ZŁO NOWOCZESNOŚCI: JĄDRO CIEMNOŚCI JÓZEFA CONRADA CZAS APOKALIPSY FRANCISA FORDA COPPOLI
EVIL MODERNITY: HEART OF DARKNESS BY JOSEPH CONRAD, APOCALYPSE NOW BY FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA

Summary/Abstract: The outline deals with the philosophical question of the evil of modernity in the novel by Joseph Conrad from 1899 Heart of Darkness (colonial context) and in the film by Francis Ford Coppola Apocalypse Now (the war in Vietnam). The analysis not only deconstructs European discourses of ethics and civilization but it also reveals human interaction leading to a kind of secular "redemption”: acknowledging the “horror” of the world and inner judgement. As an adaptation of Conrad’s book, the film highlights the insanity of civilization and presents Conrad’s initiation scheme in devilish colours. The sacrifice motive, which is the “climax of action”, brings neither redemption nor catharsis. The question of the evil of modernity shows in both the works as a decline of the logo-centric course and the appearance of “hollowed people”, motivated only by instincts. The possibility of interpersonal redemption, as a kind of secular salvation, appears only in Conrad’s novel.

• Details
• Contents