Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2017

Publication Title

Conradiana

Volume

59

Issue

1

Pages

53-74

Publisher Name

Texas Tech University Press

Abstract

Although historians and literary critics discount the practical information about terrorism in Under Western Eyes, social science research corroborates Conrad's account of terrorism and counter-terrorism in nineteenth-century Russia. According to this research, terrorists are indistinguishable from the general population until they decide to join a terrorist group, and the best way to prevent terrorism is to study the specific mindset of terrorist groups. The novel animates these findings in its depiction of fundamental similarities between the bomber and the informer. Haldin and Razumov pursue community as well as autonomy, although their paths are quite different. The novel not only presents a critique of terrorism and counter-terrorism, revolution and reform, autocracy and democracy, but also offers alternatives to the violence of the state and its opponents. While Conrad was skeptical of all ideologies, he believed that his method of presenting competing ideas fostered hope.

Comments

Author Posting © Texas Tech University Press, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of Texas Tech University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in Conradiana, Volume 59, Issue 1, Spring 2017, https://doi.org/10.1353/cnd.2017.0003

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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