No Obvious Distinction

At first glance, Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, appears to be just another nineteenth-century colonial adventure tale, popular for the time period. Written in 1902, during the transition into the modernist literary period, there is great controversy on whether to classify the novella as another colonial tale or to label it as modernist literature, due to the fact that is carries several characteristics of each. Heart of Darkness cannot be classified directly into either a colonial or modernist piece, but rather a transition piece, one that carries characteristics of both literary periods.

For one to form an opinion as to the novella’s classification, they must first understand the differences between a colonial adventure tale and a modernist novel. A colonial tale implies a tale relating the colonization of a particular area, basically, imperialism. Colonization commonly involved the depiction of the native inhabitants as savages who must be “educated” in regards to the appropriate way to behave. By doing this, the nation colonizing could justify the mistreatment and label them as sub-human. Heart of Darkness prevalently fits this profile, and in many literary circles has created mixed feelings on the issue or whether or not it was meant to show an imperialist view of the times. In particular, when Marlow shows little concern for the natives dying in the shade of the trees, this represents the imperialist nature of the novel, one that has been called “racist” and “cruel.”

The concept of modernism has been defined by many, but basically states that a modernist narrative will, to a certain degree, be separate from the society it is placed in, and will often be presented in a disjointed manner. In some ways, Heart of Darkness fits this profile, even though the guidelines are not clearly defined. As a side note, the need by colonists to name and make sense of their surroundings fits in with the modernist style of writing in that they are attempting to make sense of their surroundings, evidenced in the complexity of the map.

Heart of Darkness’s principal character, Marlow, is seen to display element’s of modernity, especially unsureness about his social surroundings. The main substance of the novel, his experiences in the search and retrieval of Kurtz are presented in a relational manner, a narrative that is structured so that the reader is made to feel as if they were sitting with Marlow as he recounts his journey. The reader though is also enlightened