On December 19th and 20th, two wintry days in Ankara, the Middle Eastern Technical University hosted the 10th METU British Novelists Seminar. - by Marcin Piechota
This year, literary scholars, researchers and students gathered to give and listen to papers on Joseph Conrad and his works. For the first time so many international academics responded to organisers' invitation and made their appearance in Ankara. According to the seminar's hosts, one of the reasons for this year's popularity was publicity campaign in the internet, which was organized for the first time, but most probably it was the subject matter which attracted so many people. Joseph Conrad, a multi-cultural writer, a life-long traveler and seeker of truth, one of the most popular and influential novelists of the 20th century, appeals to readers all around the world. Suffice to say that in 2002, apart from Ankara, major conferences on Conrad took place in London, Vancouver, and Angers. However, in a country of so many contrasts as Turkey, where various cultures coexist and interact, Conrad is perceived in a particular way and Conradian dispute is endowed with additional meaning. Doubtlessly, Ankara is the right place to discuss Conrad.
The two days of the conference were certainly busy. Almost twenty papers given by scholars from Great Britain, Italy, Poland, the United States, Canada and, naturally, Turkey followed by after-hours discussions and meetings required to be in a great shape, both physically and mentally, but no one protested. Indeed, a variety of topics would satisfy even the most demanding scholars. The guest speaker of this year's seminar was Professor Robert Hampson, one of the most renowned British Conradians, who presented two papers, which both days of the seminar. The first one presented historical background and context of "Heart of Darkness" and the other dealt with the 'unspoken of' in "Victory." The subject matter of both these interesting papers, which are parts of Prof. Hampson's new, larger project was the problem of Conrad's involvement in problems present in our world as well as they were a century ago: cultural differences, racism, homosexuality and sexism, inability of people of different social or cultural background to communicate and truth.
Interestingly, Prof. Hampson's papers unintentionally served as an introduction to a major part of the conference. A ticklish problem of cultural difference and racism, Conrad's views on imperialism and his position in contemporary postcolonial discourse, were the topic of several papers. Different views were presented by Professor Richard Ambrosini (Under Late-Victorian Eyes: Joseph Conrad, R.L. Stevenson and the Rise of the Colonial Novel), Yacine Kais ("Nostromo" between post-imperialism and anti-imperialism), Christopher Cairney (The Bird, The Snake and the River: Conrad's Complicated Look at Colonialism) and Valerie Kennedy (Homo Duplex: Divided Selves in Conrad and Said). What made these papers even more interesting was the fact that they were presented by people coming from countries so different from one another (Italy, Algieria, Canada and Great Britain) and, indeed, various cultures, which is so significant while discussing the matters of colonialism and racism. A wide-ranging issue of differences in communication was treated of by several other speakers, but they focused on other matters. For example, Armagan Erdogan presented a feminist view on masculinity in Conrad's fiction, while Bengu Taskesen, another Turkish speaker, talked of depression in Conrad resulting partly from inability to communicate.
Contemporary interest in Conrad's views on philosophy and Conrad's relations with philosophy resulted in some several papers on this issue. Nesrin Eruysal and Nurten Birlik, presented a joint paper under a self-explaining title A Lacanian Analysis of Amy Foster, in which they also mentioned how Conrad's origins may have influenced his works. Fiona Tomkinson, in her artfully allusive paper, talked of Conrad's Aletheia, where she focus on the question of truth and its concealment and relations between Conrad and Heidegger. Margaret Sonmez focusing on "Nostromo" also talked about Conrad's views on the notion of truth, while Gillian Alban dealt with death in Conrad's various novels and the writer's attitude to it.
A more textual approach to Conrad's fiction was offered by a number of speakers. Professor Nursel Icoz gave a paper which discussed Conrad as a unique writer typical of realism as well as modernism. The problem of Conradian narrators was a subject matter of valuable and papers by Sema Postacioglu-Banon ("Under Western Eyes": Gaining Novel Authority from the Edge) and Nil Korkut (Communication or Introspection? Marlow's Aim(s) as Narrator in "Heart of Darkness" and "Lord Jim"). James Coghlan presented his enormously interesting discoveries concerning the secret code in "The Secret Agent" in his highly innovative paper entitled "Fortis in Arduis" ("Strength in adversity").
The speech given by Prof. Kenneth Rosen from University of Southern Maine must be treated separately. The very title of his paper, Conrad in Wonderland sounded intriguingly, but what was actually served exceeded all expectations. Professor Rosen started with comparing Marlow's journey to the Congo with Alice's adventures in Wonderland, and then went on to surprise his listeners constantly with multitude of allusions, taken from various sources, ranging from mythology to his personal experiences in Bulgaria. Moreover, thanks to his unrivalled perspicacity, Rosen made everyone aware of hitherto imperceptible details, often scandalous, which became so clear afterwards. All in all, this astonishing speech, simultaneously poetic and informative, was one of the brightest moments of the whole conference.
Finally, few words must be devoted to two representatives of Poland who came to share their views on Conrad. Prof. Krajka, a well-known critic and editor of Conrad, presented a highly controversial paper Joseph Conrad's Conception of Europe. Professor Krajka, who teaches and heads Conradian studies at Maria Skłodowska-Curie University in Lublin, presented in a passionate way Conrad's views on the contemporary world of international affairs, with special attention paid to politics of Prussia and Russia. Indeed, the dispute over Krajka's paper, well-grounded in Conrad's political essays, continued even until long after the conference has finished. Indeed, not only did the paper treat of a subject very close to Polish heart, but also the way it was presented made it so unforgettable.
The second Polish Conradian who came to Turkey was Marcin Piechota, young scholar from the Joseph Conrad Study Centre which has been recently established at the Opole University. His paper was not as controversial as Krajka's, but similarly it could not have been written non-Polish speaker. Piechota presented "Wedrowiec" or "The Wanderer," a magazine Korzeniowski read as a teenager and tried to prove that it was one of the decisive forces which made Korzeniowski leave Poland and start a sea-career as well as had some impact on his later life and even literature. The presentation, richly illustrated, touched on a subject so far unknown to most Conradian scholars. Indeed, taking into account the fact the number of questions asked by other participants, it may be stated that the author managed to arouse interest in this aspect of Conrad's life, which has lacked hitherto proper research and discussion.
The proper one-sentence summary of the seminar should be "a variety of topics presented from unlimited perspectives." But the way the conference was organized, friendliness and helpfulness of everyone around (METU teachers, research assistants and students were eager to give the guests a hand all the time) will be remembered long. Congratulations to everyone, especially Nesrin Eruysal who somehow managed to reply thousands of e-mails from everyone in the months preceding the conference, and they may be sure that whoever has such a possibility will come back to Ankara next year, this time to talk about D.H.Lawrence.