“Triumphant Health”: Joseph Conrad and Tropical Medicine (original) (raw)

This essay examines Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" in the context of tropical medicine, highlighting the complex interplay between health, sickness, and imperial ideology. It argues that Conrad critiques the romantic narratives tied to imperialism and exposes the detrimental impacts of tropical medicine on both colonizers and the colonized, suggesting that imperial health often led to death rather than 'triumphant health.' The paper contributes to an understanding of how Conrad's personal experiences of illness informed his literary criticism of empire and the colonial imposition on native populations, framing the narrative within a broader discussion of necropolitics and the historical development of tropical medicine.