The London Imagination and the Dilemma of Modernity in The Secret Agent
The portrayal of "London" in The Secret Agent is unique. As an outsider in the British literary world,Joseph Conrad's unique life experience and creative intention,as well as the specific background and ideological context of his time,give him a"London imagination"different from other writers. In the unfamiliar London,the writer turns London as a fictional text into a"phantasmagoria"of the city with ghostly qualities,making the real and fictional London transcend the straightforward empirical re-lationship and become an imaginative relationship of"giving shape"to reality with fiction. It reflects the anxiety and contemplation of Conrad in urban life in the face of the dilemma of modernity:First,the novel expresses the dilemma of"de-essentialization"of the exiles' identity in London through the mobile spatial representations of"loiterers"and"gaslights";Second,the novel shows the writer's reflection on"ideal values"through the depiction of the lonely existence of modern urbanites,and further delves into the inquiry of"Englishness". Ultimately,Conrad denies the anarchist destruction and reconstruction,but also questions the English moderation and compromise,revealing the idea of nothingness after the burning of common beliefs and values.
Joseph ConradThe Secret AgentLondon imaginationmodernity
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