THE IMAGE OF EMPIRE IN JOSEPH CONRAD’S LORD JIM Approved: Richard Garrett Date: __May 2, 2012___________ i THE IMAGE OF EMPIRE IN JOSEPH CONRAD’S LORD JIM __________________ A Seminar Paper Proposal Presented to The Graduate Faculty University of Wisconsin-Platteville __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Masters of Science in Education __________________ by Wang Qing (Gina) 2011 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Upon finishing this thesis, I felt indebted to a group of people, without whom the seminar paper would have never been brought to the present shape. I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all of them. First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes first to my supervisor, Prof. Garret Richard, whose useful suggestions, incisive comments and constructive criticism have contributed greatly to the completion of this thesis. He devotes a consideration portion of his time to reading my first script and making suggestion for further revisions. His tremendous assistance in developing the framework for analysis and in having gone through the draft versions of this paper several times as well as his great care in life deserve more tanks than I can find words to express. Next in importance, I am greatly indebted to all the other teachers, who have taught me and enlightened me directly and indirectly during the years’ life of study. Special thanks should go to my friends, classmates and my family, who have been accompanying me and providing me with much help which will be remembered in my whole life. Last but not least, I am really grateful to all those who have devoted much of their precious time to reading this thesis and offered me much beneficial advice. Preface iii THE IMAGE OF EMPIRE IN JOSEPH CONRAD’S LORD JIM Wang Qing (Gina) Under the Supervision of Prof. Garret Richard April 25th, 2011 Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) is no doubt a great pioneer on the subject of Imperialism and colonialism. Among his masterpieces, Lord Jim (1900) is regarded as his representative work for Imperialism. The novel predominantly evokes the adventure tale. This narrative form tells the stories of brave men and eager boys in the mysterious, unknown regions they discover. The attraction the form held for Joseph Conrad is revealed in myriad ways throughout his work. It acknowledges Conrad’s nihilism and modernism. Joseph Conrad uses sailor Marlow and Jim as his interpreters to express his own ambivalence and complicated emotions toward Empire. On one side, he criticizes the merciless and violent conduct of invaders, on the other side; he is a member of the British Empire so that to some extent he compromises to Empire. This paper analyses colonialism and the image of Empire in Lord Jim to contribute to Chinese literature criticism concerned with the subject and provide a good way for people to learn English in a literary way. TABLE OF CONTENTS iv APPROVAL PAGE………………………………...………………….…….….............i TITLE PAGE………………………………………………………………..….……….ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PAGE………………………………………………. ……..iii PREFACE…………………….……………………………………………………. ......iv TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………….…………………………..............v CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION…………………………...…………………………1 Introduction Statement of the Problem Definitions of Terms CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE………………………………………........5 Expansion of empire Civilization of empire Individuals of empire CHAPTER III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……………………..13 The Influence of Expansion Theoretical Support for Building Empire REFERENCES……………………………………….………………………………….18 v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Joseph Conrad is regarded as one English modern writer and plays a significant role in English and world literature. “His works are divided into 3 different categories: sea novels, jungle novels and political novels” (Zheng, 2005). He was born in Poland, later joined a merchant fleet of the British Empire and became a British citizen. Because of his extraordinary sailing life and complicated coming-of-age experiences, his works reflect profound social and historical intensions that arose related to imperialism and colonialism. There is no doubt that he was a great pioneer. His bold explorations and vivid descriptions about the invaders’ behavior of aggression make his novels recondite and classic. In comparison with Conrad’s political novels, relatively more research of the other two categories (sea novels and jungle novels) has been done. Famous scholars in China such as Wang Guanglin and Yin Qiping have achieved extraordinary success on studying Conrad’s sea novels. As the political ones contain more full-length novels, which belong to the works of Conrad’s later stage, it is difficult to understand the language and context. However, there is a trend in studying his political works in recent years. Hu Qiang is the most well known researcher for “A Review of Western Studies of Conrad’s Political Trilogy.” Lord Jim (1900) is one of the