Into the heart of darkness: Switzerland, Hitler, Mobutu, and Joseph Conrad in Urs Widmer's novel Im Kongo.

Autor/in	Arnds, Peter
Titel	Into the heart of darkness: Switzerland, Hitler, Mobutu, and Joseph Conrad in Urs Widmer's novel Im Kongo.
Quelle	In: The German quarterly, 71 (1998) 4, S. 329-342Verfügbarkeit
Beigaben	Anmerkungen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0016-8831
Schlagwörter	Didaktische Grundlageninformation; Deutschunterricht; Literaturwissenschaft; Roman; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Kolonialismus; Eurozentrismus; Nationalsozialismus; Afrika; Demokratische Republik Kongo; Schweiz
Abstract	Urs Widmer's Im Kongo establishes a triangular relationship between Switzerland, Nazi Germany, and Mobutu's Congo. The article sets out to examine how the Swiss past, Switzerland's stance vis à vis Nazi Germany, resurfaces in the present as depicted in the text. In writing about the Congo Widmer reveals the continuity of Swiss involvement in colonialist practices in the age of post-colonialism. He does so in three ways: First, structurally and symbolically he relates the Congo to Switzerland in order to establish a link between Hitler's nefarious actions and those of Mobutu. Second, through intertextuality with Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness Widmer's text reflects the continuity of colonial oppressions with post-colonial exploitation. Third, the juxtaposition of the two settings allows him to refer to the Ausländerfeindlichkeit of present-day Switzerland as a continuation of the hostile attitude shown toward refugees during the Third Reich. At the same time, this attitude reflects a continuation of the Eurocentric colonial view. After examining these points the article concludes by attempting to answer what this novel contributes to the process of decolonization to the diminution of the Eurocentric perspective. (Verlag).
Erfasst von	Informationszentrum für Fremdsprachenforschung, Marburg
Update	2001_(CD)