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ZdzisławNajder
hiswrittencommuniquésaddressed?Strangelyenough,althoughitiswell-known
thattoestablishcontactwithreaderswasforConradapre-eminentconcern,although
weallrememberthatseveraltimesheaddressedhisreadersdirectly(asinthe“Letter
tomyreadersinAmerica”,publishedin1899asaforewordtoTheNigger)–theis-
sueofConrad’sreadershipaudiencehassofarreceivedlittleattention.True,Norman
Sherrycollectedthemostimportantreviewsanddiscussedthecriticalreactionsto
Conrad’sbooksinhisselectionConrad:TheCriticalHeritage.Thereare,too,many
anthologiesofConradcriticism,bothgeneralanddevotedtoparticularworks.But
Conrad’simpacton“ordinary”readers,whoareneithercriticsnorscholars,hasbeen
discussedonlywithregardtohisPolishaudience.Moreover,thereisampleevidence
thatConradisinnosensejustawriters’andscholars’novelist.Itwouldbeworth-
whiletolookatthe“profile”ofhistypicalreadersinvariouscountries,beginning
withtheUK.Infact,IhaveafeelingthatacceptingConrad’smulti-culturalback-
groundhasbeenasomethingofaproblemfortheBritishpublic.Conradwasrather
cageyaboutit,althoughinprivate,asweknow,hecomplainedtoGarnettaboutbeing
takenforaSlave,andnotforaPole;4andinalettertoanotherclosefriend,
CunninghameGraham,hecalledhimselfa“bloodyfurrigner”.5Theeminent
ShakespearescholarMurielBradbrookpublishedin1946abookentitled“England
PolishGenius”,butthatwasratheranexception.Backin1927EdmundGosse,an
influentialcritic,verysupportiveofConrad,dismissedassuperfluoussometwenty
pageswhichConrad’sfirstbiographer,theFrenchmanJean-Aubry,devotedtothe
writer’sPolishbackground:“IadmitthatIcouldbeartobetoldlessaboutallthese
KaszewskisandTreminskis[!].Theydonot,intheirexoticobscurity,helpmeto
muchfreshlightontheauthorofLordJim.”6Thissoundstomeasafairlytypical
reaction.Conrad’snon-EnglishconnectionshavebeenlittleexploredbyBritish
scholars.JocelynBainesandJohnBatchelordidatleastpointtothemclearlyand
positively.7Butalmostallsubstantialresearchinthisfieldhasbeencarriedbynon-
Britishauthors:French,Swiss,American,andPolish.Recently,Ireadacriticprais-
ingConrad’sbiographybyJohnStapefor“draggingConradoutfromasolemnPolish
tomb”inwhichIhadallegedlyburiedhim.8IsConrad’sPolishnessatomb?Thisis
anissueformyBritishcolleaguestoconsider.Unabletobeobjectiveinthiscase,
Ishalllimitmyselftonoticingthatfornon-Britishreadersmoretypicalseemsthe
recentessaybyprofessorUlrichM.SchmidofSanktGallen,whoseesintheaware-
4J.ConradtoE.Garnett,Tuesday[8Oct.1908].TheCollectedLettersofJosephConrad.Vol.III.
Ed.FrederickR.Karl&LaurenceDavies.Cambridge1988,492–493.(FurtherasCL.).
514Jan[18]98,CL:2,15.
6TheSundayTimes.30Oct.1927.
7J.Baines,JosephConrad:ACriticalBiography.London1960,1–32,400–403;J.Batchelor.The
LifeofJosephConrad.Oxford1994,1–18,19–20,236–241etc.
8PaulBailey.TheIndependent.17Aug.2007.
