The Discerning Narrator: Conrad, Aristotle, and Modernity

by Alexia Hannis

The Discerning Narrator sheds new light on Joseph Conrad’s controversial critique of modernity and modernization by reading his work through an Aristotelian lens. The book proposes that we need Aristotle – a key figure in Conrad’s education – to recognize the profound significance of Conrad’s artistic vision.

Offering Aristotelian analyses of Conrad’s letters, essays, and four works of fiction, Alexia Hannis illuminates the philosophical roots and literary implications of Conrad’s critique of modernity. Hannis turns to Aristotle’s ethical formulations to trace what she calls "the discerning narrator" in Conrad’s a compassionate yet sceptical guide to appraising character and conduct. The book engages with past and current Conrad scholarship while drawing from Aristotle’s Poetics, Politics, and Nicomachean Ethics to offer original philosophical analyses of Conrad’s works.

Drawing on Aristotle, Hannis provides a fresh context for making sense of Conrad’s self-differentiation from modernity. As a result, The Discerning Narrator provides an affirmation of literature’s invitation to wonder about the possibilities inherent in human nature, including the potential for painful depravity, heroic excellence, and ordinary human happiness.

157 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 18, 2022

About the author

Alexia Hannis teaches at Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning and the University of Guelph-Humber and she is a writing tutor at Victoria College, University of Toronto.