Fear of the Dark: Surrealist Shadows in The Nigger of the "Narcissus"
This article argues that in The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’ Joseph Conrad gives narrative form to a poetics of darkness that anticipates surrealist concerns with self-dissolution, mimeticism, and loss of identity. Aligning Conrad with Roger Caillois's surrealist account of mimesis, the author arg...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2014
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| In: |
Modern fiction studies
Year: 2014, Volume: 60, Issue: 2, Pages: 227-250 |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article argues that in The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’ Joseph Conrad gives narrative form to a poetics of darkness that anticipates surrealist concerns with self-dissolution, mimeticism, and loss of identity. Aligning Conrad with Roger Caillois's surrealist account of mimesis, the author argues that Conrad strives to "make [us] see" a fear of the dark that has psychological, philosophical, and narratological implications. This essay furthers a mimetic line of inquiry in modernist studies and argues that Conrad's images of darkness cast shadows that are neither realistic nor impressionistic, but surrealistic instead. |
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| ISSN: | 1080-658X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Modern fiction studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/mfs.2014.0031 |
