Otherness and Identity in Joseph Conrad's Heart Of The Darkness and Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country.

Title:

Otherness and Identity in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country

Description:

This thesis explores the concepts of Otherness and Identity within postcolonial discourse, analyzing how they are represented in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country. Through a comparative approach, the research examines the colonial and postcolonial dynamics in both novels, investigating how the colonizer and the colonized are portrayed in terms of identity, racial hierarchies, and cultural alienation. Drawing on postcolonial theory, Edward Said’s Orientalism, and Albert Memmi’s analysis of colonization, this study highlights the power structures, segregation, and psychological effects of colonial rule.

The first section presents the theoretical framework, defining Otherness and Identity in colonial narratives. The second section applies these concepts to literary analysis, exploring how Conrad’s novel presents Africa as the “dark Other” and how Paton’s work portrays the identity crisis of both the oppressor and the oppressed.

This research contributes to postcolonial literary studies, cultural identity discourse, and colonial criticism, offering a fresh perspective on two influential 20th-century novels.

Keywords: Postcolonial Studies, Otherness, Identity, Colonialism, Heart of Darkness, Cry, the Beloved Country, Literary Criticism, African Literature