Place and the "Heart of Darkness"

While reading the many definitions of “place” given by Robertson and McDaniel, I couldn’t help but refer back to Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Not only did we mention it previously in the Post-Colonialism lecture, but I was also required to read it for my literature course. Within the first paragraph, it states, “A forest traversed by an indigenous tribe is psychically a much different forest than the one that a band of tourists floats through on boats” (Robertson, McDaniel, 153). This reminds me of the psychology behind Heart of Darkness and the way in which Marlow psychoanalyzes almost everyone in the book. Conrad’s entire description of the Congo, including the people, is dark and psychically “mad”. However if the Congo had been a “conquered monster” like that of England at the time, his description and view would have been entirely different. Also relating to the psychology of a place, Robertson and McDaniel state, “The psychic dimensions of a place are changeable and subject to redefinition as new inhabitants occupy a place” (Robertson, McDaniel, 154). This is true of Heart of Darkness. The “psychic dimensions” of the Congo were changed when the Europeans came to conquer for the sake of ivory and money. Although, referring back to Post Colonialism and the influence of European perspective, the only way in which I obtained that knowledge was through European views of the Congo or the way in which Conrad depicts it.

Even when stepping away from psychology, there is another quote that brought Heart of Darkness to mind. Robertson and McDaniel state, “A place is an event” (Robertson, McDaniel, 153). If “new Imperialism” had never taken place, Conrad wouldn’t have been able to have a story. The entire novella is based on the events that take place within the Congo and how they shape its image, it’s “darkness”. Not only does the place, the Congo, and its events shape the image of the place, it also can have physical and emotional affects on people. Robertson and McDaniel say, “ Some kinds of place can trigger intense physical and emotional responses such as vertigo, claustrophobia, and disorientation” (Robertson, McDaniel, 154). This is true in the character of Marlow and many others. Marlow begins to describe things he is seeing, but then almost second guessing his visions, determining that he might be “mad”. Although this example does not relate directly to art, there still can be a connection between the descriptions of place and the literary work, Heart of Darkness.

The paragraph on Kathy Prendergast and her work “Lost”, made me wonder what Marlow’s map of the Congo would have looked like. It almost humors me to think he would have used the word “dark” in every named location on the map. Because not only does he use the word “darkness” in his title, he also overuses the adjective throughout the entire novella.

Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.