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Under Conrad's EyesThe Novel as Criticism |
eBook Available
An innovative account of Joseph Conrad's engagement with nineteenth-century thought.
Joseph Conrad's novels are recognized as great works of fiction, but they should also be counted as great works of criticism. A voracious reader throughout his life, Conrad wrote novels that question and transform the ideas he encountered in non-fiction, novels, and scientific and philosophic works.
Under Conrad's Eyes looks at Conrad's revaluations of some of his important nineteenth-century predecessors - Carlyle, Darwin, Dickens, George Eliot, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche. Detailed readings of works from Heart of Darkness to Victory explore Conrad's language and style, focusing on questions regarding the will to know and the avoidance of knowledge, the potential harmfulness of sympathy, and the competing instincts for self-preservation and self-destruction. Comparative analyses show how Conrad transforms aspects of Bleak House into The Secret Agent and Middlemarch into Nostromo. Especially compelling are explorations of Conrad's ambivalence towards Carlyle's faith in work and hero-worship as rejuvenators of English culture and his views on Nietzsche's assault on Christianity.
This important new study of a novelist of profound contemporary relevance demonstrates how Conrad exemplifies the artist as critic while challenging both the categories we impose on texts and the boundaries we erect between literary periods.
Under Conrad's Eyes looks at Conrad's revaluations of some of his important nineteenth-century predecessors - Carlyle, Darwin, Dickens, George Eliot, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche. Detailed readings of works from Heart of Darkness to Victory explore Conrad's language and style, focusing on questions regarding the will to know and the avoidance of knowledge, the potential harmfulness of sympathy, and the competing instincts for self-preservation and self-destruction. Comparative analyses show how Conrad transforms aspects of Bleak House into The Secret Agent and Middlemarch into Nostromo. Especially compelling are explorations of Conrad's ambivalence towards Carlyle's faith in work and hero-worship as rejuvenators of English culture and his views on Nietzsche's assault on Christianity.
This important new study of a novelist of profound contemporary relevance demonstrates how Conrad exemplifies the artist as critic while challenging both the categories we impose on texts and the boundaries we erect between literary periods.
Details
Part of the McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Ideas Series (number 47 in series)
272 Pages, 6 x 9
ISBN 9780773535107
April 2009
Formats: Cloth, eBook
"DiSanto has a great enthusiasm for Conrad and for ideas. This is a compelling and original work that makes a significant contribution to Conrad studies and to intellectual and literary history of the nineteenth century." Pericles Lewis, Yale University
"Under Conrad's Eyes has much to teach us about how a great novelist engages with his literary predecessors." John Xiros Cooper, University of British Columbia
"Under Conrad's Eyes is a valuable addition to the line of commentary that seeks to associate Conrad's fiction with prior intellectual traditions, particularly in its refocusing of attention upon English writers." Hugh Epstein, London
"Under Conrad's Eyes offers simultaneously a comparative analysis of the main questions and ideas of Conrad's time and a masterful reading of his novels. Interdisciplinary in its approach, this crucial new study of Conrad's work will be invaluable to both students and scholars of nineteenth-century literature and culture." Annotated Bibliography of English Studies, Routledge
"Under Conrad's Eyes has much to teach us about how a great novelist engages with his literary predecessors." John Xiros Cooper, University of British Columbia
"Under Conrad's Eyes is a valuable addition to the line of commentary that seeks to associate Conrad's fiction with prior intellectual traditions, particularly in its refocusing of attention upon English writers." Hugh Epstein, London
"Under Conrad's Eyes offers simultaneously a comparative analysis of the main questions and ideas of Conrad's time and a masterful reading of his novels. Interdisciplinary in its approach, this crucial new study of Conrad's work will be invaluable to both students and scholars of nineteenth-century literature and culture." Annotated Bibliography of English Studies, Routledge
Michael John DiSanto is associate professor of English, Algoma University.
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
First Publication Dates of Primary Texts xv
Introduction: Something of an Intellectual 3
1 The Dangers of Carlyle’s Heroic Work in Heart of Darkness 33
2 The Despair of Knowing in Bleak House and The Secret Agent 66
3 The Trouble with Sympathy in Middlemarch and Nostromo 96
4 Dostoevky’s Last Confession in Under Western Eyes 132
5 Living to Die in Lord Jim 163
6 Conrad versus Nietzsche versus Christ 192
Conclusion: Future Work 224
Works Cited 233
Index 245
Abbreviations xiii
First Publication Dates of Primary Texts xv
Introduction: Something of an Intellectual 3
1 The Dangers of Carlyle’s Heroic Work in Heart of Darkness 33
2 The Despair of Knowing in Bleak House and The Secret Agent 66
3 The Trouble with Sympathy in Middlemarch and Nostromo 96
4 Dostoevky’s Last Confession in Under Western Eyes 132
5 Living to Die in Lord Jim 163
6 Conrad versus Nietzsche versus Christ 192
Conclusion: Future Work 224
Works Cited 233
Index 245
9780773544000
$125.00 CAD
Cloth
Co-Winner
The Adam Gillon Book Award in Conrad Studies
The Joseph Conrad Society of America (2013)
The Adam Gillon Book Award in Conrad Studies
The Joseph Conrad Society of America (2013)
