General Guides/Introductions to Conrad’s Novella

Heart of Darkness (Peter Cash). An excellent 17-page booklet on the main theme of HD. (English Association, Leicester)

A Guide to Heart of Darkness (Allen Kromer) from Signet (Penguin) 25 pages.

Bookdrum: Heart of Darkness (Gordon Knox). Contains useful background ideas, historical contexts, maps, illustrations, and glossary.

A BBC In Our Time podcast on Heart of Darkness from 2007 (45 minutes).

Readings for Research Essay Topic 1

Is Heart of Darkness a racist work? You should start with a good definition of racism to help structure your essay.

Suggested length: 1,500 words

• Achebe, Chinua. “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness'”
• “Achebe on Racism in Heart of Darkness”. Teisch. Victorian Web.
• “’A Bloody Racist’: About Achebe’s View of Conrad.” Cedric Watts
• Postcolonial Criticism of Heart of Darkness: A Casebook
• “Heart of Darkness“: “Anti-Imperialism, Racism, or Impressionism?”Author(s): PATRICK BRANTLINGER. Source: Criticism, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Fall, 1985), pp. 363-385. Published by: Wayne State University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23110450
• Bolacki, S. http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/explore/publications/casestudies/seminars/conrad.php
• Sarvan, C.P. “Racism and the Heart of Darkness.” The International Fiction Review, 7, No. 1 (1980), 6-10. Click on pdf link.

Readings for Research Essay Topic 2

Imperialism in Heart of Darkness. Start with a good definition of both imperialism and colonialism.

Suggested length: 1,500 words

• Victorian History British Empire (Victorian Web)
• “Conrad’s Critique of Imperialism in Heart of Darkness” Hawkins, Hunt. Conrad’s Critique of Imperialism in Heart of Darkness. PMLA
  Vol. 94, No. 2 (Mar., 1979), pp. 286-299
  Published by: Modern Language Association
• “Imperialism: Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.” Raskin, Jonah
• From Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism (1993).
• “Conrad’s Bloody Imperialism: Achebe, Said, and What Conrad Really Wrote.” by Zelnick.
• “Critical responses to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” by Svensson, M.
• “White Lies and Whited Sepulchres in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.” by Philip Allingham.
• “Kurtz as a Symbol of Imperialism.” Chapter 3 (pp 55-96) Thesis.

Readings for Research Essay Topic 3

The Position of Women in Heart of Darkness.

Suggested length: 1,500 words

• “Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and the World of Western Women.” Peters. Studies in Short Fiction. 37.1 (EBSCO).
• “ An Ashy Halo: Woman as Symbol in ‘Heart of Darkness'” Geary, Edward A. Studies in Short Fiction, Fall 76, Vol. 13 Issue 4, p. 499, 8p. [EBSCO]
• “The Women Do Not Travel: Gender, Difference, and Incommensurability in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.” McIntire. MFS (Project Muse).
• “Reading Race and Gender in Conrad’s Dark Continent.” London Free JSTOR. Criticism. Vol. 31, No. 3 (Summer, 1989), pp. 235-252. Article Stable URL.
• “Revisiting Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: Women, Symbolism and Resistance.” Smith. M.A. Thesis.
• Student Essay, “Sexism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.” by Haydar Ali.