Conrad and Arendt. Revealing the roots of evil

Abstract

To the centre of colonial AfricaThis article deals with the relationships between three texts revealing the essence of colonialism and totalitarianism -two systems which share, among other things, the practice of concealing large-scale crime behind a façade of official clichés. On the role that Heart of Darkness played in discrediting colonial empires which realise 'white man's mission', Przemysław Czapliński wrote: 'I do not know of a literary text that would be as successful in leading to an implosion of colonial discourse'. 1 A pattern of moving from the hidden to the public exists on many levels in Conrad's short story. The reader finds out about the stark reality of colonial Africa, hidden beneath the slogans of civilisational mission. They find out about the invisible, archaic roots of modernity, and about discovering by the narrator story of layers of his own psyche, previously unknown to him.Conrad's story played an important role in the creation of Hannah Arendt's book on the origins and rules of totalitarianism. The author of The origins of totalitarianism endeavoured to describe a phenomenon with no precedence, and therefore she regarded methods previously used in sociology, history and philosophy as insufficient. The original title of the work could be misleading, as it signals a certain conservativism: Brzmiał zbyt akademicko i sucho, przywodząc na myśl głośne dzieło Darwina The origins of species (O powstawaniu gatunków), fałszywie sugerował * First printed as "Conrad i Arendt. Ujawnianie korzeni zła", in: Napis issue XVII (2011), pp. 139-151.