Race and Racism In The Text

[Wordsmiths]

I have to write a paper on Conrad's 'Heart Of Darkness' discussing Race and Racism. I already have ideas on for instance the portrayal of black characters ie the only times we hear speech from them are significant parts for analysis but i was just wondering if anyone else had an other things i could use or any other parts of the text that are significant enough in discussing race and racism in the novel

[JCamilo]

Well, depends what you think, Conrad was actually a friend of one of the responsables for the denouce of european exploration in Congo and in the end the european is never portraied in good light...

[Wordsmiths]

true it would be interesting to subvert the question and delve into racism against the colonial power by the author thanks for the help

[JCamilo]

I think an interesting point which can be also used with other authors like Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain and Herman Melville is how they, like Conrad, are actually talking about the line that existed during that age and how there is an evolution of the thinking from one to another. They are among the first authors to explore the conflicts between White-European and africans, natives, etc. How much their texts reflect what they saw rather what they really considered ? How much they represent the necessary twist in the perspective that would allow moderm society to view the other cultures under a new light? How much a political correctness today is twisting their text, expecting them to have a mentality of today's society and with this they do not see all the positive things they said?

[Virgil]

I think an interesting point which can be also used with other authors like Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain and Herman Melville is how they, like Conrad, are actually talking about the line that existed during that age and how there is an evolution of the thinking from one to another. They are among the first authors to explore the conflicts between White-European and africans, natives, etc. How much their texts reflect what they saw rather what they really considered ? How much they represent the necessary twist in the perspective that would allow moderm society to view the other cultures under a new light? How much a political correctness today is twisting their text, expecting them to have a mentality of today's society and with this they do not see all the positive things they said?

Very well said, JC. I share that sentiment.

[JadeVR]

I posted this below but you might want to look into this essay for some inspiration. Good luck!!

http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/wyrick/debclass/achcon.htm