Popescu Irina Adriana (E - Sp) British Literature 2nd year Seminar Nicoleta Stanca

The Segmentation of Language in Heart of Darkness

Language, in the broadest sense, refers to communication between species, with varying degrees of comple ity! "he purpose of all human languages is to communicate, that is to transfer a message from one person to another! "he message content consists of facts and meaning# being the logical and emotional elements, respectively! $essages may consist solely of facts, %&t is five o'cloc(!) or purely meaning, such as %& love you!) *owever, most messages re+uire both elements, yet developed countries' elevation of fact over meaning has hamstringed language's efficacy! "hroughout Heart of Darkness, ,oseph -onrad focuses on this divorce of fact and meaning, providing an interwoven criti+ue of the segmentation of language using frame narrative, analysis of written word, and .u taposition of modern language with the raw language from untouched /frica! $arlow begins and ends his tale in a lotus position, evo(ing the concept of mind over matter! But how accurately does this describe $arlow0 /t many points $arlow loses his composure due to his inability to convey meaning! &n the beginning, the %outside) narrator e+uates a story1s meaning with a %ha2e), or fog! &n his analogy, the meaning is %brought out) with a %glow) of light! But shine too much light, and the fog envelopes the path! "his is what happens when $arlow concentrates solely on the point he wishes to convey# the meaning is lost in a sea of emotions with no facts to anchor them, producing anger and frustration that destroy his Buddha emulation! -onrad1s use of a frame narrative serves multiple functions! 3irst, in adding another layer to the story, -onrad purposely obscures and encodes the intended meaning from the reader! / story meant to incite public outcry cannot afford to have its meaning obscured implying that language inade+uacy is a more prominent theme than e ploitative imperialism! 4pton Sinclair1s The Jungle, published only four years later, may not have proved as effective if wrapped inside a frame narrative!

"he enigmatic and parado ical use of narration to e plore these issues constitutes a r6cit! $arlow is effectively trying to narrate something impossible to narrate, confessing %it is impossible to convey the life sensation of any given epoch of one's e istence)! "he pervasive inconclusiveness in *eart of 7ar(ness %challenge8s9 the very possibility of narrative)5! :hile potentially clouding the writer1s meaning, the frame narrative allows the reader to mentally insert himself among $arlow1s attentive crew! $arlow's utter frustration concerning his inability to convey the meaning of his tale is personally e perienced by the reader, because $arlow is tal(ing to the reader outside of the story! "he same phrases conveyed through an ethereal narrator would lac( the emotional content! "he reader empathi2es with a human narrator who has emotions, while an ethereal narrator conventionally can convey options but not utter doubt! "he frame narrative underscores the irony that /frican natives have little difficulty orally telling a story! -ivili2ation1s mass production of the written word has atrophied its citi2en1s ability to tell a simple story! &nterestingly, the fact that $arlow lived this tale actually frustrates rather than buttresses his ability! Bruffee points out $arlow1s %disillusionment with words) grows as he gets closer to ;urt2, all the while %becoming less and less enamored of words as the verbose ;urt2 tal(s) 2! /s a seaman, $arlow may feel inade+uate to perform a .ob that is outside his profession! "he industry of storytelling discourages laymen from attempting this refined s(ill! Heart of Darkness does have an %outside) narrator (not $arlow) who is a crewman aboard the<ellie! :hile nothing is (nown about this narrator crewman, the other three<ellie passengers represent civili2ation1s upper-middle class! "he /ccountant and the Lawyer are fitting recipients of a tale of unethical corporate greed, while the 7irector, loo(ing %so nautical) embodies industriali2ation1s e cessive segmentation, for his position (eeps him ashore! 4nli(e Heart of Darkness, The Return = an earlier wor( of -onrad's = uses a conventional, omniscient narrator that clearly indicates the internal tensions the protagonist feels! -onrad was critici2ed for this e cessive narratorial spoon-feeding, and the novel lac(ed public appeal! But li(e $arlow, The Return's protagonist struggles with a dichotomy of
5

>ive( 7hareshwar, The Song of the Sirens in The Heart of Darkness The !nigma of R"cit, Boundary 2 5?!5@2, pA?, 5BCD! 2 ;enneth /! Bruffee, The Lesser Nightmare #arlo$%s Lie in Heart of Darkness, $odern Language Euarterly pF2A, 5BDG!

