Commercial Conversations and "That glimpse of the truth for which you have forgotten to ask": The Southeast Asian fiction of Joseph Conrad and Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Abstract

The objectives of the thesis are:

To examine the essential roles played by globalisation, commerce and the extractive industries in Conrad's Asian fiction, demonstrating how a reading of these works through the lens of business underpins their enduring relevance.

To suggest that such a reading of the major Asian novels, in particular "Almayer's Folly", "Lord Jim" and "Victory", reveals an author who was both the father of the modern novel while also being a captive of his times, subject to the cultural and intellectual biases of the day

To demonstrate how Conrad's Asian novels served as a personal call to action and how experience has been essential to an evolving critical appreciation of his canon.

The "Buru Quartet" by Pramoedya Ananta Toer is used as a counterpoint to Conrad's work, particularly to reveal "that glimpse of the truth" for which Conrad himself perhaps forgot to ask.