Joseph Conrad and the Secular Scripture

Abstract

To reckon the postcolonial world of the 20/21C we have to count heads beyond the intense partisans of pro and con, to include the great majority who lost their allegiance to imperialism. Conrad’s Marlow rehearses that loss in Heart of Darkness, and it is best understood through René Girard’s theory of human culture originating in religion, in man’s power to fool himself that the gods require blood sacrifice. Once violence misunderstood as transcendent is understood as solely human, violence can produce nothing but itself. For Girard, this revelation derives from Scripture, but also great literature, the secular scripture.