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More than a Voice from the Darkness: Charlie Marlow and the Posture of an Invented Author

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Abstract

This article argues that literary criticism has long overlooked the mimetic features of Joseph Conrad’s Charlie Marlow. Building on the work of critics like Bernard Paris, it examines Marlow as an autonomous ‘invented author’ who develops throughout his various appearances in Conrad’s work. By fusing Jérôme Meizoz’s theories on author postures with Algirdas Julien Greimas’ pragmatic semiotic square, this article investigates the construction of Marlow’s author posture in relation to the dichotomous theme Solidarity–Solitariness in Conrad’s ‘Youth’, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim and Chance. The author argues that Marlow continually takes up a posture that is not ‘fixed’, a posture of in-betweenness with which he tries to avoid rigid socio-political structures, actively using this posture not only to locate himself in the novel’s world, but also to influence those around him. Conrad uses Marlow to examine the workings of authorship, the function and place of language in society and its effectiveness in conveying particular philosophical attitudes.

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Notes

  1. It is important to note that I read the Marlow narratives in the following order: ‘Youth’, Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, Chance. On the contrary critics like J. W. Johnson read ‘Youth’ as coming after Heart of Darkness. There is little evidence for this, however, as Marlow’s age is never mentioned after his appearance in ‘Youth’. ‘Youth’ was first written and published in Blackwood’s, and in the original collection ‘Youth’: A Narrative and Two Other Stories it is printed before Heart of Darkness. I take these two circumstances as enough evidence to read the narratives in this order.

  2. The optimism with which language is portrayed here still stands in stark contrast to its destructive potential, as is demonstrated by both Kurtz and the Company.

  3. From a structural point of view one could also argue that the twofold ventriloquism the novel conveys—Kurtz’s voice echoing, through Marlow and the narrator, onto the reader—invites the reader to inhabit a similarly ambiguous stance: the novel asks the reader to constantly shift and embody disparate voices.

  4. Although Conrad would of course not use such a Foucauldian term.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Max Hermens

  2. Van Oldenbarneveltstraat 61A, 6512 AT, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Max Hermens

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  1. Max Hermens
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Correspondence to Max Hermens.

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Hermens, M. More than a Voice from the Darkness: Charlie Marlow and the Posture of an Invented Author. Neophilologus 101, 159–174 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-016-9493-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-016-9493-5

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