ART AND OBSCURITY : A STUDY OF CONRAD'S ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

This Academic Exercise seeks to study the complexity of Conrad's art in relation to his artistic goals. For Conrad, artistic complexity is a deliberate attempt to problematize his fiction such that it permits a critical examination of language and meaning, while retaining the artistic appeal necessary to his art. Conradian complexity is a stylistic choice which is a positive means to an end, rather than to confusion, as it is often taken to be. Chapter One discusses the issue of Conrad's artistic complexity by arguing that it is closely related to the notion of obscurity. It seeks to define obscurity, providing thereby, a theoretical background for its purpose in Conrad's art. Chapter Two identifies three artistic aims which Conrad sets out to achieve in his fiction, discussing why their successful achievement requires the employment of obscurity. Chapter Three examines the technical devices which Conrad employs to 'mystify' his fiction such that it resists an easy familiarity of reading. It will contend that while his technique does make the fiction complex, it is essential as part of Conrad's stylistic choice. The final chapter establishes that the complexity of his style is not purely technical. It identifies the complex themes Conrad deliberately deals with which further problematize his art. Consequently, this chapter reiterates the importance of obscurity in Conrad's art which surpasses any difficulty one might encounter in reading Conrad.