Racial slurs and perception of racism in Heart of Darkness
-
Lorenzo Mastropierro
and
Kathy Conklin
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the racial slurs nigger and negro in Heart of Darkness on readers’ perception of dehumanisation, discrimination, and racism. It compares data collected through online questionnaires to test whether the absence or different frequencies of the slurs influence how participants perceive the fictional representation of the African people in the text. Three versions of the same questionnaire are used: one with unmodified passages from Heart of Darkness, one with the same passages but without the racial slurs, and one with the same passages but with more slurs than in the original. Findings show that the absence or overabundance of slurs compared to the original does not alter reader perception of dehumanisation, discrimination, and racism. By comparing the results, this paper makes two interconnected contributions. First, it contributes to the critical discussion about racism in Conrad’s novel, by providing evidence on whether the representation of the Africans is perceived as dehumanising, discriminatory, and racist by readers. Second, it offers an empirical perspective on the usefulness of the “sanitising” (removing or substituting of all racial slurs) of literary texts with potential racist implications, adopted by some publishing houses and applied to novels like Conrad’s The Nigger of the “Narcissus” and Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Appendix 1 Questionnaire O, O+, and O-
Purely based on the way the African natives are described in these passages – NOT according to your personal beliefs – to what extent do you think the natives would be:
| 0 Not at all | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Totally | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capable of restraining their wishes, emotions, and impulses? | |||||||
| Capable of anticipating the positive or negative consequences of their behaviour and of being responsible for their acts? | |||||||
| Capable of making plans to reach their goals? | |||||||
| Capable of experiencing emotions like fear, pain, or joy? | |||||||
| Capable of experiencing feelings like shame, guilt, or hope? | |||||||
| Capable of being conscious of their environment and of the things that happen? |
Purely based on the way the African natives are described in these passages – NOT according to your personal views or the modern context – do you think that the following are true?
| 1 Strongly disagree | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Strongly agree | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The whites generally have more resources and opportunities than the African natives. | ||||||
| The whites have the power to exclude the African natives. | ||||||
| There are benefits to being white in the social order/context described by these passages. | ||||||
| White cultural characteristics are more valued than those of the African natives. | ||||||
| The narrator favours the whites. | ||||||
| These passages negatively stereotype the African natives. |
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
| 1 Strongly disagree | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Strongly agree | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The representation of the African natives in these passages is racist. |
Any comments on the statement above or anything related you would like do add? (optional)
Age (number, e.g. 32)
Gender
Native language
Have you read Heart of Darkness before?
Have you studied Heart of Darkness before?
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Foreword
- Articles
- Metaphorical thinking in our literary experiences of J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye”
- Racial slurs and perception of racism in Heart of Darkness
- World-switch and mind style in The Barracks: a cognitive approach to ideology
- The event semantics of conjuncts in ‘The Sun Also Rises’
- Book Review
- Monika Fludernik: Metaphors of Confinement: the Prison in Fact, Fiction and Fantasy
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Foreword
- Articles
- Metaphorical thinking in our literary experiences of J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye”
- Racial slurs and perception of racism in Heart of Darkness
- World-switch and mind style in The Barracks: a cognitive approach to ideology
- The event semantics of conjuncts in ‘The Sun Also Rises’
- Book Review
- Monika Fludernik: Metaphors of Confinement: the Prison in Fact, Fiction and Fantasy
