Race, Imperialism, and Problem with Others in Literature - Dissertation Example

The methodology employed throughout the dissertation will be based upon analytical textual research from which inferences that will inform the argument will be drawn. Thus, close reference to the central texts supported by postcolonial theoretical approaches will form the structure throughout the introduction, the literature review, the three sequential chapters of the main body, and the conclusion. Moreover, the literature review will provide an overview of the currently available research in this area to identify spaces which the current work will attempt to fill, thus adding original research to the body of knowledge on the subject. The central issue of the dissertation is to compare the two central texts to examine representations of both the colonial and postcolonial in themes of cultural conflict. A fundamental aspect of this dynamic is that the novels represent issues of racism, otherness, and hybridity: otherness and racism in Heart of Darkness and otherness and hybridity in Season of Migration to the North. The novels both complement and supplement one another with each displaying features of the postcolonial and the clash between the two different cultures. This notion of a seemingly paradoxical narrative otherness and hybridity and/or otherness and racism will be examined via the methodology of close analysis of the texts concerned supplemented by both critical works and additional texts which display the resonance which the novels can be seen to evidence.

Louis describes the nature of late 19th-century imperialism as “associated with ideas of greatness, competitiveness, and survival of the fittest. The colors painted on maps over vast areas of Asia and Africa symbolized national power, prestige, and destiny” (35). The intent of imperialistic power was in ‘civilizing’ the natives and in acquiring raw materials and resources that would bring wealth and economic stability to Britain. The standard belief was that weaker nations would be absorbed by stronger nations, military might winning out over autonomy. There was a strong belief that eventually Turkey and China would be annexed into Europe. Empire was a system of beliefs that allowed for the spread of Western culture throughout the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia (Louis, 35).

A belief in superiority supported a sense of national unity and provided the context for support of the ‘right’ to envelope the world in the culture of the West. The nature of building an empire became an ethical imperative, the need to spread religious conviction towards Christianity combined with a belief that it was the responsibility of a superior people to ‘civilize’ a savage people inspired conquest throughout the regions. The excuses for building an empire were founded on a belief that power and economic stability needed to be established, the European nations vying for the development of more regions, a competition that superseded even the economic benefit that might have been available.