Abstract

SIQUEIRA, José Carlos. O silêncio anticolonial de Conrad e Eça, ou a impossível arte de narrar o horror. RILP [online]. 2017, vol.32, pp.189-204.  Epub July 28, 2021. ISSN 2182-4452.  https://doi.org/10.31492/2184-2043.rilp2017.32/pp.191-206.

Edward Said, in one of his last works, Culture and Imperialism of 1993, considers the novella The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad the literary expression of European colonialism in the 19th century. The novel by Eça de Queirós, A ilustre casa de Ramires, is also considered by many as an apology to the Portuguese colonialism. Said’s own reflections on Conrad’s work reveal some possibilities for readings that the scholar did not developed. This paper proposes to compare the two fictional works to overcome interpretations dedicated to them. For this, concepts developed by Giorgio Agamben will be used, such as “unapprehensibility” and “narrative of the horror”. The analysis and methodology employed here suggest that the most important fictional text in these two works is one that is not written. And such elliptical text can only be glimpsed by the reader from the friction of various narratives woven into the works.

Keywords : Joseph Conrad; Eça de Queirós; Anticolonial literature.

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