Specular Transformations of Joseph Conrad’s Philosophy of the Sea in Life of Pi(the novel and the film) – refractions of the transition between the twentieth and the twenty-first century
Specular Transformations of Joseph Conrad’s Philosophy of the Sea in Life of Pi(the novel and the film) – refractions of the transition between the twentieth and the twenty-first century

Summary/Abstract: Yann Martel, the author of the Booker-winning novel Life of Pi, says in an interview that if asked to invite an author or book character to coffee, he would opt for Joseph Conrad (but only if the latter was in the mood for conversation). He would be glad to learn more about Conrad’s manner of writing. We can only make guesses at what form this imaginary conversation might take as it will remain unreported. Conrad is one of a number of authors who, along with Dante Alighieri, John Updike and John Steinbeck, live on in the Canadian writer’s creative work and populate the equally successful film version based on it. Many are convinced that – in today’s world of visual culture – it was the film which triggered mass interest in the book. The present article searches for refractions of Conrad’s seafaring philosophy and poetics in both the textual and cinematic mirrors of Life of Pi. It undertakes a close reading of some specific features of this particular case of film-making that reveal the cinematic potential of Conrad’s works and its realisation in the film interpretations.

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