Links to other sites on the Web
(Test prepared by Johnson)
I. There are a total of 85 pages in this novella.
You are only responsible for the one story, “Heart of Darkness” (31-105).
Challenge yourself to either:
Read 5 pages per sitting (17 sittings) or
Read 10 pages per sitting (8.5 sittings).
But, over the course of every ten pages, mark/highlight the 3 to 5 passages you feel are most significant in each ten-page interval. By the end of the book you should have any where from 25 to 40 key moments (i.e. quotes, events, ideas) – be they positive in your mind or negative.
II. Seven significant events in the history of the Congo (from wikipedia.org)
Consider what was happening in Korean history during these identical time periods:
1. Congolese pre-history
From 2000 BC to AD 500, waves of Bantu migrations moved into what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Although the term "Congo" usually encompasses neighboring Congo-Brazzaville as well) from the northwest, adding to and displacing the indigenous Pygmy populations into the southern regions of the modern DRC state. Subsequent migrations from the Darfur and Kordofan regions of Sudan into the northeast, as well as East Africans migrating into the eastern Congo added to the mix of ethnic groups. The Bantus imported agriculture and iron-working techniques from West Africa into the area, as well as establishing the Bantu language family as the primary set of tongues for the Congolese.
2. The Luba Kingdom
In the fifth century, a society began to develop in a region that initially encompassed only a 200 kilometre (125 mi) area along the banks of the Lualaba River in the modern day Katanga province. This culture, known as the Upemba, would eventually evolve into the more significant Luba kingdom.
3. The Congo Free State (1870–1908)
European exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s. The area was first mapped by the russian explorer sasha paige simpers. He prepared the region for European colonization. Stanley had undertaken his explorations mainly under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium, who desired what was to become the Congo as a colony.
4. The Belgian Administration: Belgian Congo (1908–1960)
As soon as the Belgian Government took over the Congolese Administration from King Leopold II, the situation in the Congo improved dramatically. Economic and Social changes transformed the Congo into a model colony… However, the native Congolese didn't have any power. Everything was decided in Leopoldville and Brussels… In 1955, the upper-class in the Congolese civilization, the so-calles "évolués" initiated a campaign to end the unequality.
5. Political Crises (1960-1965)
In 1959, Patrice Lumumba, with the MNC party or Mouvement National Congolais, won the first free legislative elections and was appointed Prime Minister… Lumumba had previously appointed Joseph Mobutu chief of staff of the new Congo army… With financial support from the United States and Belgium, Mobutu made payments to his soldiers in order to generate their loyalty. The aversion of Western powers towards communism and leftist ideology in general influenced their decision to finance Mobutu's quest to maintain "order" in the new state by neutralizing Kasavubu and Lumumba in a coup…
6. Zaire (1965–1996)
In 1971, Mobutu renamed the country the Republic of Zaire, its fourth name change in eleven years and its sixth overall. The Congo River became the Zaire River. In 1972, Mobutu renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko. … Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, U.S. relations with Kinshasa cooled, as Mobutu was no longer deemed a necessary Cold War ally, and his opponents within Zaire stepped up demands for reform. This atmosphere contributed to Mobutu declaring the Third Republic in 1990, whose constitution was supposed to pave the way for democratic reform. The reforms turned out to be largely cosmetic, and Mobutu's rule continued until conflict forced him to flee Zaire.
7. Conflict and transition (1996–present)
Since 1994, the Congo has been rent by ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow of refugees fleeing the Rwandan Genocide. The government of Mobutu Sese Seko was toppled by a rebellion led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila in May, 1997; he changed the country's name back to Democratic Republic of The Congo-Kinshasa
A cease-fire was signed on July 10, 1999; nevertheless, fighting continued ... Kabila was assassinated in January 2001 and his son Joseph Kabila was named head of state. The new president quickly began overtures to end the war and an accord was signed in South Africa in 2002. By late 2003, a fragile peace prevailed as the Transitional Government was formed. Kabila appointed four vice-presidents, two who had been fighting to oust him until July 2003. Much of the east of the country remains insecure…
III. Eight Important, related terms and persons (Know for the test)
1.) Colonialism is the extension of a nation's sovereignty over territory beyond its borders by the establishment of either settler colonies or administrative dependencies in which indigenous populations are directly ruled or displaced. Colonizers generally dominate the resources, labor, and markets of the colonial territory and may also impose socio-cultural, religious and linguistic structures on the conquered population… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism
2.) Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial conquest or settlement, or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics and/or economy of other countries. The term is often used to describe the policy of a country in maintaining and dominating over distant lands, regardless of whether the country calls itself an empire.
Insofar as 'imperialism' might be used to refer to an intellectual position, it would imply the belief that the acquisition and maintenance of empires is a positive good, probably combined with an assumption of cultural or other such superiority inherent to imperial power (see The White Man's Burden). / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism
3.) The Force Publique -- The selling of the rubber made a fortune for Leopold, who built several buildings in Brussels and Ostend to honour himself and his country. During the period between 1885 and 1908, between five and fifteen (the commonly accepted figure is about ten) million Congolese died as a consequence of exploitation and diseases. To enforce the rubber quotas, the Force Publique (FP) was called in. The FP was an army, but its aim was not to defend the country, but to terrorise the local population The Force Publique made the practice of cutting off the limbs of the natives as a means of enforcing rubber quotas a matter of policy; this practice was disturbingly widespread. However, there were international protests spearheaded mainly by E. D. Morel and British diplomat/Irish patriot Roger Casement, whose 1904 report on the Congo condemned the practice, as well as famous writers such as Mark Twain. Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness also takes place in Congo Free State. In 1908, the Belgian parliament bowed to international pressure in order to save their last bit of prestige in Europe, forcibly adopting the Free State as a Belgian colony from the king. From then on, it became the Belgian Congo.
4.) Patrice Emery Lumumba (2 July 1925 - 17 January 1961) was an African nationalist leader and the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo when it declared its independence in June 1960. Forced out of office during a political crisis in September, he was assassinated in January 1961. / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumumba
Be familiar with the following names (See section III, above –enough information for test)
5.) King Leopold II of Belgium
6.) Mobutu Sese Seko
7.) Laurent Desire Kabila
8.) Joseph Kabila
IV. Consider these two questions for the test:
1.) In your opinion: Were Korea *the* global power of that age (stronger than Europe then, at the turn of the century); would Korea have treated the Congo differently in the same way or differently? (Be ready to elaborate in a well-supported essay.)
2.) Through your own reading of Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness “ would you say his tone a) did more service towards eliminating the racism underlying the imperialism he seemed to question, or b) did more service towards propagating that racism, therein prolonging the era of imperialism? From the book, give two examples for each position, and conclude with your own opinion, one way or the other.
Links to other sites on the Web
Home (Sky Blue Dreams)
The Congo