Joseph Conrad’s Texts and Intertexts. In Honour of Professor Wiesław Krajka is a collection of studies that examine various aspects of Joseph Conrad’s literary art, with the organizing ideas being textuality and intertextuality, both broadly understood. Intertextual relationships are perceived in terms of influence of literary, cultural, and philosophical tradition upon his oeuvre, but also affinities between and departures from the works of his predecessors (Miquel Cervantes, John Milton, post-Miltonian tradition), contemporaries (Henry James, H. G. Wells), and those who followed him (Aksel Sandemose, Premendra Mitra) and adapted his works (János Gosztonyi). Textuality is seen from the perspective of the artistic organization of his texts, but also as a means with which to identify the interpretative paths and thematic interests, in particular the social, moral, and economic issues that he tackled in his fiction.
The papers apply various theoretical perspectives, ranging from Bakhtinian ethics and Lacanian criticism to Jean-François Lyotard’s philosophy and Georg Simmel’s sociology. Thematically, the essays tackle such diverse issues as escapism, femininity, the arts, illicit conduct, fidelity, secrecy, isolation, immigration, otherness, terrorism, and social equality. Each new reading unveils Conrad’s artistic genius as the authors re-evaluate both the critically acclaimed and the less known works. From this constellation of international scholarship there emerges one common trait discernible in Conrad’s works, both when they analysed on their own and in juxtaposition with those of other writers: ambivalence. This stimulates ever new interpretations and indicate Conrad’s unparalleled ability to provoke readers to constantly rediscover artistic and ethical dimensions of his oeuvre. This book is volume 32 of the series Conrad: Eastern and Western Perspectives, edited by Wiesław Krajka.