ABSTRACT
This book addresses an important but under-represented question in Conrad's studies: why should we study Conrad's autobiographical remembering today? It will explore how Conrad's autobiographical writing upends the traditional mode of viewing memory, and how this shift impacts his narrative strategies, as well as how it sheds light on his identity construction in his well-known and lesser-known autobiographical works. Drawing on recent studies on life writing, memory, the narrative turn, and psychology, my reading of Conrad's autobiographical works does not view memory as a past-oriented endeavour, or as an individual-centric activity bound by personal histories. Nor does it emphasise memory as merely a cognitive activity that does not involve emotions and bodily experiences. Instead, this book reads narrative as a conceptual tool to understand the workings of autobiographical remembering, presenting it as a changing, dynamic, and affectively charged cultural practice that constantly interprets, deflects, and even distorts the past. Understanding autobiographical memory in this manner, this book also argues that Conrad views identity not as a given and essential entity, but as a process of ongoing negotiations and adaptations. In contrast to the prevalent “achievement-and-decline” paradigm that implies Conrad's works decline in quality in his later period, the discussion in this book contends that Conrad's writing throughout his life demonstrates a sustained commitment to discovering, defining, and redefining his identity in relation to changing cultural and historical conditions.
