An Image of Africa

Examine the historical context behind both “An Image of Africa” and Heart of Darkness. How did their individual historical situations contribute to their author’s purposes for writing them? To what extent do these texts conform to or rebel against the discourse of their time?

Achebe writes, “Heart of Darkness is indeed so secure today that a leading Conrad scholar has numbered it ‘among the half-dozen greatest short novels in the English language’” (252). Why is Achebe concerned with the novella’s secure place in the literary canon? How does this contribute to Achebe’s argument about Western literature’s image of Africa?

Discuss Achebe’s assertion that Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a “racist” text. What does Achebe imply about the ethical responsibilities of writers, particularly those addressing cultures and identities other than their own? Additionally, what does he imply about the ethical responsibilities of readers, who can perpetuate a literary work’s popularity?