Silenced Voices: Representation and the Erasure of African Identities in Heart of Darkness

This study explores how African identities are represented—and more importantly, obscured—in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Although the novella is frequently praised as a critique of imperialism, it simultaneously reinforces Eurocentric perspectives by marginalizing African voices and portraying them as voiceless figures. Using a postcolonial framework and engaging with critical perspectives such as those of Chinua Achebe, this paper analyzes Conrad’s narrative methods, language, and symbolism. It argues that the dominance of European narrative authority leads to the systematic silencing of African subjectivity. While exposing the violence of empire, the text also reproduces colonial hierarchies through what may be termed epistemic erasure. The paper ultimately places the novella within continuing debates on race, representation, and the formation of the literary canon.