Linguistic Obscurity in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

Abstract

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness intensively presents modernist particularity shown in the form of linguistic obscurity. This paper draws on Friedrich Schleiermacher’s hermeneutics to argue that it has latent meanings and is presented through two categories: “silenced language” and “voiced language.” The former reveals the deception, death and hurt brought by colonial conquest. The latter is best exemplified by Kurtz’s Intended typified as an archetype of the Victorian woman, by which Joseph Conrad intends to criticize the self-deception of many in the colonial era. In short, linguistic obscurity respectively reveals Conrad’s critique of colonialism and his concern for humanity from the two different paths.

Keywords

• Heart of Darkness
• obscurity
• silenced language
• voiced language
• Joseph Conrad

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