Is Heart of Darkness a Racist Text?

Joseph Conrad’s novella has long had a place in the Western canon. It has become a staple in high school and university syllabi. However, scholars of colonialism have questioned the way in which readers have understood and praised this work. As we have read Heart of Darkness together, we have discussed multiple ways in which the text can be appreciated, interpreted, and critiqued.

In this project, students composed an essay that explores the question, “Is Heart of Darkness a racist text?” Students created a thesis statement and drew on evidence from the text to support their thesis. In addition, students read and incorporated arguments from two scholarly essays, one by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and another by Kittitian-British author Caryl Phillips. Students were asked to use the scholarship to support their claims, and were encouraged to disagree with the scholars, or pit them against each other in order to further their argument.