Criticism of Culture Hegemony in Heart of Darkness

【Abstract】： Joseph Conrad is known for his outstanding artistic achievement， special art advocating and his outstanding contribution in the field of modern literature which occupies an extremely important position in the 20th century literature. It was the masterpiece of exposing colonialism and imperialism of European. The book is just written in the period of colonial expansion of imperialism， and the fanatical imperial thought is flowing everywhere in the UK. Heart of Darkness reveals the cultural hegemony of colonial culture. It also reflects the anti-colonial theme， and they always think their culture is the most advanced culture in the world， so they force Africans to accept their cultures.

【Keywords】： Heart of Darkness; culture hegemony; criticism

ⅠOpposition of Cultural Imperialism

Heart of Darkness is the representative work of Conrad. The article explores the kernel and appearance of civilization， which shows the darkness of human nature and the exploitation of culture. Achebe has sharply pointed out that because of a desire in western’s mind， it can be said that it is the demand， which regards the Africans as the foil material of Europe. European’s advantages can emerge naturally. In this part， it will expose the hegemony of cultural concept in European colony. European settlers think that European culture is better than the non-European culture， and they think the white race is the best race of the world. As a result， they stick to their values and behaviors around the world.

For example， in the fiction， the accountant of inland trading post， he had been living in Africa for three years， but he still maintained a habit of dressing elegantly. He forced an African woman learning to iron clothes in order to serve him， even if the black woman hated ironing. Although Kurtz was claimed as the king of the forest， he kept life and death power of the deep color skin natives， enjoying the natives’ humility worship like idolizing the god， however， he also used the natives of deep colors to prove his talent and superior. What he has done on this piece of land cannot simply prove that they are more civilized than the primitive ones. European settlers forced the colonial people to indoctrinate the western culture and values compulsively， so that many colonial people considered themselves as the inferior races indeed. They liked to worship European colonists as god and lost themselves. The colonial state of the soul was more terrible than physical enslavement. However， the instillation of western values not only poisoned the colonial peoples， but also poisoned the colonists themselves. Faced with the temptation of the original culture and the colonial worship， some colonists betrayed their own inherent moral and ethical standards， in addition to losing the external binding， and so in the driving of fantasy and western cultural megalomania towards destruction step by step. One of the typical representatives is Kurtz. When he first came to Africa， he felt he was the angel of European civilization， and he represented the superior white race and the advanced scientific culture. However， in the driving of desire for power and wealth， he fell into the abyss of colonial plunder-he arbitrarily fooled， deceived， slaved and killed the local people. It is said that Kurtz is both colonial plunder murderer and its victims. Conrad’s greatness lies in that he is captured keenly by the declination of imperialism and colonialism and expresses his feelings through Heart of Darkness when colonial expansion is still in the top of the British Empire.

ⅡInhuman Domination of Cultural Colonization

Western cultural imperialism theory is the discussion about cultural hegemony and cultural control of western developed countries to underdeveloped countries. It focuses on the international cultural inequality in the process of production and circulation. In the formation， it expands and strengthens the transnational domination. Cultural imperialism theory is also considered as an important part of culture in post-colonial theory. In Orientalism， Said points out that Orientalism is closely connected with the western colonialism and imperialism， which is the forms of discourse about the west to the east. Behind the words， it is a power relationship， a relationship of control and a kind of hegemony， which has the dynamic and complex relationship. He further connected the culture with the empire time in Culture and Imperialism， Said explicitly pointed out that in the process of empire expansion， and culture played a very important role.

In fact， it is also an indispensable role. The good reason of colonialist aggression to Africa is the civilized barbarian and the introduction of western civilization to promote human progress. The words of Marlowe's aunt talk about in the novel， “you must make sure that millions of ignorant people slowly quit their terrible custom”， Colonialists seem to have become responsible to develop the Africa and the messenger of spread civilization’s seeds， it engaged in a noble and great work. Colonists in an illusion scenario of its own superiority and imaginary of inferior Africans， it makes oneself enjoyed a kind of moral superiority at the same time in the exploitation of African natives. However， the fact is that the colonialists under the banner of civilizing make the savage plunder and oppression. They not only exploit the nature resource relentlessly through a variety of the material means of imperialism. From the spiritual aspect to enslave the colonists， it will negative other colonial cultures and try to overthrow their culture.

Bibliography

[1]Richetti， John. The Columbia History of the British Novel[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2005.

[2]Conrad， Joseph. Heart of Darkness[M]. New York： Bantam Books. 1981.

[3]Said， Edward. Culture and Imperialism[J]， New York： A Division of London House， Inc， 1999.

[4]Achebe， Chinua. An Image of Africa： Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness[J]. Massachusetts Review， 1997.