The Wilderness In Joseph Conrad's Novels

This thesis studies the wilderness in Joseph Conrad’s novels.As an important element in Conrad’s novels,the wilderness is reflected in many aspects.This thesis analyzes the wilderness from three perspectives:aesthetics perspective,political perspective and psychological perspective.From aesthetics perspective,the wilderness includes natural environment and aboriginal inhabitants.Natural environment has anthropomorphic colors;aboriginal inhabitants own an unsophisticated quality.From political perspective,imperial ideology means imperialists always represent civilization and advancement.The ideology is both self-affirmative and self-deceptive.Wilderness symbolizes the paradoxical ideology.From psychological perspective,on the one hand,the wilderness is an area where some white men recognize themselves.On the other hand,the wilderness acts as a space where other white men try to realize self-transcendence.To some degree,this thesis enriches the scholarship about Joseph Conrad.