Fiction “Conversations With the Prince of Russia” Dissertation “Modes of Storytelling and Joseph Conrad” Lorraine Catherine O’Brien Bachelor of Arts, Murdoch University, 1990 Graduate Diploma of Education, Murdoch University, 1991 Master of Arts, Murdoch University, 1998 This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Humanities (English and Cultural Studies) 2014 i ii ABSTRACT Fiction: “Conversations with the Prince of Russia.” The novel “Conversations with the Prince of Russia” is written using realist and epistolary narrative conventions, insofar as emails are epistolary. It represents the experiences and communications of Josef Kozak, an investigative journalist working for an international news agency, and Jess Groves, a West Australian woman teaching, and painting, in Fremantle. The work of Joseph Conrad is central to both characters. Jess finds pleasure in reading Conrad’s work. To her, he is the Prince of Russia, as a seaman is reputed to have described him: a Polish man who survived the exile of both parents, who travelled the world as a sailor, spoke in French and represented, in English prose, many of the literary and political complexities of his time. Jess reads his work and realizes that even in their contradictory nature and historicity, they help to define her own sense of the world. She seeks solace in the work and life of Conrad when faced with loss and loneliness. Josef finds the words of Conrad speak most eloquently of his growing desire for Jess, his estrangement from his family, his distance from Australia and the political intrigues he confronts in the course of his work. The immersion in Conrad’s fictive world affords both characters a common discourse and facilitates their complicated and highly textual romance. Dissertation: “Modes of Storytelling and Joseph Conrad” The critical component of this thesis is an exploration of modes of storytelling, the oscillation between fact and illusion and how an individual’s experiences and iii history may be articulated. A discussion of Conrad’s Polish heritage and its distinctive modes of narration, namely the Polish genres of skaz and gaweda, introduces a discussion of parody because of the manner in which Conrad writes retrospective narratives. They are recalled histories appropriated and re-told by a storyteller to a listener for some particular effect. The novel, “Conversations with the Prince of Russia” is also a repository for recollected personal history and the history of the reading of each character. Conrad’s discourse is assimilated into “Conversations with the Prince of Russia.” It acts as a sympathetic parody in its imitation of Conrad’s methods of storytelling, particularly in his use of first person narration. Bakhtin comments on the effects of assimilating another’s discourse. In making reference to the work of Conrad, the fiction becomes “double-voiced” and, according to Bahktin in “Dialogic Discourse,” parodic. (1994, p. 80) The central concept of the fiction is to add to the dialogue between the past and the present, bearing in mind that Linda Hutcheon argues that: “Parody is the formal analogue to the dialogue of past and present.” (1986-1987, p. 184). The dissertation discusses Conrad’s past and how his life and works hold relevance for a contemporary reader. iv DECLARATION FOR THESES CONTAINING PUBLISHED WORK AND/OR WORK PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION The examination of the thesis is an examination of the work of the student. The work must have been substantially conducted by the student during enrolment in the degree. Where the thesis includes work to which others have contributed, the thesis must include a statement that makes the student’s contribution clear to the examiners. This may be in the form of a description of the precise contribution of the student to the work presented for examination and/or a statement of the percentage of the work that was done by the student. In addition, in the case of co-authored publications included in the thesis, each author must give their signed permission for the work to be included. If signatures from all the authors cannot be obtained, the statement detailing the student’s contribution to the work must be signed by the coordinating supervisor. Please sign one of the statements below. This thesis does not contain work that I have published, nor work under review for publication. Student Signature........................................