Author(s)

Su Junyu ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Yunnan Normal University, Yunnan, Kunming, 650500, China

Corresponding Author

Su Junyu

ABSTRACT

Since its 1899 publication, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness has been a canonical text for postcolonial and literary criticism, with its narrative and connotations sparking ongoing scholarly discussions. Narrated by Marlow, the novel implies a colonial gaze at Africa and embedded power and ideology, an aspect often overlooked. Using postcolonial criticism and Lacan's gaze theory, this paper analyzes the novel's visual representations and exposure of colonial ideology in four sections. First, from narrative focalization, it explores Marlow's visual fascination with Africa, rooted in curiosity and embodying colonial stereotypes and domination. Second, based on gaze theory, it deconstructs Marlow's visual interactions with Africa's landscapes and natives. Third, linking visual projection to colonial voyeurism, it examines Marlow's connection with Africa through visual projection and its relation to colonial power. The conclusion summarizes the analyses and verifies that the visual perspective is an effective lens to understand the postcolonial society in the novel and aids critical inquiries into power, identity, and cultural identification.

KEYWORDS

Vision; Gaze Theory; Projection; Heart of Darkness; African Colonialism

CITE THIS PAPER

Su Junyu. "Gaze" and "Projection": The Visual Phenomenon and Postcolonial Interpretation in Heart of Darkness. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2026). Vol. 9, No.1, 125-130. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2026.090118.

REFERENCES

[1] Watt, Ian. Conrad in the Nineteenth Century. Berkeley: U of California P, 1979.
[2] Johnson, B.(1988). Conrad's Impression and Watt's 'Delayed Decoding.' In R. Kimbrough (Ed.), Heart of Darkness: An Authorative Text/Background and Sources/Criticism (pp. 345-357). Norton.
[3] Achebe, C.(1997) "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Kimbrough.251–268.
[4] Lacan, Jacques. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Trans. Alan Sheridan. New York: Norton, 1978.
[5] Devlin, K. J. (1994).The Eye and the Gaze in Heart of Darkness. Modern Fiction Studies, 40,711–735.
[6] Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness [M].New York: Bantam Books.1981.
[7] Conrad, Joseph. "A Personal Record" and "The Mirror of the Sea." Ed. Mara Kalnins. New York: Penguin, 1998.
[8] Derrida, J. (2001).Writing and difference. Routledge.
[9] Said, Edward. (1994). Culture and Imperialism. London: Vintage.
[10] Freud, Sigmund.(1975).“The 'Uncanny.' The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Trans. James Strachey. Vol. 17:219–252.
[11] Bruce Fink. (1998). A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Theory and Technique. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155(2), 252-253.
[12] Alloula, M. (1986). "The Colonial Harem" (M. Godzich & W. Godzich, Trans.). University of Minnesota Press.

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