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From Marginalism to Dualism: On Joseph Conrad’s Cultural Awareness

Received: 6 January 2022     Accepted: 24 January 2022     Published: 9 February 2022
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Abstract

Joseph Conrad is a Polish born English writer who immigrated or expatriated to many different cultural backgrounds. He is considered a marginal man, a restless figure all through his life, and a man in exile, without root and of no belonging. The cultural identity once was one of Conrad’s overriding concerns, one that dominated much of his personal and public life. Conrad was born in Poland, but was not spiritually bred and educated by that culture; he immigrated to and finally settled in Britain, but often kept a heightened sense of his social and cultural alienation. However, having walked in and out of the marginal circles of the several cultures, Conrad was able to free himself from the absolute manipulation of any single culture. His marginal man’s relative sense of cultures and identity have well led him to a richly composite individual—one that combines key elements of many cultures. So, the diverse cultural experiences and the unique cultural understanding enabled Conrad to change from marginal form to janiform and became a writer with the concept of dualism. Then, dualism serves as Conrad’s philosophical foundation for observing and judging the world. Born a Pole, Conrad does not see things totally from a Polish stance, nor does he totally take a Russian stance, French stance, English stance, or other single cultural stance. Such idea of dualism is clearly demonstrated in portraying the image of the “self” and the “other” in this jungle fiction. Although such dualism very often produces tensions and ambivalence on Conrad and his writings, there are certainly deep insights and revelations in it. His concept of dualism might provide instructive understanding of the world today—to see all the aspects of the matter instead of just one, i.e., to see things from both the opposite sides.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.17
Page(s) 51-58
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Joseph Conrad, Marginalism, Dualism, Cultural Identity, Janiform

References
[1] Lindholm, Charles. Culture and Identity: The History, Theory, and Practice of Psychological Anthropology. Oxford: One world Publications, 2008, c2007: 3.
[2] Baines, Jocelyn. Joseph Conrad: A Critical Biography. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1960: 13-14.
[3] Spittles, Brian. Joseph Conrad: Text and Context. Houndmills, Basingstoke, and London: The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1992: 3.
[4] Kintzele, Paul. “Lord Jim: Conrad’s Fable of Judgment.” Journal of Modern Literature 25.2 (Winter 2001/2002): 69-79.
[5] Conrad, Joseph. Notes on Life and Letters. Ed. J. H. Stape. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004: xliv, xliv, 13.
[6] Knowles, Owen. “Conrad’s Life.” The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad. Ed. J. H. Stape. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000: 1-24.
[7] Wang, Chull, “Moral Passion and Discovery in Joseph Conrad.” Modern Age 34.4 (Summer 1992): 310-319.
[8] Mary, P. Amalorpava. “Identity-Construction and Looking into the Soul: The Narrative Structure and Dynamics of Joseph Conrad.” Language In India 19.4 (2019): 1-7.
[9] Conrad, Joseph. A Personal Record. The Project Gutenberg Etext [Etext #687]. Release Date: October 1996: 6.
[10] George, Walker. “Joseph Conrad: International Narrator.” Journal of Research in International Education 3 (August 2004): 225-236.
[11] Conrad, Joseph. Typhoon and Other Stories. New York: Doubleday, Page, & Company, 1925: 121.
[12] Shaffer, Brian W. “Swept from the Sea: Trauma and Otherness in Conrad’s ‘Amy Foster.’” Conradiana 32.3 (Fall 2000): 163-176.
[13] Hynes, Samuel. Ed. The Complete Short Fiction of Joseph Conrad. New York: The Ecco Press, 1991: xi.
[14] Ribeiro de Oliveira, Solange. “Aspects of hybridism in Joseph Conrad's Almayer's Folly and Heart of Darkness.” Ilha do Desterro 72.1 (February 2019): 15-28.
[15] Conrad, Joseph. Notes on My Books. The Project Gutenberg Etext [EBook #20150]. Release Date: December 20, 2006: 9.
[16] Ford, Ford Madox. Joseph Conrad: A Personal Remembrance. London: Duckworth, 1924: 34-35, 57-58.
[17] Watts, Cedric. A Preface to Conrad. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2005: 7, 42.
[18] Conrad, Joseph. The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad (Vol. III). Ed., Frederick R. Karl, Laurence Davies. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983: Vol. III: 89, Vol. II: 348-349.
[19] Ophir, Ella. “Sincerity and self-revelation in Joseph Conrad.” The Modern Language Review 107.2 (April 2012): 341-363.
[20] Watts, Cedric. “Heart of Darkness.” The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad, Ed. J. H. Stape. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000: 45-62.
[21] Land, Stephen K. Conrad and the Paradox of Plot. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1984: 83, 20.
[22] Mossman, Mark. “Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children: National Narrative as a Liminal Voice.” The Midwest Quarterly 40.1 (Autumn 1999): 66-78.
[23] Bhabha, Homi K. “DissemiNation: Time, Narrative, and the Margins of the Modern Nation.” Nation and Narration. Ed. Homi K. Bhabha. London: Routledge, 2002: 320.
[24] Achebe, Chinua. “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness.’” Massachusetts Review 18 (1997): 782-94.
[25] Sadeghzadegan, Majid. “An ambivalent Conrad in An Outpost of Progress.” Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 37 (June 2017): 291-300.
[26] Najder, Zdzisław. Joseph Conrad: A Chronic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983: 7.
[27] Alpert, Avram. “Empires of Enlightenment: On illumination and the politics of Buddhism in Heart of Darkness.” Journal of Modern Literature 40.2 (Winter 2016): 1-21.
[28] Firchow, Peter. Envisioning Africa: Racism and Imperialism in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2000: 10–11.
[29] White, Andrea. “Rev. of Cross-Cultural Encounters in Joseph Conrad’s Malay Fiction by Robert Hampson.” Studies in the Novel 34.2 (Summer 2002): 237-238.
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    Li Wenjun. (2022). From Marginalism to Dualism: On Joseph Conrad’s Cultural Awareness. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 10(1), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.17

