Joseph Conrad, The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication Dec 1897

Places

England (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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The Nigger of the “Narcissus”: a Tale of the Forecastle

, subsequently subtitled “a Tale of the Sea”, was Conrad's third novel. It was published in late 1897, in serial form in

The New Review

in London, and in book form in Britain and in the US. The New York edition carried the title “The Children of the Sea”. Conrad had himself served on a boat called the

Narcissus

in 1884 and he conceived of the book as a tribute to may of the seamen he had worked with on sailing ships now that the world had converted to steamers. The origin of the ship's name is the youth Narcissus who, as a punishment by the Greek gods, fell in love with his own reflection.

For Conrad, the novel concerned a group of men held together by a “common loyalty” in hostile conditions that would test to the

We currently have no profile for this work, but you can consult our general article on Conrad's life and works.

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