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FORWHOMDIDCONRADWRITE?
ZdzisławNajder
EuropeanTischnerAcademy,Cracow
InAPersonalRecord∗Conradtellsthestoryaboutthefirstreaderofhisfirstwork,
Almayer’sFolly.IthappenedinNovemberorDecember1892onboardtheTorrens,
duringthepassagefromLondontoAdelaide,andthreeyearsafteranotherepisode
recountedinConrad’sreminiscences,when,hesays,“inthesimplicityofmyheart
andtheamazingignoranceofmymind”hestartedtowritehisfirstnovel.1Thatfate-
fulautumndayatBessboroughGardens–howdidConradimaginehisfutureread-
ers?Towhomdidheaddresshiscommuniqué?Thisisoneofthosequestionswhich
areunanswerablebutwhichoughttobeasked.
Farmoreoftenanotherquestionisposed:whydidConradwriteinhisthirdlan-
guage,andnotthefirstorthesecond?Thisquestionhasbeenutteredinvarioustones.
SomePolescomplainedthatKonradKorzeniowskididnotenrichhispaternallitera-
ture.JoDavidson,anAmericansculptorwholivedmostofhistimeinParis,noting
thecontrastbetweenConrad’sfluencyinFrenchandhisglaringlyforeignaccentin
English,inquired:whydon’tyouwriteinthelanguageyouusewithevidentlymore
ease?2AlsotheEnglishwonderedandevengrumbled.Awell-knownLondoncritic
RobertLyndcalledConradin1908–andthusafterNostromoandTheSecretAgent
hadbeenpublished–“awriterwithoutcountryandlanguage”andclaimedthathis
workswouldhavebeenmorevaluablehadtheybeenwrittenintheauthor’s“proper”
language.3
Wemay,however,putthequestioninadifferentway,transferringitfromthe
theoreticalplaneofConrad’schoiceoflanguagestoamoreconcreteoneofexisting
textsandtheirreaders.Andasksimply:forwhomdidConradwrite?Towhomwere
*ReferencestoConrad’sworksare,unlessotherwisenoted,toDent’sCollectedEdition(London
1946–1955).
1J.Conrad.APersonalRecord.16–18,69.
2JoDavidson.BetweenSittings.NewYork:DialPress,1951,119.
3InDailyNews.10Aug.1908;reprintedinConrad:TheCriticalHeritage.Ed.NormanSherry,
London1973,210–212.
