This book considers the relationship between sound and silence in the
works of Joseph Conrad, along with their ties to Western and
non-Western space. Throughout Conrad’s works, a pattern emerges
where Western space is associated with sound and non-Western space is
associated with silence; similarly, Western space is portrayed as full
of objects and activity, whereas non-Western space is portrayed as
empty. As these tales progress, though, Conrad’s characters embark
on transformational journeys that cause them to reassess the world
they live in and sometimes even the nature of the universe. These
journeys invariably occur through encountering non-Western space, and
during the course of these journeys, the dichotomy between Western
space, perceived as replete with sound and activity, and non-Western
space, empty of such, blurs such that the fullness of the West is
revealed to be simply a surface hiding the emptiness beneath. In the
end, both Western and non-Western space are revealedto be absences, as
the absence of sound becomes a correlative for the emptiness of space
and the emptiness of space becomes a metonym for the cosmological
emptiness of nothingness.
Les mer
Western and Non-Western Worlds
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9783031449109
Publisert
2024
Utgiver
Springer Nature
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter