One of Us

by Harpham, Geoffrey Galt

• ISBN13: 9780226316963
• ISBN10: 0226316963
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

The concept of mastery straddles a largely unexamined seam in contemporary thought dividing admirable self-control from a reprehensible will to power. Although Joseph Conrad has traditionally been viewed as an admirable master--master mariner, storyteller, and writer--his reputation has been linked in recent years to the negative masteries of racism, imperialism, and patriarchy. In this book, Geoffrey Galt Harpham delves not only into Conrad's literary work and reputation but also into the concept of mastery. Outlining a psychology of composition that embraces Conrad's personal as well as historical circumstances, Harpham sheds new light on traditional issues in Conrad criticism, such as his Polish background and his preoccupation with the sea, by linking them to less frequently discussed subjects, including his elusive sexuality and his idiosyncratic relation to the English language. One of Us represents both a methodological innovation in the practice of literary criticism and an important contribution to our understanding of how masters--and canons based on them--are made.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
To Be a Pole	1	(70)
The Nation in Coffins	1	(12)
Poland and the Theory of Nations	13	(20)
Polonizing the Novel	33	(38)
To Go to Sea	71	(66)
An Unrelated Existence; or, The Law of the Sea	71	(26)
Rescue	97	(14)
Identification at the Mouth of the River	111	(21)
Sex at the Beginning of Time	132	(5)
To Write in English	137	(60)
English as a Seventh Language	137	(17)
The Language of Mastery	154	(30)
On Greatness	184	(13)
Works Cited	197	(8)
Index	205