Joseph Conrad’s Travel Stories Weren’t Black and White

The Polish British author Joseph Conrad is widely known for his 1899 story Heart of Darkness, which is set in the colony of the Belgian Congo. But his seafaring profession also took him on extended voyages to Southeast Asia, a region that provided him with ample inspiration, and a setting that recurs in his works. In these writings, literary critics have noted, Conrad put into practice a philosophy of using art for “bringing to light the truth” and “mak[ing] you see,” as Conrad described his craft.