Abstract

Heart of Darkness，written by the renowned British novelist Joseph Conrad，is a
world famous novella．Since its publication，it has been regarded as a significant text in British literature because of its Modernistic features, innovative narration and artistic style. His other major works were The Nigger of Narcissus, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, Under Western Eyes, and Change.
This thesis puts “Heart of Darkness” into Post-colonial theory framework, comprehensively and systematically interpreting the novella around the theme of “Orientalism”, “the other” identity, “hybridity” and the theory of “mimicry”.
This thesis is composed of five parts. Besides the introduction and conclusion, there are three chapters with their own unique stresses and focuses for analysis. Chapter one introduces Heart of Darkness and Conrad’s life. Part two briefly introduces the definition of Colonialism and Postcolonialism, and some representative theorists and their perspectives, especially Edward Said’s, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s and Homi Bhabha’s. Chapter three analyzes Heart of Darkness by exclusively applying Said’s theories and extracts Post-colonial discourse in Heart of Darkness and the Other image, and analyzes the relations between the western literatures. Chapter four describes Bhabha’s theory regarding Postcolonialism and strategies which can be employed in fighting against Colonialism are embraced in Bhabha’s issues as “culture difference”, “hybridity” and “mimicry”. Through a comprehensive and systematical analysis of Heart of Darkness，this thesis not only enriches the research of the novella and updates related study information but also sheds some illuminating light on revealing the passive consequences brought about by Imperialisms as well as on the construction of a more harmonious international community.

Keywords: Heart of Darkness, Postcolonialism, Orientalism, hybridity, mimicry

摘要

英国小说家约瑟夫•康拉德的代表作《黑暗之心》是英国二十世纪最富盛名
的小说巨著之一。小说以其浓郁的现代主义特色、首创的叙述模式、独特的艺术风格成为英国文学研究的一个重要课题。他其他的代表作有《水仙号上黑家伙》，《吉姆老爷》，《在西方目光之下》和《密使》。
本论文将《黑暗之心》置于后殖民主义理论框架内，围绕“东方主义”、“他
者”身份以及“杂糅”和“模仿”这几个理论主题，对作品进行后殖民主义的多视角综合性的系统解读。
论文包括五个部分，除了第一章的介绍和最后的结论部分外，共有三章。
第一章介绍了康拉德及其代表作《黑暗之心》相关的背景知识，描述论文的研究背景和作者康拉德。第二章介绍了后殖民主义批评的主要理论，特别是爱德华•赛义德、加里特里•C•斯皮瓦克和霍米•巴巴的理论观点。第三章结合赛义德的“东方主义”和“他者”理论，提炼出《黑暗之心》中的后殖民主义话语和“他者”形象，分析了西方文学叙事和殖民主义之间的关系。第四章利用霍米•巴巴的后殖民理论，结合对小说人物的心理分析，得出了运用“杂糅”与“模仿”作为反抗殖民的策略方式。
论文丰富了《黑暗之心》的研究视角，揭露了殖民统治对当代后殖民现实产
生的消极影响，提出了后殖民反抗策略，从而在一定程度上为解构西方强权，构
建各种族和睦相处的国际社会给予了启示。

关键词：《黑暗之心》；后殖民主义；东方主义；杂糅；模仿