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JakobLothe
narrativecannotbefalsifiedinthewayahistoricalaccountcan;arelated,andinone
senseparadoxical,consequenceisthatthehigherlevelofgeneralityonwhichthe
fictionoperatesenhancesthework’slastingrelevanceasathoughtfulandthought-
provokingobservationonhistoricaleventsandprocesses.Oneimportanteffectofthe
text’sfictionalstatusisthatweneedtodistinguishbetweenConradasauthorofthe
fictionandhistwomainnarrators,theframenarratorandMarlow.Tomakethisper-
hapsobviouspointisnottoarguethatanarratorinafictionalworkcannotrepresent
hisorherauthor’sviews,andinsomeimportantwaysMarlowdoesso.Andyethe
needstobemoreclearlydistinguishedfromConradthanAchebeseemstobewiling
todo.
AsregardstheframenarratorwhoisspeakinginthefirstparagraphofHeartof
Darkness,thereisastrikingsenseinwhichhisintroductoryfunctioninlinkedtohis
combinedrolesofnarrateeandreader.Hisconventionalityisstriking.Wenote,for
example,thathereferstoLondonnotonlyasthe“biggest”townintheworld–some-
thingwhichwastrueattheturnofthetwentiethcentury,butalsoasthe“greatest,town
onearth”–somethingwhichalsoseemedtrueformostofthosewholivedinBritain
atthetime.Sincesuchaviewwasrepresentativenotonlyofthegroupofsailorswho
becomeMarlow’snarrateesaboardtheNellie,Conradmakesaconnection,rightfrom
thenovella’sopeningparagraph,betweentheattitudesandconventionallyaccepted
valuesoftheframenarrator,thenarratees,andtheimpliedreader.By“impliedreader”
Imeantheabstractnotionofareaderrespondingtoallthetext’sinterpretativesignals.
MyuseofthisconceptisinspiredbyWolfgangIser’sDerimpliziteLeser,andalsoby
hisaccompanyingvolumeDerAktdesLesens.Theabstractnotionofimpliedreader
resembles,andinonesensecorrespondsto,thatofimpliedauthor.Sincenosuch
readerexists,andsinceourconceptionofanimpliedreaderinevitablyiscolouredby
ourhistoricallysituatedreadings,theterm’scriticalusefulnessissometimescontested.
Onepossiblewayoflookingattheimpliedreaderistosaythatwhiletheimpliedau-
thorisanimageoftheauthorinthetext,theimpliedreaderisanimageofthereader
extractablefromtheinterpretativesignalsandpointerswhichthetextprovides.Seen
thus,theimpliedreaderiscloselyrelatedtoJamesPhelan’sconceptof“authorialaudi-
ence...theauthor’sidealreader”(Phelan2007,4).
RelatingthesetheoreticalobservationstoHeartofDarkness,wenotethattheway
inwhichConradpresentsthenarrativesituationontheNellieinitiatesaprocessof
listeningandreadinginwhichtheattitudes,andgraduallyalsotheresponses,ofthe
narrateesandtheauthorialaudiencearebroughtclosertoeachother.Thisfacetofthe
novella’stentaculareffectdepends,asdovariousothernarrativeandthematicaspects
ofthetext,ontheproductivecombinationofconnectionandcontrastbetweenthe
framenarrator’sintroductionandMarlow’sopeningremark:“‘Andthisalso,’said
Marlowsuddenly,‘hasbeenoneofthedarkplacesoftheearth’”(105).Ascritics
havenoted,thisnarrativevariationisoneofthemosteffectiveinConrad’sfiction
overall.Marlow’scommentexposestheframenarrator’srelativenaïvetyandlimited
insight,thusprefiguringthecomplex,sombreimplicationsofthetaleheisaboutto
