Rebecca Pyrah's MRP defense: “The Horror! The Horror!” of King Leopold II’s Congo Free State: The Relationship Between Colonial Genocide and Nineteenth Century Literary Writing About Africa"

Abstract:
This study interjects into the historiography of the colonial genocide in the Congo Free State under King Leopold II of Belgium as it was portrayed through European narratives of African exploration and imperialisation from 1877 to 1910. It argues that European literature on Africa during the late nineteenth century had an impact of normalising genocidal colonialism of the Congo Free State. It uses as one of several examples for this argument, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, which critiques imperial brutality while depicting racist representations of Africans. Conrad’s narrative of Africa coincided with racialised ideologies of the nineteenth century such as the “White Man’s Burden,” and Social Darwinism, both of which are representative of his literary conquest of African history. This novella, along with several other European narratives which I discuss, normalises a Westernised narration on the Congo Free State and the colonial genocide it suffered. This is particularly damaging as this expropriation of history led to destructive consequences as Africa was imagined in European discourse as subordinate and inferior. By demonising, dehumanising, and hypersexualising the land and the people of Africa through travel or exploration narratives, European authors altered the story of Africa as a continent full of rich history and diverse peoples. I conclude that the concept of the “White Man’s Burden” was a form and motivation of colonisation which effectively socially conditioned European discourse and helped foster a normalisation of genocide on European worldview.

     Advisor:
Dr. Femi Kolapo
     Committee:
Dr. Karen Racine
Dr. Julie Cairnie