
Conrad, Language, and Narrative
Michael Greaney(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 15. November 2001
Book
Hardback
206 pages
978-0-521-80754-8 (ISBN)
Description
In this re-evaluation of the writings of Joseph Conrad, Michael Greaney places language and narrative at the heart of his literary achievement. A trilingual Polish expatriate, Conrad brought a formidable linguistic self-consciousness to the English novel; tensions between speech and writing are the defining obsessions of his career. He sought very early on to develop a 'writing of the voice' based on oral or communal modes of storytelling. Greaney argues that the 'yarns' of his nautical raconteur Marlow are the most challenging expression of this voice-centred aesthetic. But Conrad's suspicion that words are fundamentally untrustworthy is present in everything he wrote. The political novels of his middle period represent a breakthrough from traditional storytelling into the writerly aesthetic of high modernism. Greaney offers an examination of a wide range of Conrad's work which combines recent critical approaches to language in post-structuralism with an impressive command of linguistic theory.
Reviews / Votes
"...challenges old assumptions and engages current controversies in revelatory and rich close readings." Andrea White, California State University at Dominguez Hills, English Literature in Transition 1880-1920 "...a valuable, original, and compellingly written study that will rapidly prove to be an indispensable volume of Conrad criticism." Studies in the Novel "Given the impressive bibliography and the undeviating argument, this book may best be used as a supplement in teaching college students to read Conrad intelligently. Recommended." ChoiceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
493 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-80754-8 (9780521807548)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Michael Greaney
Conrad, Language, and Narrative
E-Book
01/2005
1st Edition
Cambridge University Press
€27.99
Available for download
Person
Michael Greaney is Lecturer in English Literature at Lancaster University. This is his first book.
Content
Introduction; Part I. Speech communities: 1. 'The realm of living speech': Conrad and oral community; 2. 'Murder by language': 'Falk' and Victory; 3. 'Drawing-room voices': language and space in The Arrow of Gold; Part II. Marlow: 4. Modernist storytelling: 'Youth' and 'Heart of Darkness'; 5. The scandals of Lord Jim; 6. The gender of Chance; Part III. Political communities: 7. Nostromo and anecdotal history; 8. Linguistic dystopia: The Secret Agent; 9. 'Gossip, tales, suspicions': language and paranoia in Under Western Eyes; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.