Graphic Adaptation Of 'Heart Of Darkness' Takes On Canonical Racism, Artfully
Artist Peter Kuper has adapted Joseph Conrad's classic Heart of Darkness in a way that undercuts Conrad's depiction of Africa as a place of existential horror, and centers the African characters.
"A bloody racist." When African novelist Chinua Achebe in 1975, it was like a bomb going off in the literary canon. Spurred by Achebe's brash assault, some critics started arguing that Conrad's works should perhaps not be read at all. These writers pointed to Conrad's imperialist tendencies, his apparent inability to see Africans as equal to Europeans and his use of the n-word. Other scholars rushed to Conrad's defense, emphasizing his anti-colonialism, his philosophical complexity and his sheer virtuosity.
