论《诺斯托罗摩》中康拉德的怀疑主义.pdfVIP

Abstract Published in 1904, Nostromo is an acclaimed novel by Joseph Conrad, considered by some critics as one of the best novels of the age. An epic-like novel with its significant events, grand-scaled scenes, original construction, profound ideology and numerous characters, Nostromo has occasioned a large critical industry devoted to its interpretation and appreciation ever since its first publication. So far, most studies on this novel focus on topic such as ideology, narrative techniques, myth, politics, history, gender issues, imperialism, colonialism, globalization, and so on. However, his skeptical attitude displayed in this novel has not been systematically explored. The primary academic significance of the present thesis is to fill up a blank in Conrad studies. Skepticism is both a generalized sense of doubt and disbelief as expressed in everyday language and an identifiable school of thought in the history of ideas. It refers to uncertainty, doubt, disbelief, suspension of judgment, and rejection of knowledge and is characterized by its opposition to dogmatism, which claims to know reality and the truth. The study methodologies adopted by the thesis are twofoldtextual analysis and new historicist approach. Through close reading, this thesis explores skeptical elements through mostly the analysis of the values held by different character and their respective destiny. And by taking historical, economic, ideological factors of the Victorian Era and Conrad’s personal factors into consideration, this paper intends to disclose the social and cultural implications of Conrad’s skepticism embodied in Nostromo . The thesis is developed through four chapters. In the first chapter, the thesis gives