Conrad's Weapon and the Myth of Savage Africa

Anything you read in a work of fiction has a code. See Barthes' critique of “Sarassine" and his five "codes" that underlie the structure of all fiction (supposedly).

According to Barthes' codes there are two of interest in this situation: The cultural code, which goes out beyond the text and plays off readers' prejudices. And then the semic code, which is connotative.

The excerpt from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness that was given to us in our Myth of Savage Africa assignment exemplifies these two supposed codes as they play off myths taken as fact, and connote something about a culture that is false but which the reader will internalize as a truth.

But arguing an author's intention becomes tricky. Most contemporary writers shy away from any subjective standpoint on an issue and take up a more objective approach to their writing to avoid these codes, though they are inherently unavoidable if Barthes is right.

We do not see omniscient narrators in contemporary fiction anymore, and if so, rarely, and if so, poorly rendered.

Conrad's treatment of Africa not only is a clear smack at the peoples of the continent, but also has far-reaching implications into twentieth century literature and the means by which writers work.

Here are some examples of the cultural and semic codes in the excerpt:

"...a burst of yells, a whirl of black limbs, a mass of clapping hands, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling..." Cultural Code. Our prejudices outside the text are piqued subconsciously.

"...under the droop of heavy foliage." Semic code. "droop" signifiying something not on the rise but in decline, and "heavy foliage" connoting a primordial landscape that has not been conquered by man.

Conrad's treatment of Africa is far more dangerous than Hegel's because with Hegel it’s explicit, whereas with Conrad it’s tucked into a narrative and imbibed subconsciously. To read Hegel one must read actively, but to read Conrad one just sits back and lets the image-bombs drop, completely unaware of their repercussions internally.

Some links of interest regarding Hegel's work and Conrad's novel, as well as the critic Roland Barthes' post-structuralist theory can be found here, here, and here, respectively.