Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism JOSEPH CONRAD lleartofi>arkne~ Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism SERIES EDITOR: Ross C Murfin Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre EDITED BY Beth Newman, Southern Methodist University Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights EDITED BY Linda H. Peterson, Yale University Geoffiey Chaucer, The Wife ofB ath EDITED BY Peter G. Beidler, Lehigh University Kate Chopin, The Awakening EDITED BY Nancy A. Walker, Vanderbilt University Joseph Conrad, Heart ofD arkness, Second Edition EDITED BY Ross C Murfin, University of Miami Charles Dickens, Great Expectations EDITED BY Janice Carlisle, Tulane University Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter EDITED BY Ross C Murfin, University of Miami Henry James, The Turn of the Screw EDITED BY Peter G. Beidler, Lehigh University James Joyce, The Dead EDITED BY Daniel R. Schwarz, Cornell University James Joyce, A Portrait oft he Artist as a Young Man EDITED BY R. B. Kershner, University of Florida William Shakespeare, Hamlet EDITED BY Susanne L. Wofford, University ofWisconsin-Madison Mary Shelley, Frankenstein EDITED BY Johanna M. Smith, University of Texas at Arlington Jonathan Swift, Gulliver)s Travels EDITED BY Christopher Fox, University of Notre Dame Edith Wharton, The House ofM irth EDITED BY Shari Benstock, University of Miami Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism SERIES EDITOR: Ross C Murfin, University ofM iami JOSEPH CONRAD Heart of Darkness Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives SECOND EDITION EDITED BY Ross CMurfm University of Miami ,.. Macmillan Education For Bedford Books President and Publisher: Charles H. Christensen General Manager and Associate Publisher: Joan E. Feinberg Managing Editor: Elizabeth M. Schaaf Developmental Editor: Stephen A. Scipione Editorial Assistant: Mark Reimold Production Editor: Karen S. Baart Copyeditor: Nancy Bell Scott Text Design: Sandra Rigney, The Book Department Cover Design: Richard Emery Design, Inc. Cover Art: Cotton and silk wrapper (Asante peoples, Ghana). Photo graph by Franko Khoury. National Museum of African Art, Eliot Elisofon Archives, Smithsonian Institution. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 95-80800 Copyright © 1996 by BEDFORD BOOKS of St. Martin's Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a re trieval system, or transmitted by any form or by any means, electronic, me chanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except as may be expressly permitted by the applicable copyright statutes or in writing by the Publisher. Manufactured in the United States of America. 0 9 8 7 6 f e d c b a For information, write: St. Martin's Press, Inc. 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 Editorial Offices: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116 ISBN 978-0-333-65707-2 ISBN 978-1-349-14016-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14016-9 Published and distributed outside North America by: MACMILLAN PRESS LTD. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world. ISBN: 978-0-333-65707-2 Acknowledgments Acknowledgments and copyrights are at the back of the book on page 315, which con stitutes an extension of the copyright page. It is a violation of the law to reproduce these se lections by any means whatsoever without the written permission of the copyright holder. About the Series Volumes in the Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series provide college students with an entree into the current critical and theoretical ferment in literary studies. Each volume reprints the com plete tq:~ of a classic literary work and presents critical essays that ap proach the work from different theoretical perspectives, together with the editors' introductions to both the literary work and the critics' theoretical perspectives. The volume editor of each Case Study has selected and prepared an authoritative text of the classic work, written an introduction to the work's biographical and historical contexts, and surveyed the critical responses to the work since its initial publication. Thus situated bio graphically, historically, and critically, the work is examined in five critical essays, each representing a theoretical perspective of impor tance to contemporary literary studies. These essays, prepared espe cially for undergraduates, show theory in praxis; whether written by established scholars or exceptional young critics, they demonstrate how current theoretical approaches can generate compelling readings of great literature. As series editor, I have prepared introductions, with bibliogra phies, to the theoretical perspectives represented in the five critical es says. Each introduction presents the principal concepts of a particular theory in their historical context and discusses the major figures and v vi ABOUT THE SERIES key works that have influenced their formulation. It is my hope that these introductions will reveal to students that effective criticism is in formed by a set of coherent assumptions, and will encourage them to recognize and examine their own assumptions about literature. After each introduction, a selective bibliography presents a partially anno tated list of important works from the literature of the particular theo retical perspective, including the most recent and readily available edi tions and translations of the works cited in the introduction. Finally, I have compiled a glossary of key terms that recur in these volumes and in the discourse of contemporary theory and criticism. We hope that the Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series will reaffirm the richness of its literary works, even as it introduces invigorating new ways to mine their apparently inexhaustible wealth. Ross C Murfin Series Editor University of Miami About This Volume Part One of this volume reprints the text of Heart of Darkness from the 1921 Heinemann edition of Conrad's Collected Works- the last version of the text that Conrad approved. Part Two includes five contemporary critical essays on Heart of Darkness, representing reader-response, deconstructionist, feminist and gender, new historicist, and cultural approaches to Conrad's most famous tale. Three of the essays-reader-response, feminist and gen der, and new historicist - were specifically written for this edition. New to This Edition I undertook a second edition to make this Case Study of Heart of Darkness a more useful and current resource for introducing students to the latest trends in contemporary criticism. Both the reader response and the cultural essays are new, reflecting recent develop ments in those fields of theory. The feminist essay of the first edition has been revised to encompass a more contemporary gender perspec tive, and the new historicist essay has been updated. All of the intro ductions and bibliographies to the critical approaches have been sig nificantly revised. The critical history now extends well into the 1990s, and also discusses Chinua Achebe's "An Image of Africa: Conrad's Vll Vlll ABOUT THIS VOLUME Heart of Darkness," which has been so influential in recent postcolo nial and cultural investigations of Conrad's work. Acknowledgments I am indebted to those whose comments have improved the intro ductions to the critical approaches: Shari Benstock, Patrick Brant linger, Janice Carlisle, Steven Mailloux, J. Hillis Miller, Margot Nor ris, and Brook Thomas. I am deeply grateful to the authors of the critical essays, especially Peter J. Rabinowitz for his new reader response essay, and Johanna Smith and Brook Thomas for the revisions of their respective essays from the first edition of this Case Study. I continue to appreciate the exemplary help of the people at Bedford Books, especially Chuck Christensen, Joan Feinberg, Steve Scipione, Elizabeth Schaaf, Karen Baart, Laura Arcari, and Mark Reimold. At the University of Miami, I would like to thank my staff assistant, Tracy Helenbrook, for her extraordinary competence, diligence, and good cheer. Patricia Woodward tutored me on the subject of gender studies and helped me develop the bibliography in that area. This book is dedicated to Supryia Ray, whose research habits, editorial acumen, de bating skills, and unfailing, friendly support made it possible for me to revise and update the introductions to all five critical approaches represented in this volume. Contents About the Series v About This Volume VII PART ONE Heart of Darkness: The Complete Text Introduction: Biographical and Historical Contexts 3 The Complete Text 17 PART TWO Heart of Darkness: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism A Critical History of Heart of Darkness 99 Reader-Response Criticism and Heart of Darkness us What Is Reader-Response Criticism? II5 Reader-Response Criticism: A Selected Bibliography 127 IX