New Historicism Texts - Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899)

This book’s about a journey into the Congo that goes way wrong. And it’s all about colonialism, imperialism, and the madness of greed.

In what ways can an understanding of British imperialism during the Victorian era help us understand the themes of exploration and conquest in Heart of Darkness?

How do the depictions of Africa in Conrad’s novel reflect common stereotypes of the time about the continent and its people? Does the novel challenge these stereotypes in any way, or does it fall into the same set of first-world assumptions?