Conrad and Masculinity

This timely study offers a radical rereading of Conrad's work in light of contemporary theories of masculinity. Drawing on feminism, gay studies, film theory and literary theory, the author shows that Conrad's fiction, even as it reflects certain assumptions of its day about gender roles, offers striking insights into the instability of the "masculine." The book explores the relationship of masculinity with imperialism, modernity, the visual and the body in a wide range of Conrad's less-known fiction. Booknews Though Conrad's fiction is shaped by the constructions of masculinity of the later 19th and early 20th centuries, argues Roberts (English, U. of Dundee), it also calls those constructions into question by revealing fractures and contradictions in conceptions of masculine and feminine. He draws on feminism, gay studies, film theory, literary theory, and cultural history to analyze all of his better known novels and some lesser known texts. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) "The fiction of Joseph Conrad is shaped by late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century constructions of masculinity, yet it also calls those constructions into question by revealing fractures and contradictions in conceptions of the 'masculine' and the 'feminine'. Drawing on feminisim, gay studies, film theory, literary theory and cultural history, Andrew Roberts analyses the role of masculinity in all of the Conrad's better-known novels, as well as some of his shorter works and lesser-known texts." "Each pair of chapters relates masculinity to a major historical, aesthetic or cultural category: imperialism and 'race'; the body; the problems of truth and knowledge within modernity; the aesthetics and politics of the visual. Rather than attacking or defending Conrad, the author reads both with and against the grain of the fiction, arguing that the important question is not 'was Conrad sexist?' but 'how do we read Conrad now, so as to learn from differences and continuities in the understanding of the masculine?'"--Jacket Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-11 Masculinity, ‘Race’ and Empire: Almayer’s Folly, An Outcast of the Islands....Pages 13-43 Imperialism and Male Bonds: ‘Karain’, The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus’, Lord Jim....Pages 44-65 Masculinity and the Body: Typhoon, The Secret Agent....Pages 66-93 Gender and the Disciplined Body: Nostromo....Pages 94-117 Epistemology, Modernity and Masculinity: ‘Heart of Darkness’....Pages 118-136 Masculinity, ‘Woman’ and Truth: The Secret Agent, Under Western Eyes, Chance....Pages 137-162 Vision, Power and Homosocial Exchange: The Arrow of Gold....Pages 163-185 Vision and the Economies of Empire and Masculinity: Victory....Pages 186-210 Back Matter....Pages 211-250 "Each pair of chapters relates masculinity to a major historical, aesthetic or cultural category: imperialism and race; the body; the problems of truth and knowledge within modernity; the aesthetics and politics of the visual. Rather than attacking or defending Conrad, the author reads both with and against the grain of the fiction, arguing that the important question is not 'was Conrad sexist?' but 'how do we read Conrad now, so as to learn from differences and continuities in the understanding of the masculine?'"--BOOK JACKET. This timely study offers a radical re-reading of Conrad's work in the light of contemporary theories of masculinity. Drawing on gay studies, feminism, film theory and literary theory, Roberts shows how Conrad's fiction, even as it reflects certain assumptions of its day about the role of men in society, offers striking insights into the instability of the 'masculine'. The book explores the relationship of masculinity with colonialism, modernity, the visual and the body in a wide range of Conrad's major and lesser-known fiction.