HEART OFDARKNESS: THE UNCONVENTIONAL ADVENTURE STORY by Gail Fowler B.A., University ofBritish Columbia, 2003 B.Ed., University ofBritish Columbia, 2004 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of English © Gail Fowler 2008 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2008 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission ofthe author. APPROVAL Name: Gail Fowler Degree: Master ofArts Title ofThesis: Heart ofDarkness: The Unconventional Adventure Story Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Tom Grieve Associate Professor, English (SFU) Dr. Margaret Linley Senior Supervisor Assistant Professor, English (SFU) Dr. Colette Colligan Second Reader Assistant Professor, English (SFU) Dr. lIya Vinkovetsky External Examiner Assistant Professor, History Dept. 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This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. While licensing SFU to permit the above uses, the author retains copyright in the thesis, project or extended essays, including the right to change the work for subsequent purposes, including editing and publishing the work in whole or in part, and licensing other parties, as the author may desire. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Revised: Fall 2007 Abstract This research re-situates Heart ofDarkness within the contexts ofthe English adventure fiction genre during the period ofhigh imperialism and brings to light a feature ofthe novel that has escaped scholarly analysis, that ofthe racialization ofwhite Eureopeans. In re-situating Heart ofDarkness in its literary historical contexts, this thesis identifies the adventure genre as a whole as more complex and ambivalent concerning both race and Empire than has previously been recognized. Although these inconsistencies complicate the genre, adventure fiction nonetheless reinforces the status ofwhiteness in order to promote contemporary racial hierarchies and imperialism. Heart ofDarkness, however, does not. Conrad presents his adventure story and its white heroes with a substantial degree and frequency ofunconventionality that both critiques imperialism and disrupts its promotion. Moreover, through his unconventional representation ofwhiteness, Conrad generates a rather startling ambivalence toward white racial identity. Keywords: Adventure, Imperialism, Race, Whiteness, Journey, Narrative Subject Terms: Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924 Adventure stories, English - History and criticism Imperialism in literature White race in literature Whiteness in literature Journey Narrative III To myfamily, including Jake, who have supported me and been so understanding during my own long and adventurous journey. They have made all the difference. IV Acknowledgments I offer my gratitude to the Faculty ofEnglish at Simon Fraser University and the members ofthe Thesis Committee, Dr. Margaret Linley, Dr. Colette Colligan, and Dr. Tom Greave, as well as Dr. Ilya Vinkovetsky, from the Department ofHistory, for their insight and discussion that has suggested further avenues for my research. In particular, I extend my gratitude to Dr. Margaret Linley, ofthe SFU English Department, for her patience and guidance that helped me to find my way through the volumes ofresearch on Heart ofDarkness and ultimately to a thesis which has opened the door to new scholarship on the novel, genre, and race and Empire. My deepest appreciation goes to my family for their continual support and understanding during the years ofmy education. v Table of Contents Approval Page ii Abstract .............................................................. iii Dedication ............................................................ iv Acknowledgments v Table of Contents vi Introduction 1 The Context ofHeart ofDarkness 14 Heart ofDarkness, Adventure, and the Critical Tradition 15 Publication and Reception ofHeart ofDarkness 22 Conventions of the Adventure Genre I 34 Conventions ofthe Adventure Genre II 48 Whiteness and Racial Stereotyping 59 Marlow: The Unconventional Adventure Hero 78 The Adventure Hero 82 Women, the Lie, and Imperialism 101 Kurtz, The Other Hero 120 Kurtz: A Uniquely Unconventional Adventure Hero 124 The Unconventional Journey and Its Unconventional Rewards 143 Racial Whiteness 159 The Unconventionality and Ambivalence of"Whiteness 166 Communication, Disease, and Victimization 190 Bibliography 221 VI Introduction "This after all is a story for boys yet ---- _. ' I Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1902 "Exactly. Out ofthe material ofa boys' story I've made Youth by the force ofthe idea expressed in accordance with a strict conception ofmy method."2 Joseph Conrad, 1902 According to Joseph Conrad, Heart ofDarkness, which appeared as the second story in the three-story volume Youth in 1902, belongs within the genre ofadventure fiction. "Boys' stories" are not mere childish entertainment, however. At the height of their popularity (selling millions ofcopies each year), which coincided with the period of "high" or "formal" imperialism,3 which extended from approximately the last quarter of the nineteenth-century through the first decade ofthe twentieth century, adventure fiction performed definitive functions in Great Britain. During this time, intense rivalries developed between European nations for new imperial possessions, and they competed fiercely with each other to acquire as much territory and as many imperial subjects as quickly as possible.4 Africa became a locus for that imperial competition in what became known as "The Scramble for Africa." I Quoted in Dryden, IS. 2 Ibid. 3 See Chapter I, the section entitled, "Conventions ofthe Adventure Genre I," starting at approximately page 24 for a complete discussion ofthe historical context of"formal" or "high" imperialism and its connection to adventure fiction. 4 Great Britain, for example, acquired an additional 5 million square miles and 88 million new subjects in the last 30 years ofthe nineteenth-century. (Johnson, Robert. British Imperialism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, 4.) 1 The adventure genre engaged with this political and historical moment directly as the ideologies of imperialism and white racial identity (whiteness) are foregrounded in adventure fiction. These stories, however, take a pro-imperial position, and indeed promote Empire as well as representations ofwhiteness as racially superior. Moreover, these concepts are presented as stable. In part, that stability in the adventure genre is achieved through a heavy reliance on character as well as a traditional narrative and plot structure. The narrative structure mayor may not include a frame narrator, but that structure is uncomplicated and precisely chronological, and the plot consistently depicts white men who embark on an imperial journey, undergo significant personal and physical transformations that make them "gentlemen" and "manly men" as a result, "save" the natives, and return home triumphantly to Britain. Adventure stories not only project the numerous benefits ofEmpire to natives5 and white men (and their incredible, almost unbelievable superiority ofwhiteness), but the stories also project these elements with sufficient consistency and repetition that form a self-reinforcing stability. The adventure genre is neither monolithic nor simplistic, however, as inconsistencies do exist. Among the most significant ofthese inconsistencies are representations ofthe Other and hybrid figures that reflect an ambivalence concerning race. White heroes and secondary characters also occasionally consist ofsome imperfection, but these variations ultimately do not disrupt the overall positive representation ofwhiteness and Empire. 5 Given the contextual nature ofthis discussion, black Africans are referred to as