representative works of his sea novels both in thought and artistic style. Having reviewed the excellent journals and other related periodicals; many researchers have become interested in the special feature of narration in Lord Jim. They discuss art, form, structure and function of narration in third person in this novel. Besides, the use of impressionism and the exploration of morality also attract many researchers’ attention. These articles emphasize Conrad’s use of the way impressionism and the deep psychological meaning of Jim, the main character. However, fewer studies stress the theme of the images of loneliness, symbolism and so on. Lord Jim develops and adds complexity, and it also presents the tension between the self-interest of individuals and the demands of the prevailing social organization. The invaders’ disgusting conduct and serious abuses are the inner information revealed in the text. Besides, in order to fulfill the Empire theory, the author analyses the invaders with context closely explore 1 anti-imperialism. What is more, the significance of observing and recording in Conrad’s fiction is the transition from Imperialism to Empire which begins to take place at the turn of the twentieth century to supersede governmental authority in areas of development. Regarding the former research, this paper looks at the research work on Lord Jim through the lens of imperialism which has not been fully developed in Chinese literary criticism and many English literary works like Lord Jim can be a good learning tool for understanding western culture and history. 2 Statement of the Problem What is the image of empire in Conrad’s Lord Jim? How does Conrad express the idea of empire in Lord Jim? Jim is the main character in this novel and he has his own conflicts. Does Jim represent Conrad? How should Lord Jim be categorized? 3 Definition of Terms Empire: There is no precise definition about the word “Empire.” In a broad sense, there are 9 different meanings consulted to Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary according to the occasions and customs. The first one which is the exact meaning in this essay means “an aggregate of nations or peoples ruled over by an emperor or other powerful sovereign or government: usually a territory of greater extent than a kingdom, as the former British Empire, French Empire, Russian Empire, Byzantine Empire or Roman Empire” (p.468). In a narrow sense, Empire usually indicates those strong monarchy countries with a vast expanse of land, lots of colonies and persisted traditions. Generally, the countries can be titled as Empire is approved internationally. Throughout history, the mainly Empires like these are listed as Roman Empire, the Ottman Empire, the German Empire and so on. And according to Oxford English Dictionary, Empire has two different concepts in old and modern English. The older concept refers to “Imperial rule or dignity” (p.187), which means “Supreme and extensive political dominion, esp. that exercised by an ‘emperor’ (in the earlier senses) or by a sovereign state over its dependencies.”(p.187) The modern concept that is also Conrad being used in Lord Jim means, “That which is subject to imperial rule.”(p.187) including “ An extensive territory (esp. an aggregate of many separate states) under the sway of an emperor or supreme ruler; also, an aggregate of subject territories ruled over by a sovereign state.”(p.187) and “ the empire” (p.188). There are also four famous Empires to help with understanding, “before 1804 often spec the ‘Holy Roman’ or ‘Romano -- Germanic’ empire”, “Great Britain with its dominions, colonies, and dependencies; the British Empire; freg. The overseas dominions, etc. as opposed to Great Britain”, “the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of the French 1804-15, or the period of this” and “the rule of Napoleon III as Emperor of the French, 1852-70, or the period of this, usually as second Empire”(p.188). 4 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter describes the image of the British Empire in Lord Jim through three aspects, which are: the expansion of the empire, the civilization of the empire and the individual of the empire. To begin the paper, it is necessary to illustrate the background empires, especially the British Empire, and about the era in this novel. Then it aims to analyze the specific cultural elements, such as, language, theory and colonial culture to express the suffering of colonial people vividly. At last, which is the core of the paper, it will elaborate the individual’s view of the Empire through the leading character, Jim, which emphasizes contradictoriness and oppression when he faces the big environment, namely, the Empire. Expansion of empire The British Empire, which is regarded as a typical Empire from 19th to the beginning of 20th, possesses a great many colonies from east to west on the earth. In early 17th century, British Empire began to take shape and established many colonies in North America including today’s United States, some parts in Canada and a few small islands, such as Jamaica, around the coastline of the Caribbean at that time.