Othering of Africans In European Literature: A Postcolonial Analysis of Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the construct of “Orientals” and “Others” as represented in Western colonial discourse through Conrad’s Heart OF Darkness (1899). The main purpose of this paper is to unveil the biased and misrepresented image of Africans in Western texts. Said’s concept of “Othering” has been applied and will be discussed with special reference to Conrad’s Heart OF Darkness (1899). It reflects how Europeans have represented themselves as superior as “Occident” while on the other hand they have represented Africans as inferior and “Orientals”. “Othering” is a Western construct which is a concept related to civilizing East.