Blackwood's and collected in Tales of Unrest, 1898).
- "Youth" (written in 1898; collected in Youth, a Narrative and Two Other Stories, 1902)
- "Falk" (novella/story, written in early 1901; collected only in Typhoon and Other Stories, 1903).
- "Amy Foster" (composed in 1901; published the Illustrated London News, Dec. 1901 and collected in Typhoon and Other Stories, 1903).
- "To-morrow" (written early 1902; serialized in Pall Mall Magazine, 1902 and collected in Typhoon and Other Stories, 1903).
- "The End of the Tether" (written in 1902; collected in Youth, a Narrative and Two Other Stories, 1902)
- "Gaspar Ruiz" (written after "Nostromo" in 1904–05; published in Strand Magazine in 1906 and collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US. This story was the only piece of Conrad's fiction ever adapted by the author for cinema, as Gaspar the Strong Man, 1920).
- "An Anarchist" (written in late 1905; serialized in Harper's in 1906; collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US.)
- "The Informer" (written before January 1906; published in December 1906 in Harper's and collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US.)
- "The Brute" (written in early 1906; published in The Daily Chronicle in December 1906; collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US.)
- "The Duel" (aka "The Point of Honor": serialized in the UK in Pall Mall Magazine in early 1908 and in the US periodical Forum later that year; collected in A Set of Six in 1908 and published by Garden City Publishing in 1924. Joseph Fouché makes a cameo appearance)
- "Il Conde" (i.e., 'Conte' [count]: appeared in Cassell's [UK] 1908 and Hampton's [US] in 1909; collected in A Set of Six, 1908 UK/1915 US.)
- "The Secret Sharer" (written December 1909; published in Harper's and collected in Twixt Land and Sea 1912)
- "Prince Roman" (written 1910, published in 1911 in the Oxford and Cambridge Review; based upon the story of Prince Roman Sanguszko of Poland 1800–1881)
- "A Smile of Fortune" (a long story, almost a novella, written in mid-1910; published in London Magazine in Feb. 1911; collected in Twixt Land and Sea 1912)
- "Freya of the Seven Isles" (another near-novella, written late 1910–early 1911; published in Metropolitan Magazine and London Magazine in early 1912 and July 1912, respectively; collected in Twixt Land and Sea 1912)
- "The Partner" (written in 1911; published in Within the Tides, 1915)
- "The Inn of the Two Witches" (written in 1913; published in Within the Tides, 1915)
- "Because of the Dollars" (written in 1914; published in Within the Tides, 1915)
- "The Planter of Malata" (written in 1914; published in Within the Tides, 1915)
- "The Warrior's Soul" (written late 1915–early 1916; published in Land and Water, in March 1917; collected in Tales of Hearsay, 1925)
- "The Tale" (Conrad's only story about WWI; written 1916 and first published 1917 in Strand Magazine)
Memoirs and Essays
- The Mirror of the Sea (collection of autobiographical essays first published in various magazines 1904-6 ), 1906
- A Personal Record (also published as Some Reminiscences), 1912
- Notes on Life and Letters, 1921
- Last Essays, 1926
See also
- Joseph Conrad's Works: A Chronological List
- ORP Conrad - a WWII Polish Navy cruiser named after Joseph Conrad
- T. Scovel, 1988. "A Time to Speak: A Psycholinguistic inquiry into the critical period for human speech." Cambridge MA: Newbury House.
- List of atheists.
External links
- The Joseph Conrad Society (U.K)
- Conrad First: a digital archive of every newspaper and magazine in which the work of Joseph Conrad appeared between 1896 and 1935
- The Complete works are available from eBooks@Adelaide
- Works by Joseph Conrad. Project Gutenberg
- Free audiobook of The Secret Agent from LibriVox
- Penn State's Electronic Classics Series has 26 Works of Joseph Conrad available for free Joseph Conrad at Penn State's Electronic Classics
- Joseph Conrad at kirjasto.sci.fi
- Heart of Darkness text at American Literature
- Chinua Achebe: The Lecture Heard Around The World
- Collected Letters, vol. 6 (1917-1919) - PDF
- Find-A-Grave profile for Joseph Conrad
- Conrad's page at Literary Journal.com-a number of research articles on Conrad's work
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