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to Winthrop Professor Brenda Walker at the University of Western Australia for her supportive and professional supervision of the fiction and the dissertation. During my PhD study I undertook research at the Polish Library, Posk, in London. I would like to thank Jadwiga Szmidt, the Librarian, and Hugh Epstein, Treasurer of the Conrad Society, UK, for their assistance and enthusiasm in all things Conradian. I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Geoff Andrewartha of the Maritime Museum of Hobart for directing me to the Derwent River, and the volunteers who work at the Maritime Museum of Adelaide for their generosity and willingness to discuss the seafaring exploits of Joseph Conrad. In 2011, I travelled to Poland to present a paper at the Fifth International Joseph Conrad Conference at Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland. Whilst in Poland, I undertook research on the life of Joseph Conrad and wish to thank the organisers and participants of the conference for their assistance. For their love, support and encouragement, thank you to Lindsay, Jonathan and Benjamin O’Brien, and members of my family. I would like to thank Karen and George Johnson for their friendship and hospitality in Lyttelton, New Zealand; Jennifer and David Berliner for their friendship and hospitality in Mount Barker; Gisela Zuchner-Mogall for her friendship and conversations about Conrad and art; and my friends and my colleagues at Christ Church Grammar School. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i Acknowledgements vi Abbreviations viii Fiction: “Conversations With The Prince Of Russia” 1 References and Sources 191 Dissertation: “Modes of Storytelling and Joseph Conrad” 199 Chapter One: Introduction 200 Chapter Two: Cohesions of Identity: Reality and Illusion 204 Chapter Three: Generic Influences On Conrad: The Continuity of Cultural Discourse 216 Chapter Four: Conversations and Letters: Irony and Parody 226 Chapter Five: Stylizing Discourse: Expressions of the Personal 235 Chapter Six: Parody: The Past Informs the Present 267 Chapter Seven: Conclusion 283 Bibliography 287 vii ABBREVIATIONS Dates in the dissertation follow the conventions established by the University of Oxford, The Board of the Faculty of History, and are given in the form: 12 October 1925. Unless the contrary is indicated it is to be assumed that the date refers to the year beginning on 1 January. Double dates in Old and New Style are given in the form: 11/22 July 1705. Periods of years are given thus: 1732–54, 1743–9, and 1760–1820.1 1 University of Oxford BOARD OF THE FACULTY OF HISTORY, “Conventions for the presentation of essays, dissertations, and theses” https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/access/content/group/01a2c7e3-3066-493a-9809- 3d6ff12141d2/thesesconventions.pdf viii CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PRINCE OF RUSSIA Unlike his colleagues, Captain Korzeniowski was always dressed like a dandy. I can still see him (and just because of the contrast with the other sailors my memory is precise) arriving in my office almost every day dressed in a black or dark coat, a vest that was usually light in color, and fancy trousers; everything well cut and very stylish; on his head a black or gray bowler tilted slightly to one side. He invariably wore gloves and carried a cane with a gold knob. From this description you can judge for yourself the contrast he made to the other captains, with whom, by the way, he was on strictly formal terms, generally not going beyond a greeting. He was not, of course, very popular with his colleagues, who ironically called him “the Russian Count.” Extract from a letter from Paul Langlois to A. Esnouf. 1 2 CHAPTER 1 - JOSEF I walk along this ferry’s corridor like an unbalanced, no, a burdened person. I could be Joseph Conrad when he was a sailor, on the deck of the Otago, rounding Cape Leeuwin. Holding on to his gold tipped cane, bracing himself against the lift of the swell. Conrad was accustomed to the motion of the sea. So much of his life was spent on the ocean. For me, the sensation’s weird and the progress is slow, forwards yet sideways. I’m working my way to the aft deck. A woman dressed in black leather pants and a matching jacket lies on a bench in front of me. Her blonde hair is short and spiked. She has a kind face. Even from where I stand I can see light through tunnels in her pierced ears. Stretched lobe piercing. An opened tub of yoghurt and a plastic spoon rests on a Formica table beside her. A guy sits opposite her. He’s in rough denim but his leathers are folded nearby, ready to be pulled on when we berth. He’s holding Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. His reading glasses are simple wire frames, sedate, almost elderly. Framing his shaven head. The leathers suggest rebellion, apart from the careful folding. This couple has a motorbike stowed in the ferry’s lower deck, along with the dairy produce trucks, cars, bicycles and a train of carriages laden with containers. 3 A train driver manoeuvred those containers on board, unhooked the engine and reversed out of the entrance to the ferry. The rumbling and grinding of the train could be heard by the passengers already inside, settling into their seats before heading for Picton and the South Island of New Zealand.