Abstract
The tasks which we have seen Conrad undertake in the tales set mainly in Far Eastern seas are tackled on a larger, more complex scale in his Malayan novels. In them he portrays fellow Europeans and alien peoples, not on board ships, but in environments completely alien to him The novels are written during two distinct phases in his literary career — Almayer’s Folly (1895), An Outcast of the Islands (1896) and Lord Jim during his maturation, Victory and The Rescue during his artistic decline. They reflect their respective phases of composition and can therefore be discussed in chronological order. But it is also necessary to keep in mind what they have in common.
Greater Britain furnishes a convenient limbo for damaged characters and careers.
J. A. Hobson, Imperialism: A Study
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Chapter 3 — Challenges and problems of the Far East (ii): Conrad’s Malayan novels
Charles Kingsley, letter to J. M. Ludlow, December 1849, in Charles Kingsley: His Letters and Memories of his life, ed. his wife (London, 1877) Vol. 1, p.222.
Hugh Clifford, ‘Concerning Conrad and his Work’, in The Empire Review (London, May 1928) 47, 328, 288.
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© 1977 D. C. R. A. Goonetilleke
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Goonetilleke, D.C.R.A. (1977). Challenges and problems of the Far East (ii): Conrad’s Malayan novels. In: Developing Countries in British Fiction. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-03010-1_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-03010-1_4
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