Sexuality and the Erotic in the Fiction of Joseph ConradAwarded third place for The Adam Gillon Book Award in Conrad Studies 2009 The book presents a sustained critique of the interlinked (and contradictory) views that the fiction of Joseph Conrad is largely innocent of any interest in or concern with sexuality and the erotic, and that when Conrad does attempt to depict sexual desire or erotic excitement then this results in bad writing. Jeremy Hawthorn argues for a revision of the view that Conrad lacks understanding of and interest in sexuality. He argues that the comprehensiveness of Conrad's vision does not exclude a concern with the sexual and the erotic, and that this concern is not with the sexual and the erotic as separate spheres of human life, but as elements dialectically related to those matters public and political that have always been recognized as central to Conrad's fictional achievement. The book will open Conrad's fiction to readings enriched by the insights of critics and theorists associated with Gender Studies and Post-colonialism. |
From inside the book
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... sexual subject ' , and he concludes that ' it is significant that Conrad's one extended study of a sexual subject should center in an inadequate male who sees female 6 Sexuality and the Erotic in the Fiction of Joseph Conrad.
... female sexuality and male impotence ' ( 98 ) . Once again we can note the revealing presence of a central contradiction in the case being made . That critics still engage with Moser's thesis says something about its importance , but it ...
... female characters ( such as Jim and Jewel in Lord Jim ) , Conrad displays no such interest . — It is , doubtless , partly because it has been assumed that ' the erotic side of life ' , as Najder puts it , was closed to Conrad the man ...
... female character who has a living male child , namely , Amy Foster . ( 114 ) There are , indeed , very few children in Conrad's fictional world , but there is no shortage of childless couples . Even where children could easily have been ...
... female partner or wife . Clearly the most striking example of this is Charles Marlow who , although sharing many details of his professional life with his creator Joseph Conrad , is ( unlike his creator ) a bachelor . In the case of ...
Contents
1 | |
17 | |
2 The exotic and the erotic in An Outcast of the Islands and Heart of Darkness | 61 |
3 The erotics of cruelty in A Smile of Fortune The Planter of Malata The Secret Agent Victory and Freya of the Seven Isles ... | 77 |
4 Voyeurism in The ShadowLine and Under Western Eyes | 131 |
Conclusion and? | 153 |
Notes | 159 |
Bibliography | 166 |
Index | 173 |