Conrad and Gide: Translation, Transference and Intertextuality

by Russell West-Pavlov

This study examines the relations between the work of the Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad and the French Nobel Prize winner André Gide. Gide's translation of Conrad's Typhoon is read as a work belonging paradoxically to the oeuvres of both writers, where their respective preoccupations meet with illuminating results. Focusing also on other major works by Conrad and Gide, the study suggests that the intertextual and personal interaction between these two masters of 20th Century fiction was governed by processes of identification and projection, conflict between master and disciple and a consequent resistant reading of texts, and confrontation with linguistic and cultural heterogeneity.Issues of translation theory, psychoanalysis and intertextuality are brought together to offer a glimpse of a possible dialogue between literature and ethics. This study will be of interest to students and researchers in English, French and Comparative Literature.

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996