awej 5 no.4 full issue 2014

AWEJ Volume.5 Number.3, 2014Dialogic Signs of Resistance: a Case Study of ReadingAbu-Shomar & AbuHilalman‟s search for reality, which can only be discovered through differentiating the „self‟ from the„other‟. Hiba observes of the novel‟s discourse and attempts to deconstruct Conrad‟s binaries,through this, she embraces multiple dialogic perspectives in interpreting and critiquing the binaryconstructs of the text. Within such an approach, Hiba‟s combination of two levels ofinterpretations, cultural and linguistic, indicates a profound gain in dialogic analytical skills.Such progress in textual analysis when combined with dialogue around wider cultural issues, likethe one we attempted in our discussions, gives weight to dialogic readings of textual meanings.The third category, which identifies Conrad‟s position as „split‟ between two worlds,demonstrates exceptionally articulated dialogic responses in their moderate accounts regardingthe novel. Anas‟s following comment exemplifies some of these responses:Anas: it is not a matter of extreme things, but I think the ideas in this novel reflect Conrad’sconflict as someone who lives between two worlds/ the European and the African/ his ownpersonal life and his story reflect this fact... (G2, S5).In addition to its indication of profound knowledge about the novel and the author, Anas‟scomment of rejecting extreme positions while judging the text enunciates the core intention ofour dialogic appraoch in recognising the value of living between two worlds. Conrad once calledhimself „Homo duplex‟ indicating a double position or displacement, which provides a usefulkey to an understanding of Conrad‟s life and the ambivalences of his work (Fothergill, 1989).Acknowledging the fact that Conrad had double nationality, two professional careers, mixedsocial/class identity, he became politically, culturally, socially, and not least, linguisticallyhybrid, which might call readers to read him with a critically as someone „inside-and-yetoutside‟(Fothergill, 1989). Arguably, we recognise Anas‟s view that the novel reflects theenunciative locations dialogic attempts to create, which appeared through tracing the shiftbetween Anas‟s initial positions and the current one.Tracing the students’ realisations of colonialist meaningsColonialism is a recurring theme that intersects the whole set of data created by the students‟readings and dialogue around the text. Although data provided in the previous sections could beinterpreted in line with this theme, in the current section, we focus on the students‟ realisations,reflections, and connections of textual meaning to their wider accounts and visions of culture.The students‟ recognition of the possibility of colonialist meanings in Heart of Darkness ismediated around three areas: a) tracing possible colonialist meanings in the novel and connectingthese meanings to other canonised literary texts: the classics and particularly 18 th century textsincluded in their syllabus; b) attempting an understanding of these meanings within a „colonialdiscourse analysis‟, and c) recognising and resisting colonial legacies by connecting them tocontemporary issues. While it remains controversial to take the novel as a colonialist text, thestudents‟ readings and discussions around the novel especially Marlow‟s accounts of theAfricans provoked emergent thoughts regarding European colonialism, which they contextualisein critiquing current „colonial ideologies‟. In fact the students‟ accounts of colonialistassumptions oscillated in and out-side the text, and between the past and present.Muhammad and Said, in the following extract, refer to the 19 th century, the time when the novelwas written in an attempt to reach an understanding of the concept of colonialism. They alsocompare what the concept could mean in those times to the current understanding.Muhammad: colonisation at that time (time of writing Heart of Darkness) was not evil/ atthat time no one says colonisation is badSaid: how come?Arab World English JournalISSN: 2229-9327www.awej.org164