Racial vilification (Re: warp & woof,

[jbor]

http://www.freespeech.org/james/conrad/heart.htm

[ ... ]

We live in interesting times -- times when books are banned because they
contain offensive terminology. Two of Conrad's books -- _Heart of Darkness_
and _The Nigger of the "Narcissus"_ -- have been on some banned book lists,
but not nearly as often as Mark Twain's _Huckleberry Finn_ and _Tom Sawyer_.
These books have been banned in schools and libraries in such places as
Brooklyn because they contain the word "nigger."

See, I said the word. Last year, during the Simpson trial, those CNN
reporters invented the term "n word" to describe some of the content of the
Fuhrmann tapes. Does this newfound "n word"-consciousness affects how 300
odd freshman might view _Heart of Darkness_?

In the meantime, we find the word "nigger" sprinkled liberally throughout
contemporary song, in the lyrics of the Grateful Dead, Patti Smith, Public
Enemy, John Lennon, and Snoop Doggy Dog, as well as on such popular shows as
Def Comedy Jam. Our comfort level with the "n word" is context-dependent.

In 1890, however, when Conrad did his trip up the Congo River, things were
different, were they not? This is actually an empirical question, and one we
can tackle with evidence. We can ask, for example, how the word "nigger" was
perceived in 1890.

The word "nigger," like Negro, Niger, and the archaic slang word "neger,"
come from the Latin root for black. The following quotation is from Stuart
Flexner's 1976 book, _I Hear America Talking_(i):

". . . At any rate, "nigger" was a common word in both England and America
by the 17th century; it was just considered a pronunciation of "Negro" until
around 1825, when both abolitionists and Blacks began to object to it as
disparaging. Then after the Civil War "nigger" became the most common
contemptuous word for a Black."

This was in the US. What about England, where Conrad lived? According to
Dorothy Hammond and Alta Jablow in _The Africa That Never Was_  (1970) the
word "nigger" had fallen into disrepute by the 1880's. They give an example
of a travel writer named Grogan who "saw the Africans only as 'niggers' --
he used no other term." Hammond and Jablow write (p. 100):

"No issue was taken with the word or its use at this time, though some in
positions of administrative responsibility, clearly aware of its pejorative
content, eschewed its use. In this connection it is noteworthy that [Sir
Harry] Johnston [writing in the 1880's] occasionally lapses into using the
word, but discreetly, hemmed in by quotation marks. Later, when he became
Proconsul of British Empire in Africa, he did not use the term at all."

There is little doubt, then, that Conrad would have been aware in 1898 that
the word "nigger" was derogatory. Although not a native speaker of English,
Conrad reportedly had a flawless ear for the tongue. Our reference
librarian, Mr Gilbert, also did some research on the topic, and found
references in both the US and Britain indicating that the word "nigger" was
already considered offensive in the 18th century in both places. Thus,
Conrad must have known.

But does this mean that Conrad was a racist? Not necessarily. Conrad is not
Marlow. Perhaps Conrad constructed Marlow as a racist, at least in part, by
having him use such words as "nigger" or savage in a few select places in
the book. [ ... ]

best

> ----------
>>From: Thomas Eckhardt <uzs7lz at uni-bonn.de>
>>
>
>> Correct me if I'm wrong, but the colour of skin of the person who uses the
> word
>> "nigger" for a black man or woman seems to be of some importance here, no?
>
> Indeed, as do the *intent* of the person who uses the term and the *effect*
> on the person or people towards whom it has been directed.
>
> Its origin is as a racial slur, whatever attempts at "reappropriation" have
> occurred in the meantime.
>
> best
>
>