A Political Genealogy of Joseph Conrad by Ruppel Richard;

Author:Ruppel, Richard;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2012-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

The religious overtones of the novel lend a gravity to Conrad’s cultural critique that is not entirely undercut by the cynicism introduced by the novel’s own cultural critics and, most readers assume, stand-ins for Conrad: Decoud and Monygham. Emilia’s optimistic, religiously inflected world view competes with the cynical, even nihilistic world views essentially shared by the pair. Decoud protests that he is trapped in a political farce, a farce he describes aptly and convincingly:

Imagine an atmosphere of opera-bouffe in which all the comic business of stage statesmen, brigands, etc., etc., all their farcical stealing, intriguing, and stabbing is done in dead earnest. It is screamingly funny, the blood flows all the time, and the actors believe themselves to be influencing the fate of the universe. Of course, government in general, any government anywhere, is a thing of exquisite comicality to a discerning mind; but really we Spanish-Americans do overstep the bounds. No man of ordinary intelligence can take part in the intrigues of une farce macabre. (152)

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