Emotions and Contingencies in Conrad's Fiction

"Long-time admirers of Conrad's writing will be positively surprised by this book. Relatively little has been written about emotions in Conrad's fiction, yet Okuda succeeds in establishing their centrality to work after work. She displays an intimate acquaintance with Conrad's texts, and her analyses are sensitive, sympathetic and enlightening. This is a book that helps us to gain a fuller sense of Conrad's view of humanity and its place in an unpredictable universe, and one that sends us back to the texts to read them from this expanded perspective."

-- Jeremy Hawthorn, University of Science and Technology, Norway

"Yoko Okuda has produced an insightful monograph on the topic of Conrad and emotion, an area of scholarship that has hitherto received little attention. Professor Okuda considers this topic across a wide range of Conrad's works, including such less-studied texts as 'The Duel.' In short, this book fills a gap in the existing scholarly conversation surrounding Conrad's works and will be a book that others approaching this topic will invariably draw upon."

--John G. Peters, University of North Texas, USA

This book sets out to elucidate Conrad's unique insight into the workings of human emotions for a readership of scholars and graduate students engaged in Conrad studies. It argues that the originality of Conrad's conception of human emotions lies in his comprehensive grasp of emotions in the broad framework of a contingent world; he regards emotions as fundamentally a manifestation of human defiance towards reality. The book takes up seven of Conrad's works which are of significance from the perspective of emotions and contingencies, including 'Heart of Darkness' and Nostromo.

Yoko Okuda is Professor Emerita at Faculty of Humanities, Atomi University, Tokyo, Japan. Her work has appeared in journals including The Conradian, Conradiana, L'Epoque Conradienne, Yearbook of Conrad Studies, and Conrad Studies (Japan). She currently serves as President of the Joseph Conrad Society of Japan.