Joshua Krueger #3042188
CRS/IDS 4910 – Conflict and the Construction of the
Other
Richard McCutcheon; September 18, 2011
Think
Piece #1: Imperialism and Madness
The books A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad both
deal with the issue of imperialism. Reflecting on the effects of imperialism,
both books have strong themes of deception and unreality. They both show how
deceptive language and unchecked power allow a type of madness to take place; a
madness that becomes normalized because it is constructed and supported by the
manmade power of imperialism.
As a removed native of Antigua,
Kincaid is the only one able to see the madness that dominates the island. Even
her vision is incomplete though, because she can only call on the language of
her oppressor; the language that can “contain only the goodness of the
criminal’s deed.”[1]
From this subverted position, Kincaid still manages to seduce the reader by placidly
wondering how a refrigerator can electrocute a man, or how a food importer can
lend money to a government, while at the same time stating the stupidity of
having a Minister of Culture, or forcing the reader to examine the connection
between slavery and Hotel Training School. Kincaid shows us that these absurdities
are accepted only because they exist. Just as the Barclay brothers might be
visionaries for switching from physical slavery to economic slavery or how the
nation of Switzerland can be considered neutral because it only deals with
benign commodities such as money and time, reality is warped by power and ideas
– for both the colonisers and the local inhabitants – that are then judged by
fictional measures. Striding confidently with its military power, this madness
is shielded through the imposed values of development and GDP.
In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the theme of
madness is personified in the character of Kurtz. Kurtz, a man who
decorates his dwelling with the heads of those who resist his rule, is more
than a simple character though, and his madness must be dealt with in the
context of the madness around him. It would be tempting to simply take Conrad’s
fantastical description of the Congo and write off Kurtz’s deterioration as a
result of the impenetrable jungle and savage people of Africa, but this position
ignores the madness that Kurtz is formed in. In fact, Kurtz’s madness is at
least in part an exemplification of the savageness of the Company, and
ultimately imperialism. As we follow Marlow’s journey towards Kurtz, we are
struck by the “high and just proceedings” of imperialism. [2]
These include the chaining of black ‘criminals’ and the digging of a hole
“connected with the philanthropic desire of giving the criminals something to
do,” along with the exceptional waste of human and material resources.[3]
As the journey continues, the stupidity shifts to direct madness at the further
inland Central Station where there is no more need for deceptiveness or false
language to cover up the “desire to get...where ivory was to be had.”[4]
In this context, the character of Kurtz is more than just a man but the result
of the idea of imperialism put into a pressure cooker. “All of Europe
contributed to the making of Kurtz” in more than just the cosmopolitan sense;
the mood of Europe, namely that “we must necessarily appear to them [savages]
in the nature of supernatural beings,” is stored in Kurtz’s being and becomes
the catalyst for his madness. [5]
It is only when Kurtz is forcibly removed from the manmade context that
nurtures his delusions of moral and racial superiority that he realizes the
horror of his actions.
Neither of these books claims
that the people who began the great game of civilizing the world were
necessarily crazy, but they do point to the fact that madness is linked to the
quest. One does not need to be mad to take up the seductive ideas presented by
imperialism, but one does need to twist reality in order to sustain them. It is
only once this madness is normalized – through the construction of an alternate
reality legitimized by power – that the benefits of imperialism can be imagined.
No comments:
Post a Comment