The dawn watch
Subtitle: Joseph Conrad in a global world
By: Maya Jasanoff
Publisher: Penguin Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 375
ISBN-13: 9781594205811
Subjects: Globalization; Globalization in literature; English Novelists; Knowledge; Imperialism in literature; Biography
Other titles: Joseph Conrad in a global world
Description: "A visionary exploration of the life and times of Joseph Conrad, his turbulent age of globalization and our own, from one of the most exciting young historians writing today. Migration, terrorism, the tensions between global capitalism and nationalism, and a communications revolution: these forces shaped Joseph Conrad's destiny at the dawn of the twentieth century. In this brilliant new interpretation of one of the great voices in modern literature, Maya Jasanoff reveals Conrad as a prophet of globalization. As an immigrant from Poland to England, and in travels from Malaya to Congo to the Caribbean, Conrad navigated an interconnected world, and captured it in a literary oeuvre of extraordinary depth. His life story delivers a history of globalization from the inside out, and reflects powerfully on the aspirations and challenges of the modern world. Joseph Conrad was born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in 1857, to Polish parents in the Russian Empire. At sixteen he left the landlocked heart of Europe to become a sailor, and for the next twenty years travelled the world's oceans before settling permanently in England as an author. He saw the surging, competitive "new imperialism" that planted a flag in almost every populated pDart of the globe. He got a close look, too, at the places "beyond the end of telegraph cables and mail-boat lines," and the hypocrisy of the west's most cherished ideals. In a compelling blend of history, biography, and travelogue, Maya Jasanoff follows Conrad's routes and the stories of his four greatest works -- The Secret Agent, Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, and Nostromo. Genre-bending, intellectually thrilling, and deeply humane, The Dawn Watch embarks on a spell-binding expedition into the dark heart of Conrad's world--and through it to our own"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Prologue: One of Us; title: Part One: Nation. Chapter 1. No Home, No Country; Chapter 2. The Point of Departure; Chapter 3. Among Strangers; title: Part Two: Ocean. Chapter 4. Following the Sea; Chapter 5. Going into Steam; Chapter 6. When Your Ship Fails You; title: Part Three: Civilization: Chapter 7. Heart to Heart; Chapter 8. The Dark Places; Chapter 9. White Savages; title: Part Four: Empire. Chapter 10. A New World; Chapter 11. Material Interests; Chapter 12. Whether the World Likes It or Not; title: Epilogue: To Make You See.