Achebe on Conrad

[Keith Obye]

Hello,
    I remember Edward Said discussing this in _culture & imperialism_ and
suggesting that Achebe's critique was not entirely fair.  However, I don't
have the book with me so I will look up the relevant passages & post them
later.  Alternatively, someone else can feel free to find the quotes first.

Cheers, Keith

----- Original Message -----
From: <kevin at limits.org>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2000 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: Achebe on Conrad


> > Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 23:10:02 CDT
> > From: "David Morris" <fqmorris at hotmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: Achebe on Conrad
> >
> > This seems to me a kind of novel-fascism.  It reeks of a "politically
> > correct" yardstick.  Mythic places ARE!  We take them where we find
them.
> > If they MOVE YOU, that's all that matters.  The "why do they move me?"
is a
> > great subject to explore, but let's not downgrade art for choosing the
> > "wrong" mythic "backdrop."
> >
> Not to mention that Europe seems just as mythic and unreal as Africa in
> _Heart of Darkness_.  The only place in the book that is, literally,
> anchored to reality is the boat on the Thames.
>
> However, Achebe does have a very good point.  _HoD_ may be very
> well-crafted, moving, and artistically interesting, but by Achebe's
> standards, this is not enough.  A great amount of _HoD_'s tensions are
> driven by perspective, and it is worthwhile to criticize it from
> perspectives not found in the book.
> >
> > >From: "jbor" "Achebe [...] does not deny Conrad's "great talents,"
> > >evidenced even in
> > >*Heart of Darkness* itself. But he vigorously criticizes using
> > >
> > >    Africa as setting and backdrop which eliminates the African as
human
> > >    factor. Africa as a metaphysical battlefield devoid of all
recognizable
> > >    humanity, into which the wandering European enters at his peril.
Can
> > >    nobody see the preposterous and perverse arrogance in thus reducing
> > >    Africa to the role of props for the break-up of one petty European
> > >mind?
> > >    But that is not even the point. The real question is the
dehumanization
> > >    of Africa and Africans which this age-long attitude has fostered
and
> > >    continues to foster in the world. And the question is whether a
novel
> > >    which celebrates this dehumanization, which depersonalizes a
portion of
> > >    the human race, can be called a great work of art. My answer is:
No, it
> > >    cannot."
>
> Kevin Troy
>
> "If compassionate conservatives don't know the meaning of 'is,' how will
> they handle the more important helping verbs?"
> --Peter Weyler, quoted in _Modern Humorist_
>
>