Ben Wright

            On Thursday morning I posted my translation of “Jet Society” by Serge Gainsbourg. Tomorrow I'll start learning his song “Malaise en Malaisie” (Malaise In Malaysia). 

            I weighed 86.6 kilos before breakfast. 

            At 9:50 I logged onto Zoom for the Global Modernisms lecture. 

            Apala said we would have three presentations and try to finish Heart of Darkness. Next Tuesday and Thursday will be all presentations. 

            Lynn's presentation was on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to find The Congo. The narrative of Heart of Darkness is one narrative framing another in the style of Guy de Maupassant. Conrad was a friend of Henry James. The theme of darkness is repeated several times. Conrad writes negatively about imperialism but not as much about British imperialism. His novel Youth is pro Britain. 

            It occurs to me why would the Russian ask Marlow if he was English when chances were that in the Belgian Congo he wouldn't have been?

            White on the map indicates unclaimed territory but the darkness of the real lands suggests the unknown. Ivory is also white. 

            The International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs is meant to mock the project of civilizing Africa. 

            Marlow talks about Africa being like another planet and there was a previous reference to Mars in which Marlow remembers a sailmaker who thought there are people on Mars who walk on all fours. When Kurtz escapes from Marlow's boat he travels through the jungle on all fours. 

            Of the pilgrims, Lynn says “pilgrims” is a patronizing term. But the people that Marlow refers to as “pilgrims” are not pilgrims. They are just employees of the company. He calls them “pilgrims” in his narration to make fun of them because they carry staves like pilgrims. 

            I think the word “savage” does not necessarily mean “vicious”, especially used in the French meaning of “sauvage” which usually just means uncultivated. 

            The word “darkness” appears twenty-five times. 

            What is the horror? I would say it's Kurtz's horror at what he has become and what he has done to achieve his goals. 

            Apala has to tell Lynn to wrap it up. 

            Alex does his presentation on Achebe's “An Image of Africa.” Achebe was Nigerian. He wrote a novel called Things Fall Apart. Some call him the father of African literature but he didn't like that. He thought it was reductive of others. He speaks of Africa as being used as a foil to Europe. Africa is treated as less civilized. He complains of the denial of Africa in Heart of Darkness. There is a “Heart of Darkness” Play Station One game that has nothing to do with the novel but Alex uses a screengrab from the game depicting a group of dark menacing creatures. 

            Marlow is an unreliable narrator. Conrad's use of the “N” word is questionable. When Africans do speak it is presented as very unsophisticated. 

            Some found Achebe's essay reactionary and political, missing things when applied to art. Can we separate politics from literature? Achebe says high literature is often more nasty. Ascribing different moral values to high and low. Caryl Philips says one can't judge Heart of Darkness politically. Achebe brought a new perspective and so great criticism rose out of it. Alex says the novel is political. 

            I would say it and all literature is political only in the sense that writers express their environments and since politics are part of our environment then literature is political. But one could just as easily say that all songs are about god or all stories are love stories. It could be true but not necessarily consciously. 

            I find Achebe's declaration absurd that a novel that “depersonalizes a portion of the human race” can't be called a great work of art. That would cancel out the greatness of at least 90% of the literature in the history of humanity. 

            Leonor was not here and so there was no third presentation. It's just as well since there wasn't much time left. 

            Apala addresses the question, “Why are we reading Heart of Darkness?” Achebe is not really a critic in the traditional way and form. Conrad's Heart of Darkness is not something that can be explained away and we can't reduce it to politics. It is a piece of art, which is always more than can be reduced by criticism. Modernists were grappling with politics, class, race, and gender. The dialectical approach. What is the difference between Heart of Darkness and documents of imperialism? This is literature. We could extrapolate aspects of the text to change politics for the better. 

            I weighed 86.1 kilos before lunch.

            I ventured out for a bike ride in the afternoon. I'd thought after yesterday's rainfall that the way today would be very clear, but it snowed again and it was very slippery. I had to ride very carefully and with great concentration to keep from falling. It made me appreciate the squirrels that I saw this morning making their way naked across the snowy and icy wires. 

            I stopped at Freshco on the way home. There were African grapes on sale but most of them were soft. I found the three bags with the firmest ones and then settled for five more of the ones that were softer. I bought a pint of blueberries, a pint of strawberries, a pack of croissants, Greek yogourt, apple sauce, a jug each of orange juice and raspberry lemonade, a box of spoon size shredded wheat, and a pack of Sponge Towels. 

            I weighed 85.6 kilos at 17:30. 

            I posted my Discussion board comment: 

            Lynn's presentation was on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. 

            Marlow talks about Africa being like another planet and there was a previous reference to Mars.              Of the pilgrims, Lynn says “pilgrims” is a patronizing term. But the people that Marlow refers to as “pilgrims” are not pilgrims. They are just employees of the company. He calls them “pilgrims” in his narration to make fun of them because they carry staves like pilgrims. 

            What is "the horror"? 

            Alex does his presentation on Achebe's “An Image of Africa.” He complains that Africa is treated as less civilized by Europeans like Conrad. Marlow is an unreliable narrator. Alex asks “Can we separate politics from literature?” and answers we can't.

            Our instructor says Conrad's Heart of Darkness can't be criticized away and can't be reduced to politics. It is a piece of art, which is always more than can be contained by criticism. But it can possibly be used to look at and improve politics. 

            Takeaways:

            Lynn mentioned how the Russian asked Marlow if he was English. It occurs to me, why would the Russian ask Marlow if he was English when chances were that in the Belgian Congo he wouldn't have been English? It also occurs to me that not only is Marlow an unreliable narrator but he is relating many conversations that were probably either spoken in Flemish or French and so Marlow is translating. 

            Marlow remembers a sailmaker who thought there are people on Mars who walk on all fours. When Kurtz escapes from Marlow's boat he travels through the jungle on all fours. 

            I think “the horror” is Kurtz's horror at what he has become and what he has done to achieve his goals. 

            I appreciate what our instructor said at the end about art not being able to be criticized away. 

            I think all literature is political only in the sense that writers express their environments and since politics are part of our environment then literature is political. 

            I find Achebe's declaration absurd that a novel that “depersonalizes a portion of the human race” can't be called a great work of art. That would cancel out the greatness of at least 90% of the literature in the history of humanity. 

    

            I had a potato with gravy while watching the final episode of The Addams Family. 

            In this story Morticia's sister Ophelia has been dumped once again, this time by her beau Throckmorton. The family decides that Ophelia needs a career to take her mind off her love life. First she tries chemistry but that doesn't work harmlessly. Then Gomez discovers that to his ear Ophelia can sing. He hires Senor Bellini to give her lessons. He says she is hopeless but just before he leaves she begins singing in three voices with musical instrument sounds also coming out of her mouth. He is so impressed he says he is going to bring the great impresario Senor Rudolpho to hear her. But in preparation for his arrival Fester prepares a throat spray for Ophelia that results in her only being able to scream. But then Ophelia gets a call from Throckmorton who tells her he wants her back because he's been taking up judo and can handle her now. 

            Rudolpho was played by Ben Wright who was born and educated in England. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps during WWII. He moved to the States and started working in radio where he soon gained a reputation as a master of dialects. He played Hey Boy on the Have Gun Will Travel radio series and Inspector Black on Pursuit. He was the voice of Roger Radcliff in 101 Dalmatians and Grimsby in The Little Mermaid. He played the Nazi Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music. He played Mowgli's wolf father Rama in The Jungle Book. I enjoyed The Addams Family even though it was mostly a lot of silly sight gags. The acting by John Astin, Carolyn Jones, and Jackie Coogan were great.