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English Literature Author: Joseph Conrad
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by John Parras
William Paterson University
Wayne, New Jersey
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More About Joseph Conrad...
Joseph Conrad
1857-1924
British
Introduction
Major Works
Chronology
Introduction
An English novelist celebrated for his stylistic brilliance and compelling narratives of seafaring life, Conrad was born in Russian-occupied Poland in 1857. When Conrad was only 3 years old, his family was exiled to Vologda, Russia, for his father's involvement in the Polish nationalist movement; his mother and father died due in part to the harsh conditions, leaving the orphaned Conrad under the care of his uncle Tadeusz Bobrowski. At 17, Conrad joined the French merchant navy, taking voyages to the West Indies and Caribbean; he later served with the British Merchant Marine; traveled to Africa, Australia, India, and Indonesia; and eventually became a Master Mariner and a British citizen in 1886. The naval voyages offered much material for the often exotic settings of Conrad's writings and provided the novelist with many trying experiences that influenced his novelistic philosophy. His first captaincy, for instance, led to "The Secret Sharer," and a difficult passage from Bangkok to Britain in 1884 served as the basis for "The Nigger of the Narcissus," a story that, despite its ostensibly demeaning title, presents a subtle exploration of interracial bonds and biases. Conrad's service on the Vidar in the Malay Archipelago resulted in one of his most respected novels, Lord Jim. In 1890 Conrad captained the Belgian steamer Roi des Belges up the Congo River, where he witnessed the abuses of Belgian King Leopold II's harsh imperialist rule; that experience led to the provocative novella Heart of Darkness -- a work that has inspired a century of debate on the character of Kurtz, on narrative techniques, and on colonialism. Following his African experiences, Conrad married and settled down in England to devote himself to writing, befriending such contemporaries as Edward Garnett, Ford Madox Ford, Henry James, and H. G. Wells.
Conrad's work often explores the resilience or degradation of human character in the face of extreme circumstances. In novels such as Nostromo, The Secret Agent, Under Western Eyes, and Lord Jim, the deeply philosophical themes revolve around alienation, the cruelty and absurdity of the universe, moral or ethical equivocation, and the impossibility or vanity of human progress, whether individual or communal. Such concerns are often accompanied by insidious ironies, chronological jumps, and nested frame narrations. Yet despite the complexity of their dramatic structures and their depths of theme, Conrad's novels often employ the narrative devices of popular or commercial "romance" novels; the stories are at once generic and full of ambiguity -- a fact that renders them even more compelling and establishes Conrad's work as a link between Victorian literary traditions and the more radical experiments of Modernism. His rich, evocative descriptions and his stunning control of style seem to belie the fact that writing, particularly in his second acquired language, was described by Conrad as an often painstaking and frustrating process. In The Art of Fiction, he describes the purpose of his writing in the following words: "My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel -- it is, before all, to make you see."
Major Works
- Almayer's Folly: A Story of an Eastern River (1895)
- "The Nigger of the Narcissus" (1897)
- Lord Jim: A Romance (1900)
- Heart of Darkness (1902)
- Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard (1904)
- The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (1907)
- Under Western Eyes (1911)
- "The Secret Sharer," in 'Twixt Land and Sea (1912)
- Chance: A Tale in Two Parts (1913)
- Victory: An Island Tale (1915)
- The Rescue: A Romance of the Shallows (1920)
Chronology
1857
Born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in Podolia, a Ukrainian province in Poland, then under Russian rule.
1862
Conrad's family is exiled to Vologda, Russia, for its activities in the Polish nationalist movement.
1865
Conrad's mother, Eva (nee Bobrowska) dies in exile of tuberculosis.
1869
Conrad and his father return to Cracow, Poland; his father, Apollo Korzeniowski, dies. Conrad is adopted by his uncle Tadeusz Bobrowski.
1874
After much insistence on Conrad's part, Bobrowski agrees to send Conrad to Marseilles, where he joins the French merchant navy. Serving as an apprentice seaman on the Mont Blanc, Conrad voyages to Martinique.
1876
As steward on the Sainte-Antoine, voyages to the Caribbean.
1877
As part-owner of the Tremolino, smuggles arms to Spanish royalists.
1878
Attempts suicide by shooting himself in the chest. Recuperating, he joins the British ship the Mavis and travels to England and Australia.
1880
Passes Second Mate's Examination in London.
1881-83
Serves on various ships and voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, the Malay Archipelago, and the Gulf of Siam, scenes of some of his best-known stories.
1884
Passes First Mate's Examination. Serves as second mate on the Narcissus in the South Seas.
1886
Receives Master Mariner's Certificate; becomes a British citizen.
1889
Begins writing Almayer's Folly.
1890
Travels to Africa to captain the steamer Roi de Belges on the Congo River in the Belgian Congo for the Society for Commerce in the Upper Congo, the source experience for Heart of Darkness.
1891-93
Serves on the Torrens and travels to South America; meets Galsworthy (Cunningham, Crane, Henry James, Garnett, etc.).
1893
Meets Jessie George, his future wife.
1894
Meets editor Edward Garnett and has Almayer's Folly accepted for publication; settles in England to become full-time writer.
1895
Publishes Almayer's Folly; adopts Joseph Conrad as pen name.
1896
Marries Jessie George; publishes An Outcast of the Islands.
1897
Publishes "The Nigger of the Narcissus."
1898
Collaborates with Ford Madox Ford on writing project; publishes Tales of Unrest.
1899
First son Boris born; Heart of Darkness is serialized in Blackwood's Magazine.
1900
Publishes Lord Jim.
1901
In collaboration with Ford, publishes The Inheritors.
1903
Publishes Romance, also in collaboration with Ford.
1904
Publishes Nostromo.
1906
Second son John Alexander born.
1907
Publishes The Secret Agent.
1908
Publishes A Set of Six, a collection of short stories.
1911
Publishes Under Western Eyes.
1912
Publishes A Personal Record (originally titled Some Reminiscences).
1913
Publishes Chance.
1914
Visits Poland and is almost trapped by outbreak of war.
1915
Publishes Victory.
1917
Publishes The Shadow Line.
1919
Publishes The Arrow of Gold.
1921
Publishes his collected nonfiction, Notes on Life and Letters.
1923
Visits America; publishes The Rover.
1924
Dies of a heart attack and is buried in Canterbury.
Dr. John Parras received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and is now an associate professor of critical and creative writing in the English department at the William Paterson University of New Jersey. Recent critical essays have appeared or are forthcoming in the Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, in the Virginia Woolf Miscellany, and on the Literary Encyclopedia Web site. He was the recipient of a Columbia University President's Fellowship, the Pauline B. Adamson Award for Fiction, and the Maurice Robinson Award for Professional Writing.
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