Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Joseph Conrad's novels and short stories have consistently figured into - and helped to define - the dominant trends in literary criticism. This book is the first to provide a thorough yet accessible overview of Conrad scholarship and criticism spanning the entire history of Conrad studies, from the 1895 publication of his first book, Almayer's Folly, to the present. While tracing the general evolution of the commentary surrounding Conrad's work, John G. Peters's careful analysis also evaluates Conrad's impact on critical trends such as the belles lettres tradition, the New Criticism, psychoanalysis, structuralist and post-structuralist criticism, narratology, postcolonial studies, gender and women's studies, and ecocriticism. The breadth and scope of Peters's study make this text an essential resource for Conrad scholars and students of English literature and literary criticism.

This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date history of the commentary written about the life and works of Joseph Conrad.

Joseph Conrad: Contemporary Reviews (five volumes) is an indispensable resource for Conrad specialists and students of literary Modernism generally, aiming to provide as complete a view as possible of the contemporary reception of Joseph Conrad's works in the English-speaking world. These volumes offer insights into early twentieth-century reviewing practices, the marketing of literary fiction and the wide interest in such writing, as reviews of Conrad's work regularly appeared in provincial and colonial newspapers. Contemporary Reviews Volume 5 offers previously unavailable reviews spanning Conrad's career, from Almayer's Folly (1895) to Last Essays (1926). The nearly one thousand reviews collected here chart the consolidation of Conrad's reputation as a major English author, recording his impact upon late-Victorian literature and demonstrating how he helped shape literary Modernism. Articulating areas of critical interest that continue to attract readers and commentators today, the Contemporary Reviews confirm Conrad's growing stature in the colonial literary marketplace.

Born and brought up in Poland bilingually in French and Polish but living for most of his professional life in England and writing in English, Joseph Conrad was, from the start, as much a European writer as he was a British one and his work – from his earliest fictions through Heart of Darkness, Nostromo and The Secret Agent to his later novels– has repeatedly been the focal point of discussions about key issues of the modern age. With chapters written by leading international scholars, this book provides a wide-ranging survey of the reception, translation and publication history of Conrad's works across Europe. Covering reviews and critical discussion, and with some attention to adaptations in other media, these chapters situate Conrad's works in their social and political context. The book also includes bibliographies of key translations in each of the European countries covered and a timeline of Conrad's reception throughout the continent.