CHINA AND THE CHINESE IN CONRAD'S WORK
Abstract ¡@ Heliena M. Krenn, SSpS
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Conradiana 27 (1995): 83-96.

In Conrad's novels and essays Chinese characters and institutions are pervadingly present. Always remaining in the background, Chinese characters pop up here and there, are mentioned in passing, or affect the course of events by active involvement. In general, the superficial image gained by reading individual works roughly coincides with the stereotypes of the Chinese in other fictions of Conrad's time: they are businessmen in the Malay Archipelago, run laundries and restaurants, or work as coolies in foreign countries to send or take home their savings to China. Due to their minor role in the stories, the individualities of these characters are neglected and overlooked.

By using a lexicographical method and a transtextual approach to all of Conrad's work this essay outlines the specific images of China and the Chinese that Conrad has created. The result shows that aside of the stereotypes which Conrad shares with his time there is a great variety of differing images.
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This leads to the understanding that Conrad's references to China and the Chinese hardly express his own opinions about the country and its people or they do so only in a very indirect way. That is to say, they have to be seen from the aspect of Conrad's impressionist approach to fiction writing. Pronouncements on the Chinese and opinions about them are used to characterize those who express them rather than being intended as reflections of the author's views. Nevertheless, Conrad's views can probably be deduced from the fact that he coupled negative opinions about China and her people with generally disagreeable characters and that by allowing for affirmative pronouncements he differed from the negative opinions that prevailed at his time.

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