Heart of Darkness, a book by Joseph Conrad, was first published in 1899
in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and later in Conrad's Youth and Two
Other Stories (1902). Heart of Darkness considers the terror of Western
colonialism, portraying it as a peculiarity that damages not only the
lands and peoples it exploits but also those in the West who advance it.
Even though it initially received an uninspired reception, Conrad's
semiautobiographical story has proceeded to become one of the most
widely examined works of English literature. Readers have not always
treated Heart of Darkness well, reproving its dehumanizing portrayal of
colonized peoples and its dismissive treatment of women. Heart of
Darkness, on the other hand, has endured as a Modernist masterpiece
directly linked to postcolonial realities.