language! 4pon learning his wife has left him, he e claims, %She1s goneH!!! &t was terrible = not thefact, but the words# the words charged with the shadowy might of am eaning)F! S(illeas refers to -onrad1s theme of restraint as the %saving grace ofI wor() G that anchors one to reality! Specifically, it is industriali2ed wor(, or wor( that does not directly provide food, clothing, or shelter, that vaccinates $arlow from insanity! %&ndeed,) says $arlow, %to be busy with material affairs is the best preservative agent against reflection, fears, 8and9 doubts) ?! &ndustriali2ed wor( depends upon facts# little emotional meaning is needed to monitor a boiler! ;urt2, alone and engaged in less monotonous wor(, becomes susceptible! :hile benign, the native1s culture mi ed with paternalistic ideals produces megalomania within ;urt2! "he restraint of industriali2ed wor( goes both ways! Both the chief accountant1s laundress and $arlow1s fireman (boiler operator) were %improved specimen) after learning a s(ill! :hile this implies that civili2ation protects humanity from savage insanity, $arlow goes out of his way to normali2e the natives and their culture! %Jrehistoric manKs) rituals may be %ugly), but he li(ens them to %the sound of bells in a -hristian country)! :ithin Heart of Darkness are two written wor(sL To$son%s An In&uir' into Some Points of Seamanship and (urt)% pamphlet to the International Societ' for the Suppression of Sa*age +ustoms! Both are instructional in nature! /s "owson1s boo( teaches a technical s(ill, it need solely focus on facts to accurately convey its message! ;urt2's pamphlet is an analysis of how to better the natives! "his pamphlet provides the most severe e ample of language segmentation! /n accurate assessment must contain both facts and meaning, yet al the meaning has been stripped from the message! Mnly facts remain, obscuring and encoding the recommendation to be more palatable, prefiguring /dolf *itler1s ,inal Solution! $arlow comments that %what saves us is efficiency = the devotion to efficiency)! But efficiency is moc(ed by the pamphlet1s content = seventeen pages are summari2ed by the postscript1s four words that convey the pamphlet's true meaningL %E terminate all the brutesH)! $arlow amusingly .u taposes the European's English with the native crew mates' language when their steamboat is attac(ed by ;urt2's natives! "he scene begins with the warcry! :hile $arlow later describes the cry as %protective), war-cry remains a valid label! Besides ethically announces the natives1 presence, (something eschewed in modern warfare as
F

7ale ;ramer, +onrad%s !-periments $ith Language and Narrati*e in .The Return1, Studies in Short 3iction 2?!5, pC, 5BCC! G Mle $artin S(illeas, Restraint in the darkness English Studies AD!5, p?F, 5BB?! ? /llan M $c&ntyre, +onrad on the ,unctions of the #ind, $odern Language Euarterly 2?!2, p5BF, 5BDG!

inanely chivalrous) its piercing tone conveys = in a few syllables = the fact that the Europeans are trespassing and are to turn bac(! "he underlying meaning = %& am dangerous) = is also unfamiliarity with /frica and a sense of diplomacy, e ist for $arlow1s lo+uaciousness! But the contrast does suggest a superfluousness in modern language that impedes its primary goal! $arlow employs body language once, when he turns his shoulder towards the manager after he comments, %Nou are the captain)! "he natives, however, use body language, including hand gestures, more often! "his utili2ation of the entire body gives the user more tools to effectively communicate! ;urt21s Oussian disciple, the %harle+uin) throws up his arms while e tolling the virtues of his guru! Before this particular gesture, the Oussian had many times undulated his arms while spea(ing! But this occurrence drew the stare of one of the natives onboard the steamboat! "he Oussian's action foreshadows the latter incident where the native woman raises her arms as a final plea for ;urt2 to stay or perhaps an ab.ect concession of loss! *eart of 7ar(ness is a .ourney towards a conversation, as $arlow is %loo(ing forward to = a tal( with ;urt2)! Jersonally, $arlow1s frustrations in storytelling may be semiautobiographic, as -onrad1s mastery of written English, his third language, was spo(en with a heavy 3rench accent and many mispronunciations, proving severe enough to turn down lecturing positionsD! -onrad also noted that writing in English %re+uired a formidable effort on 8his9 part)A! 7espite this, Heart of Darkness displays -onrad's adept understanding of the nuances of language! -onrad withholds .ust enough information to force the reader to thin( while not inducing frustration! $arlow will never (now what e actly %the horror) is# therefore, neither will the reader! Net $arlow's struggle with his own narration conveys the importance of incorporating both fact and meaning in order to accurately and fully communicate! -onrad's career showcases that language is worth the struggle! 3or all his efforts $arlow discovers a gilded chalice = ;urt21s elo+uent yet substantially void speech! But -onrad hopes the reader spies the *oly Prail of effective language hiding among the bushes!

/licia Jousada, Joseph +onrad/s #ultilingualism A +ase Stud' ofLanguage Planning in Literature, English Studies A?!G, pFG?, 5BBG! A /licia Jousada, Joseph +onrad/s #ultilingualism A +ase Stud' ofLanguage Planning in Literature, English Studies A?!G, pFGD, 5BBG!

0i1liograph'

5! Bruffee, ;enneth /!, The Lesser Nightmare #arlo$%s Lie in Heart of Darkness, $odern Language Euarterly, 5BDG, pF22-F2B! 2! 7hareshwar, >ive(, The Song of the Sirens in The Heart of Darkness The !nigma of R"cit, Boundary, 5BCD, pDB-CG! F! ;ramer, 7ale, +onrad%s !-periments $ith Language and Narrati*e in .The Return, Studies in Short 3iction,5BCC, p5-55! G! $c&ntyre, /llan M!, +onrad on the ,unctions of the #ind, $odern Language Euarterly, 5BDG, p5CA-5BA! ?! Jousada, /licia, Joseph +onrad/s #ultilingualism A +ase Stud' of Language Planning in Literature! English Studies, 5BBG, pFF?-FGB! D! S(illeas, Mle $artin, Restraint in the darkness, English Studies, 5BB?, ?2-DF!