<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The present paper attempts to see what determines Marlow’s difficulty to turn his Congolese experience into language. Therefore, I argue that Marlow’s storytelling collapses because at the core of his discourse there is the unknown semantic universe of the other. In the “heart of darkness”, on the banks of the Congo River, there stands an unknown language, the language of the natives which is known only by Kurtz. Thus it becomes impossible for Marlow to translate it and incorporate it in his story.</p></abstract>

The present paper attempts to see what determines Marlow’s difficulty to turn his Congolese experience into language. Therefore, I argue that Marlow’s storytelling collapses because at the core of his discourse there is the unknown semantic universe of the other. In the “heart of darkness”, on the banks of the Congo River, there stands an unknown language, the language of the natives which is known only by Kurtz. Thus it becomes impossible for Marlow to translate it and incorporate it in his story.

Translating the other: Marlow’S Discourse between Imperial Rhetoric and Primary Orality

Romanian Journal of English Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The present paper attempts to see what determines Marlow’s difficulty to turn his Congolese experience into language. Therefore, I argue that Marlow’s...

Translating the other: Marlow’S Discourse between Imperial Rhetoric and Primary Orality

Published Online: May 01, 2014

Page range: 56 - 64

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rjes-2014-0007

Keywords
discourse of alterity, primary orality, rhetoric of Empire

© Romanian Journal of English Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Translating the other: Marlow’S Discourse between Imperial Rhetoric and Primary Orality

Published Online: May 01, 2014

Page range: 56 - 64

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rjes-2014-0007

Keywordsdiscourse of alterity, primary orality, rhetoric of Empire

© Romanian Journal of English Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
discourse of alterity, primary orality, rhetoric of Empire