Date of Award

2023

Degree Name

Master of Philosophy (School of Arts and Sciences)

Schools and Centres

Arts & Sciences

First Supervisor

Associate Professor Deborah Pike

Second Supervisor

Dr Annemarie McLaren

Third Supervisor

Associate Professor Susanna Rizzo

Abstract

This thesis demonstrates how a historical-philosophical reading of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899) through the lens of Thomas Hobbes’ thought can provide new understandings of Conrad’s critique of empire, by extending existing literature on the novella’s historical and politico-philosophical ideas. As Conrad’s use of a literary-impressionistic style has often left readers debating the text’s meaning, the once-canonical novella has come under the intense scrutiny of both readers and scholars alike. This scrutiny intensified with the rise of postcolonialism in the late 1970s, which focused on the novella’s controversial representations of race and imperialism. Tensions surrounding the text have also been fuelled by contemporary readers’ heightened sensitivities towards race, representation and cultural appropriation issues. Therefore, by focussing on the relevance of Hobbesian philosophy in nineteenth-century Britain, this thesis offers a response to these debates by re-examining the text to better appreciate Conrad’s critique of empire.

The dissertation begins by exploring notions of race and imperialism in nineteenth-century Britain to establish the socio-cultural context from which the novella emerged. During this time, non-Europeans were ‘othered’ and considered biologically inferior, while British imperialists sought to ‘civilise the savages’ through imperial enterprise. It then considers receptions to Hobbesian philosophy in the intellectual arena in nineteenth-century Britain by examining the lesser-known Hobbesian Revival, which peaked during the fin-de-siècle. Doing so contextualises the presence of what appear to be literary allusions to Hobbesian philosophy in the text, which can, in turn, help to reveal what might be construed as its tacit anti-imperialist ideas. Hobbes’ core concepts of the ‘state of nature’ and ‘social contract’ are subsequently expounded, as set out in his magnum opus, Leviathan (1651), as a means for interpreting Heart of Darkness. The thesis then offers a chronological investigation of how the text represents these ideas through Conrad’s supposed literary allusions to Leviathan. It first investigates the text’s exposition up until Marlow’s arrival in Africa, followed by his encounter with the African wilderness, Kurtz, and Marlow’s subsequent return to European society. Overall, this thesis intervenes in existing research on Heart of Darkness by employing a historical-philosophical methodology, exemplified in a Hobbesian reading, to offer new and historically relevant understandings that help foreground what might be deemed as Conrad’s virulent (yet often misconstrued) critique of empire.

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