Outline Lecture Eleven—Imperialism's “Heart of Darkness” Key ...

Outline Lecture Eleven—Imperialism’s “Heart of Darkness”Key Focus:1) Imperialism in theory vs. imperialism in practice2) The “superstructure” of racial ideology vs. the legacy of imperialism in AfricaI) The Scramble for Africa 1875-1900a) Averting Economic Crisis at Homei) Targeting African continent by 1870sii) Berlin West Africa Conference 1884-1885iii) Swift partitioning of African continent by European powersb) Types of Colonial Administrationi) Frederick Lugard’s (1858-1945) doctrine of “indirect rule”ii) Direct rule model—King Leopold II’s “Congo Free State”(1) Casualties of this type of rule between 1890-1908(2) Roger Casement’s Congo Reform AssociationII) Mapping the “Heart of Darkness”a) The Testimony of Edmund Morel (1873-1924)i) Ledgers of the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company(1) Profits from global demand for rubberii) Extraction of rubber through military force(1) “An armed soldier behind every producer”(2) Use of company militias the Batetla, Manyema, and Asanteb) “Carnival of massacre”i) Congo river basin turned into a heavily militarized zone(1) Nature of recruitment(2) De-humanizing the recruitsii) Extortion through terror(1) King Leopold’s rationale for this practiceiii) Morel’s verdict(1) Dehumanization as a by-product of the greed and cruelty of the Congo Free Stateiv) Imperialism in a Freudian contextc) Joseph Conrad’s Psychoanalysis of Imperialismi) Conrad’s personal experience with the imperialist projectii) Deconstructing the “Civilized/Savage” Distinction(1) The ominous opening of Marlow’s narrative(a) Ironic juxtaposition of Roman conquest and British imperialism(b) The mouth of the Thames as the “navel” of imperialism(2) The “heart of darkness” at home(a) The “home-office” of the Company in Brussels(3) The veil of self-delusioniii) Kurtz as the incarnation of imperialism(1) Highest product of European “civilization”(a) “All Europe contributed to the making of the Kurtz” (83)(2) “International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs”

(3) Kurtz’s “voracious aspect”—the insatiable greed of imperialism(4) Kurtz’s final pronouncement “The horror! The horror!”