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FromwhomdidConradwrite?
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Adèled’OsmonddeBoigne.FiliationsaboundthroughoutConrad’swork,alsoin
textswhichhavenothingtodowithFrance,asinTheNigger,wherethedescription
ofWait’sdeathisacopyofasceneinMaupassant’sBel-Ami,orinUnderWestern
Eyes,whereNataliaHaldinspeakswiththewordsofMadamedeRenalofStendhal’s
RougeetNoire.Iwon’tconcernmyselfwithchargesofplagiarism;theyhavebeen
convincinglydisproved.AsIanWattsaidsuccinctly:“Inasense,Conradistheleast
derivativeofwriters:hewroteverylittlethatcouldbepossiblymistakenforthework
ofanyoneelse”.15
Still,thequestionhastobeasked:doesConrad,whenusingFrench(orlessoften
Polish)verbal,pictorialorthematiccomponents,signaltothereaderthathisEnglish
texthasbeneathanothersemanticandculturallevel?Arehisborrowingsseamlessly
wovenintohisprose,ordotheyrefer,pointtoothertexts?Or,mostgenerally,dowe
have,tounderstandhistextsinfull,toseethroughtheveilofhisEnglishwords
othershades–French,orsometimesPolish?
Ibelievetherearenosimpleanswerstothesequestions.Inmostcases,theechoes
ofFrench(orlessfrequentlyPolish)idioms,imagesandmotifsarerecognizableonly
forspecialistsand,whendeciphered,donotaddmuchtothecontent;although
aFrench(orPolish)readercan,whilereadingthetextinEnglish,instinctivelyfeel
thatheisencounteringsomethingfamiliarandperhapspoignant.Forexample,Ithink
thatforaFrenchreader,acquaintedwiththearticlesofAnatoleLeroy-Beaulieupub-
lishedintheRevuedesDeuxMondes,Conrad’swordsinNostromoabout“material
interest”wouldbemoreimpressiveandricherincontentthanforanEnglishone,
unfamiliarwiththismemorableconcept.16Similarly,inthefinalsceneof“Youth”the
elderlygentlemen,listeningtoMarlow,wonderwhatintheirliveswasmostvalu-
able;aFrenchman,whorememberstheclosingsceneofL’éducationsentimentale
whereFrédéricMoreauandCharlesDeslauriersaskthemselvesthesamequestion,
willprobablyassociatethesetwosumming-upsoflifeand,atleastsubconsciously,
willunderstandConrad’stextasawistfulanswertoFlaubert’scynicism.Still,the
basicsenseofConrad’swordswillremainthesame.
ButassociatingtheFrenchstatement“L’hommeestnépoltron”inLordJimwith
Jean-JacquesRousseau’s“l’hommeestnélibre”inthefirstsentenceofhisContrat
socialsendsanimportantmessage:twocontrastingconceptsofhumannatureare
beingjuxtaposed.AndthewholefollowingdebatebetweenMarlowandtheFrench
lieutenantappearsinafullerlight,thelightofasubstantialconfrontationbetween
Rousseau’sandAristotle’svisionofman.Andanotherexample:thesecondsection
ofthesketch“TheCradleoftheCraft”inTheMirroroftheSeaConradopenswith
thewords:“Happyhewho,likeUlysses,hasmadeanadventurousvoyage.”Weseem
tobereadingajoyfulpraiseofwandering.Butthequotedsentenceisanobviousal-
15IanWatt.ConradintheNineteenthCentury.Berkeley–LosAngeles1979,42.
16Esp.“Lemammonismeetladémocratie.”RevuedesDeuxMondes.Vol.CXXII,15avril1894,
721–742.
