Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Salih's Season of Migration to the North are about Man’s journey into his self, and the discoveries to be made there about the 'other'. Both novels present the unpleasant and painful experience of colonialism in Africa which has great effects on almost all faces of life such as language, education, religion, popular culture and the like. If Salih's Season of Migration to the North (1966) deals with the perceptions of people in the third world to the West, Conrad's Heart of Darkness deals with the perceptions of Europeans to the third world in Africa. The two novels illustrate that the clashes between East and West are not only external but they are internal too, forcing one to question one's place in a new culture. Marlow's self-concept consists of mental images he has of himself: physical appearance as a white, accomplishments, skills, social talents, roles, intellectual traits, and emotional states. Thus, he feels superior to other Africans. Mustafa Sa’eed's self-concept is that he is intelligent but black and inferior to the Europeans. When he talks about himself Saied sees that he has a wonderful ability for understanding and his mind is like a sharp knife. But he never made use of his intelligence as it should be. Sa’eed emerges as a person who has abused the colonial system because he was abused and destroyed by it, and who has returned to the Sudan, bearing with him the rot and destruction he has come to embody. In both novels the 'self' and the 'other' can be compared in terms of the past colonial experience. The colonial 'other' in Conrad's Heart of Darkness is presented as a vital, alive, wild, superior, triumphant and has an identity, a face, and a personage. But in Season of Migration to the North, the narrator and Mustafa Sa’eed are presented as inferior, passive and degraded. If the narrative of Season expresses a concern about future relations between Arabs and English and asks the question of whether or not Arabs and English can ever truly co-exist, the narrative of Heart of Darkness investigates the same theme but at large. Both novels are based mostly on the cultural and imperial background.
| Published in | English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 4, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11 |
| Page(s) | 83-92 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Other, Self, West Africa, Colonial Relationship, Conrad, Salih
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APA Style
Redwan Gabr El-Sobky. (2019). The ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’ in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Al-Tayyib Salih's Season of Migration to the North: Postcolonial Study. English Language, Literature & Culture, 4(4), 83-92. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11
ACS Style
Redwan Gabr El-Sobky. The ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’ in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Al-Tayyib Salih's Season of Migration to the North: Postcolonial Study. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2019, 4(4), 83-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11
AMA Style
Redwan Gabr El-Sobky. The ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’ in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Al-Tayyib Salih's Season of Migration to the North: Postcolonial Study. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2019;4(4):83-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11
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author = {Redwan Gabr El-Sobky},
title = {The ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’ in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Al-Tayyib Salih's Season of Migration to the North: Postcolonial Study},
journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
volume = {4},
number = {4},
pages = {83-92},
doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20190404.11},
abstract = {Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Salih's Season of Migration to the North are about Man’s journey into his self, and the discoveries to be made there about the 'other'. Both novels present the unpleasant and painful experience of colonialism in Africa which has great effects on almost all faces of life such as language, education, religion, popular culture and the like. If Salih's Season of Migration to the North (1966) deals with the perceptions of people in the third world to the West, Conrad's Heart of Darkness deals with the perceptions of Europeans to the third world in Africa. The two novels illustrate that the clashes between East and West are not only external but they are internal too, forcing one to question one's place in a new culture. Marlow's self-concept consists of mental images he has of himself: physical appearance as a white, accomplishments, skills, social talents, roles, intellectual traits, and emotional states. Thus, he feels superior to other Africans. Mustafa Sa’eed's self-concept is that he is intelligent but black and inferior to the Europeans. When he talks about himself Saied sees that he has a wonderful ability for understanding and his mind is like a sharp knife. But he never made use of his intelligence as it should be. Sa’eed emerges as a person who has abused the colonial system because he was abused and destroyed by it, and who has returned to the Sudan, bearing with him the rot and destruction he has come to embody. In both novels the 'self' and the 'other' can be compared in terms of the past colonial experience. The colonial 'other' in Conrad's Heart of Darkness is presented as a vital, alive, wild, superior, triumphant and has an identity, a face, and a personage. But in Season of Migration to the North, the narrator and Mustafa Sa’eed are presented as inferior, passive and degraded. If the narrative of Season expresses a concern about future relations between Arabs and English and asks the question of whether or not Arabs and English can ever truly co-exist, the narrative of Heart of Darkness investigates the same theme but at large. Both novels are based mostly on the cultural and imperial background.},
year = {2019}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’ in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Al-Tayyib Salih's Season of Migration to the North: Postcolonial Study AU - Redwan Gabr El-Sobky Y1 - 2019/12/16 PY - 2019 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11 T2 - English Language, Literature & Culture JF - English Language, Literature & Culture JO - English Language, Literature & Culture SP - 83 EP - 92 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-2413 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20190404.11 AB - Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Salih's Season of Migration to the North are about Man’s journey into his self, and the discoveries to be made there about the 'other'. Both novels present the unpleasant and painful experience of colonialism in Africa which has great effects on almost all faces of life such as language, education, religion, popular culture and the like. If Salih's Season of Migration to the North (1966) deals with the perceptions of people in the third world to the West, Conrad's Heart of Darkness deals with the perceptions of Europeans to the third world in Africa. The two novels illustrate that the clashes between East and West are not only external but they are internal too, forcing one to question one's place in a new culture. Marlow's self-concept consists of mental images he has of himself: physical appearance as a white, accomplishments, skills, social talents, roles, intellectual traits, and emotional states. Thus, he feels superior to other Africans. Mustafa Sa’eed's self-concept is that he is intelligent but black and inferior to the Europeans. When he talks about himself Saied sees that he has a wonderful ability for understanding and his mind is like a sharp knife. But he never made use of his intelligence as it should be. Sa’eed emerges as a person who has abused the colonial system because he was abused and destroyed by it, and who has returned to the Sudan, bearing with him the rot and destruction he has come to embody. In both novels the 'self' and the 'other' can be compared in terms of the past colonial experience. The colonial 'other' in Conrad's Heart of Darkness is presented as a vital, alive, wild, superior, triumphant and has an identity, a face, and a personage. But in Season of Migration to the North, the narrator and Mustafa Sa’eed are presented as inferior, passive and degraded. If the narrative of Season expresses a concern about future relations between Arabs and English and asks the question of whether or not Arabs and English can ever truly co-exist, the narrative of Heart of Darkness investigates the same theme but at large. Both novels are based mostly on the cultural and imperial background. VL - 4 IS - 4 ER -
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