HEART OF DARKNESS AND THE BEACH OF FALESÁ: PROMOTING OR SUBVERTING IMPERIALISM AND SOCIAL DARWINISM

This study aims to analyse social Darwinism and imperialism that accelerated colonialism with racist discourses in 19th century by taking two literary works Heart of Darkness (1899) and The Beach of Falesá (1892) into the centre of the discussion. Although written in different settings by authors from different backgrounds, successively in Congo by Joseph Conrad and in Samoa by Robert Louis Stevenson, two novels shed light on the 19th century imperial and colonial discourses. The first part of the article will focus on the relation between imperialism, social Darwinism, racism and their reflections on the works. Later on, these works and their authors will critically be compared through a thematic approach to evaluate their critical stance for imperialism and social Darwinism. The article concludes that the central protagonists, white men Wiltshire in The Beach of Falesá and Marlow in Heart of Darkness set out their journey with imperial pursuits such as exploitation and superiority, but they both go through a sense of illumination and catharsis as they reach at the heart of imperialism where they encounter the politics of what is savage and civilised.

Heart of Darkness and the Beach of Falesá: Sosyal Darwinizm ve Emperyalizmin Devamı ya da Sonu

Bu çalışma, 19. yüzyılda ırkçı söylemlerle sömürgeciliği hızlandıran sosyal Darwinizm ve emperyalizmi Heart of Darkness (1899) ve The Falesá Beach (1892) romanlarını tartışmanın merkezine alarak incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Her iki eser sırasıyla Kongo ve Somoa olmak üzere farklı yerleşim yerlerini ele alan, Joseph Conrad ve Robert Louis Stevenson gibi farklı yazın kültürüne sahip yazarlar tarafından kaleme alınsa da 19. yüzyıl imparatorluk ve sömürgecilik söylemlerine benzer yönlerden ışık tutmaktadır. Makalenin ilk bölümü emperyalizm, sosyal Darwinizm, ırkçılık ve bunların ilgili eserlerde yansımaları ve birbirleri ile olan ilişkisine odaklanacaktır. Daha sonra, eserler ve yazarların emperyalizm ve sosyal Darwinizme olan mesafeleri ya da eleştirel duruşları karşılaştırmalı olarak tematik yöntem ile değerlendirilecektir. Makale, The Beach of Falesá’daki beyaz adam Wiltshire ve Heart of Darkness’daki Marlow’un sırasıyla Kongo ve Somoa’ya olan yolculuklarını sömürü ve üstünlük gibi emperyal arayışlarla başlattığını ancak her ikisinin de yolcukları boyunca bir aydınlatma ve katarsis hissi yaşadıklarını ve aslında gerçek vahşi ve uygar olanın siyasetiyle tam olarak emperyalizmin kalbinde karşılaştıkları sonucuna varmaktadır.

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