Essays on Conrad

Book Reviews examine the role of women in predominantly male societies, and discover that "it is precisely by their marginalisation that they comment on that society." Krenn's arguments about imperialism and sexism go hand in hand; both are forms of oppression and subjection, and both will be defeated in the end: "temporarily the spirit of the conqueror may be stifled, but it is unbroken and able to bide its time till it can reassert itself. Significantly, it is mostly through the female characters of the novels that this is brought about." Imperialism and sexism are alike in suppressing and exploiting a particular social group; ultimately the natives will rise up and realise their freedom, and it is by means of the women that Conrad dramatises this. It would have been interesting to see this line of enquiry brought to bear on Flora de Barrai in Chance, and on Winnie Verloc, a heroine in a novel without heroes. The arguments of this book might have been strengthened by wider reference to Conrad's work. By Krenn's argument, Conrad is also acquitted of the charge of racism. While it can hardly be said that an investigation of the various uses of the word "savage" in different contexts constitutes "the fresh application of lexicographical research" (the series editor's phrase), Krenn argues that Conrad's use of this word is entirely free from racial implications , and that it is in his use of "savage" that he "best proves his freedom from racist intentions." Even if readers are not persuaded by the methods of this book, it is a valuable contribution to the study of Modernism to have such a closely-argued work of advocacy on behalf of Conrad's early novels; it demonstrates both their narrative sophistication and their wider literary importance. Kenneth Millard St. Hilda's College, Oxford Essays on Conrad Mario Curreli, ed. The Ugo Mursia Memorial Lectures. Milan: Mursia International, 1988. 439 pp. No price available. THIS FESTSCHRIFT honoring Ugo Mursia, Conrad's Italian publisher and editor, prints twenty-two papers from the International Conrad Conference, University of Pisa, 7-11 September 1983. Trying to review in one coherent essay a collection of twenty-two essays is just about as 501 ELT: VOLUME 34:4, 1991 easy as reviewing twenty-two books or writing twenty-two different essays within the normally expected length of a customary review. The challenge is daunting. Like most collections, some of the essays in this volume are remarkable and should become part of the current understanding of Conrad's work, while others seem less memorable. Eleven essays seem particularly to demand attention, and a consideration of these may serve to identify the scope and the significance of this volume. Sylvere Monod in his essay "Editing Conrad ... for Whom?" discusses the problems of editing Conrad for the French Pléiade edition and the problems encountered by Ugo Mursia in the Italian edition. Monod's major interest concerns the problems of annotation: what to annotate, how much to include, and, most difficult of all, "the spotting of literary allusions and influences." While exploring the various problems involved with annotating—"The obsessed annotator is a terrible bore"—Monod concludes that the simple goal of all editors is to bring into "the common hoard of knowledge and understanding" that which will enrich all of Conrad's readers. Two essays discuss "Typhoon." Ian Watt's "Comedy and Humor in 'Typhoon'," argues, unconvincingly, that the primary aim of the work is "to achieve . . . the comic and the humorous." From the first chapter on, Captain MacWhirr is portrayed as a figure of fun. Although Conrad's efforts at comedy were not particularly successful, Watt suggests that MacWhirr takes his place in the tradition of "the Innocent, the Natural, the Wise Fool, the man who is mocked by his fellows but who finally surprises them with a quite unexpected exhibition of real wisdom." A more persuasive and revelatory essay is Carlo Pagetti's "Capt. MacWhirr between Form and Storm." Accepting Leavis's evaluation that "Typhoon" is not only about "the famous description of the elemental frenzy," but it is also about the characters themselves, Pagetti goes beyond those dimensions of the...