Heart of Darkness: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis on Several Scales, Version 6

New edition of the working paper about Heart of Darkness: Version 6. Links, abstract, change notice, and contents below.

Links:

Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/8132174/Heart_of_Darkness_Qualitative_and_Quantitative_Analysis_on_Several_Scales_Version_6
SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1910279
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228174270_Heart_of_Darkness_Qualitative_and_Quantitative_Analysis_on_Several_Scales

Abstract

Heart of Darkness is a novella that is roughly 38,000 words long and divided into three sections. In these notes I use a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques to analyze and describe it. In particular, I argue that it exhibits center-point construction, a tale within a tale within a tale, and that the story’s moral center contrasts workplace values with basic human bonds.

New to Version 6

I’ve made three changes since the 5th edition. You’ve seen one of them, the new cover images. I’ve added two new sections to the text. There’s an appendix about how I used ChatGPT to create the cover image and then there’s a short speculation about why Conrad told his tale through a complex double-narration. ChatGPT collaborated with me on that as well.

Contents (Links to Original Blog Posts)

1) Heart of Darkness, Narration and Temporal Displacement
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/heart-of-darkness-narration-and.html

2) Interlude: Slocum’s Pilot and Sensory Deprivation
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/interlude-slocums-pilot-and-sensory.html 

3) Closure, Attachment, and Abstract Objects in Heart of Darkness
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/closure-attachment-and-abstract-objects.html 

4) Ontology at the Heart of Darkness
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/ontology-at-heart-of-darkness.html

5) On Kurtz’s twice-quoted orison, as well as people named and unnamed – new to this version, and revised from this post:
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2019/10/on-kurtzs-twice-uttered-orison-as-well.html

6) The Heart of Heart of Darkness
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/heart-of-heart-of-darkness.html

7) Heart of Darkness 6: Some Informal Notes about the Nexus
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/heart-of-darkness-6-some-informal-notes.html

8) HD7: Digital Humanities Sandbox Goes to the Congo
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/hd7-digital-humanities-sandbox-goes-to.html 

9) Some Basic Numbers and Charts Concerning Paragraph Length – was never a post. 

10) Is Chinua Achebe to Joseph Conrad as Ike Turner is to Sam Phillips?
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/is-chinua-achebe-to-joseph-conrad-as.html 

11) Conrad’s Special K: Periodicity in Heart of Darkness
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/conrads-special-k-periodicity-in-heart.html 

12) HD10: Empiricism, Psychohistory, Narratology: The horror! The horror!
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/hd10-empiricism-psychohistory.html 

13) HD11: Marlow’s Calculation
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/07/hd11-marlows-calculation.html 

14) HD12: The Shape of the Tale, Triangulating the Buddha (previously published ouside this collection) 

15) Local narrative logic and global order, or how we get from here to there in Heart of Darkness
https://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2019/10/local-narrative-logic-and-global-order.html 

15) Double Narration in Heart of Darkness

https://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2025/08/double-narration-in-heart-of-darkness.html  
17) Kurtz as MacGuffin, or: Why trash him before we meet him?

https://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2019/10/kurtz-as-macguffin-or-why-trash-him.html 
18) HD Postscript: Toward a Heart of Darkness Handbook

http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/08/hd-postscript-toward-heart-of-darkness.html 
19) Appendix: About the Cover Illustration – Was never a blog post.