Conrad - Joseph Conrad

British novelist. His real name was Jozef Theodor Conrad Naryencz Korzeniowski. He was born on December 3rd in Berdychev, Bodlia Voivodeship, Poland under the Russian Empire. Both of his parents were from the landowning aristocracy, and his father Apollo studied at St. Petersburg University and was a well-trained intellectual with a strong literary background. He was very patriotic and participated in an underground movement for his country's independence, but was arrested by Russian authorities and exiled. Conrad lost his mother at the age of 7 and his father at the age of 11, leaving him an orphan. He was raised by his maternal uncle, but he eventually fell in love with the sea and went to Marseilles alone at the age of 16 to become a crew member on a French ship. At the age of 20, he happened to board a British ship, which was the catalyst for him to start learning English. He continued working as a crew member until 1894 (at the age of 37), during which time he qualified as a captain and completed the naturalization process to become a British citizen. The areas he visited included the West Indies, Southeast Asia, Australia, and even the upper reaches of the Congo River in the depths of Africa, and the experiences and things he saw during this period became the material for many of his later works.

Driven by a desire to create, he began writing "The Folly of Almare" while at sea, which took him five years to complete and was published in 1895. His third work, "The Negro of the Narcissus" (1897), was a work full of ambition and pride, and, as he said, "I bet on this work whether I would stand as a true artist or not." It was recognized by critics and became his breakthrough work. Over the next 15 years or so, he wrote many of his masterpieces and controversial works. With the success of "Fate" in 1913, he was finally able to live comfortably and become a famous author, but many of his best works were written during the period when he was struggling financially and with his unfamiliar English. He is known for his novels such as Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904), The Spy (1907), and Under Western Eyes (1911), and for his short and medium-length works such as Youth (1898), Heart of Darkness (1899), The Typhoon (1902), and The Secret Sharer (1907). He died on August 3, 1924 in Kent.

Conrad was initially seen as a romantic maritime novelist or an exotic adventure romance writer, but this was a superficial view limited to the subject matter and the setting of his stories. Today, he is seen as an ethical writer who delves into the innermost depths of humanity. He has a keen sense for ethical themes such as the evil lurking in the shadows of civilization, the spiritual devastation caused by material desires, and social responsibility and betrayal. His literary achievements have been attracting renewed attention since the 1940s, and he has been highly praised as a writer well versed in contemporary literature.

[Yukio Takami January 21, 2019]

"The Spy" translated by Yushiro Iuchi (1974, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)" ▽ "The Complete Works of World Literature 42: Under Western Eyes" translated by Kazushi Shinoda (1970, Shueisha)" ▽ "Conrad" edited by Yoshio Nakano (1966, Kenkyusha Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの小説家。本名はヨゼフ・テオドール・コンラード・ナリェンチ・コルジェニオフスキ。帝政ロシア治下のポーランド、ボドリア県ベルディチェフで12月3日に生まれる。両親はいずれも地主貴族階級出身で、父アポロはペテルブルグ大学に学び、文学的素養の深い知識人。愛国心が強く、祖国独立のため地下運動に走り、ロシア官憲に逮捕され、流刑に処せられた。7歳で母を、11歳で父を失い孤児となったコンラッドは、以後、母方の伯父の手で育てられるが、やがて海にあこがれ、16歳で単身マルセイユに行き、フランス船の船員となる。20歳のときたまたまイギリス船に乗り組み、これを契機に英語を覚え始めたという。船員生活は1894年（37歳）まで続くが、この間に船長の資格をとり、また帰化手続を済ませイギリス国籍を得ている。彼が訪れた地域は、西インド諸島、東南アジア、オーストラリアをはじめ、アフリカの奥地コンゴ川上流にまで及び、この時期の体験や見聞が、のちに多くの作品の素材となった。

　創作欲に駆られ、海上生活中に書き始めた『オールメイアの阿房宮(あぼうきゅう)』は、5年がかりで脱稿し1895年に出版された。第三作『ナーシサス号の黒人』（1897）は野心と自負に満ちた作品で、彼の言によれば、「真の芸術家として立つか立てぬか、この一作に賭(か)けた」ものだった。これは批評家の認めるところとなり、彼の出世作となった。以後約15年間に、代表作、問題作の多くが書かれた。1913年『運命』が成功してようやく暮らしも楽になり、有名作家となるが、むしろ経済的に逼迫(ひっぱく)しつつ不慣れな英語に苦闘していた時期に優れた作品が多い。長編では『ロード・ジム』（1900）、『ノストローモ』（1904）、『密偵』（1907）、『西欧の眼(め)の下に』（1911）、中・短編では『青春』（1898）、『闇(やみ)の奥』（1899）、『台風』（1902）、『秘密の共有者』（1907）などがよく知られている。1924年8月3日、ケント州で没した。

　当初コンラッドは、ロマンチックな海洋小説作家あるいは異国情緒の冒険ロマンス作家とみられがちだったが、これは題材や物語の舞台にとらわれた皮相的見方で、今日では、人間の内奥に迫る倫理的作家とされている。文明の陰に潜む悪、物欲がもたらす精神的荒廃、社会的責任と裏切りなど倫理的主題に鋭い感覚をもつ。彼の文学的業績は1940年代以降改めて注目を浴び、現代文学に通じる作家として、高い評価を受けた。

［高見幸郎　2019年1月21日］

『井内雄四郎訳『密偵』（1974・河出書房新社）』▽『篠田一士訳『世界文学全集42　西欧の眼の下に』（1970・集英社）』▽『中野好夫編『コンラッド』（1966・研究社出版）』

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