The process of othering in Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart: a contrapuntal reading

Abstract

This thesis analyzes how the process of "othering" is shown in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and focuses on a contrapuntal reading of these two texts. The analysis focuses on three key areas of othering: language, culture, and gender. Language othering explores how English is used as a tool of control in colonial settings, while cultural othering compares how European and African societies are portrayed in the two texts. Gender othering, in Heart of Darkness, looks into the roles and representations of Kurtz’s fiancée and mistress, exploring their identities and symbolic functions within the colonial narrative. In Things Fall Apart, gender othering happens through how society treats men and women differently. Men are seen as strong, dominant, and essential, while women are often considered weak and less valuable. By placing Conrad's and Achebe’s works together, the thesis demonstrates how Said’s contrapuntalism allows for a refined understanding of colonial and postcolonial literature. To support my arguments more strongly, I have engaged with a range of scholarly references like Edward Said’s book Culture and Imperialism, Orientalism, Achebe’s notable work “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,” "English and the African Writer," Gayatri Spivak’s “Can the Subaltern speak?” and so on.