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    Li Wenjun. From Marginalism to Dualism: On Joseph Conrad’s Cultural Awareness. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2022, 10(1), 51-58. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.17

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    Li Wenjun. From Marginalism to Dualism: On Joseph Conrad’s Cultural Awareness. Int J Lit Arts. 2022;10(1):51-58. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.17,
      author = {Li Wenjun},
      title = {From Marginalism to Dualism: On Joseph Conrad’s Cultural Awareness},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {51-58},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20221001.17},
      abstract = {Joseph Conrad is a Polish born English writer who immigrated or expatriated to many different cultural backgrounds. He is considered a marginal man, a restless figure all through his life, and a man in exile, without root and of no belonging. The cultural identity once was one of Conrad’s overriding concerns, one that dominated much of his personal and public life. Conrad was born in Poland, but was not spiritually bred and educated by that culture; he immigrated to and finally settled in Britain, but often kept a heightened sense of his social and cultural alienation. However, having walked in and out of the marginal circles of the several cultures, Conrad was able to free himself from the absolute manipulation of any single culture. His marginal man’s relative sense of cultures and identity have well led him to a richly composite individual—one that combines key elements of many cultures. So, the diverse cultural experiences and the unique cultural understanding enabled Conrad to change from marginal form to janiform and became a writer with the concept of dualism. Then, dualism serves as Conrad’s philosophical foundation for observing and judging the world. Born a Pole, Conrad does not see things totally from a Polish stance, nor does he totally take a Russian stance, French stance, English stance, or other single cultural stance. Such idea of dualism is clearly demonstrated in portraying the image of the “self” and the “other” in this jungle fiction. Although such dualism very often produces tensions and ambivalence on Conrad and his writings, there are certainly deep insights and revelations in it. His concept of dualism might provide instructive understanding of the world today—to see all the aspects of the matter instead of just one, i.e., to see things from both the opposite sides.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - Joseph Conrad is a Polish born English writer who immigrated or expatriated to many different cultural backgrounds. He is considered a marginal man, a restless figure all through his life, and a man in exile, without root and of no belonging. The cultural identity once was one of Conrad’s overriding concerns, one that dominated much of his personal and public life. Conrad was born in Poland, but was not spiritually bred and educated by that culture; he immigrated to and finally settled in Britain, but often kept a heightened sense of his social and cultural alienation. However, having walked in and out of the marginal circles of the several cultures, Conrad was able to free himself from the absolute manipulation of any single culture. His marginal man’s relative sense of cultures and identity have well led him to a richly composite individual—one that combines key elements of many cultures. So, the diverse cultural experiences and the unique cultural understanding enabled Conrad to change from marginal form to janiform and became a writer with the concept of dualism. Then, dualism serves as Conrad’s philosophical foundation for observing and judging the world. Born a Pole, Conrad does not see things totally from a Polish stance, nor does he totally take a Russian stance, French stance, English stance, or other single cultural stance. Such idea of dualism is clearly demonstrated in portraying the image of the “self” and the “other” in this jungle fiction. Although such dualism very often produces tensions and ambivalence on Conrad and his writings, there are certainly deep insights and revelations in it. His concept of dualism might provide instructive understanding of the world today—to see all the aspects of the matter instead of just one, i.e., to see things from both the opposite sides.
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Author Information
  • School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China

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