Joseph Conrad and the Narration of Silence

This monograph considers the writings of Joseph Conrad, more particularly when he engages with silence in his fictional works. It investigates the many ways Conrad’s narrators speak without speaking throughout his canon, focusing first on what is unsayable and then on what is unsaid. Silences (both literal and metaphorical) occur throughout Conrad’s writings, and all connect in a meaningful manner to the speech of Conrad’s narrators. From the earliest book reviews, readers have frequently commended Conrad’s distinct narrative style. These commentaries on narrative have made many valuable contributions. However, this book investigates what happens when Conrad’s narrators do not narrate – when they are instead silent. It is in these silences, these gaps between what is said and what is unsaid, that meaning may emerge. In short, the absence of speaking – together with its presence – bring about meaningful moments of narrative memory when one discovers what cannot be contained within the narrator’s narrative alone: An incremental progression toward questions concerning the nature of knowledge, the nature of human existence, and the nature of the universe