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JakobLothe
strategyistext-orientedandselectiveinthatIconsiderjustafew,thougharguably
veryimportant,passagesfromHeartofDarkness,LordJim,andNostromo.Iwillpay
particularattentiontotherelationshipbetweenauthor,narrator,narratee,implied
reader(orauthorialaudience),andactualorhistoricalreader.
TurningtoHeartofDarknesswhilebearingmyintroductoryremarksinmind,
Istartbyaskingaseeminglysimplequestion:howcantwodistinguishedblacknov-
elistsreadthesametextbyConradsodifferently?ThereadersIamthinkingofare
ChinuaAchebe,borninNigeriain1930andoneofthemosthighlyregardedof
AfricanwritersinEnglish,andtheyoungerwriterCarylPhillips,bornintheWest
Indiesin1958andbroughtupinLeeds.InaremarkableinterviewwithAchebe,
madebyPhillipsandpublishedinTheGuardianin2003,itbecomesclearthatthese
twoauthors–similarastheyareasregardsbothprofession,sex,andethnicaffiliation
–readHeartofDarknessinverydifferentways.Inactualfact,theirdivergentread-
ingsofthesametextturnouttobeamainpurposeoftheinterview:anadmirerof
Conrad,PhillipsmeetsAchebetodefendthecreatorofHeartofDarkness,theauthor
famouslydescribedbyAchebeas“abloodyracist”inalectureattheUniversityof
Massachussets,Amherst,on18February1977(Achebe2006,343).Itsoonemerges,
however,thatAchebehasnotchangedhismind:oneofhisfirststatementsinthein-
terviewisthat
Themanwouldappeartobeobsessedwith“that”word.
Nigger.
Achebenods.
Hehasanadmirationofthewhiteskin.Itisthewhitenessthathelikes,andheisobsessed
withthephysicalityofthenegro.
ForAchebe,theword“nigger”isrightatthecentreofHeartofDarkness;indeed,
itisasthoughthisverywordinfiltratestheemptinessorvacuitytowardswhich,inhis
classicessayonConrad’snovella,TzvetanTodorovfindsthatitsnarrativegravitates
(Todorov1978,161–173).EventhoughIdistancemyselffromAchebe’sforceful
indictment,mymainconcernhereisnotdisagreement.Rather,whatintriguesmeis
why,andhow,tworeadersapproachingHeartofDarknessfromsimilarpositionscan
reachwidelydiverginginterpretativeresults.Onereason,andthispointblendsinto
mymainargument,maybethatPhillips,emergingasthemorepatientofthesetwo
readers,islessinterestedinthenovella’scondensed“message”andmoreinwhat
EdwardW.Saidhascalledits“presentation”–anarrativepresentationwhichin-
cludestheshapingofthereader’sresponse.Thefollowingpassagefromtheinter-
viewindicateshowPhillipsreadsHeartofDarkness:
TherearethreeremarkablejourneysinHeartofDarkness.First,Marlow’sactualjourneyto
Kurtz’sinnerstation.Second,thelargerjourneythatMarlowtakesusonfromcivilisedEurope,
backtothebeginningofcreationwhennaturereigned,andthenbacktocivilisedEurope.And
finally,thejourneythatKurtzundergoesashesinksdownthroughthemanylevelsoftheselfto
aplacewherehediscoversunlawfulandrepressedambiguitiesofcivilisation.
