Teaching Conrad’s “The Secret Sharer” from the Perspective of Postcolonial Ecocriticism in Twenty-First Century Taiwan

Authors:

Pages: 39-46
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/ICNM7801

Abstract:

The article explores some of the key challenges of teaching Joseph Conrad’s fiction in present-day Taiwan. It focuses on how to teach “The Secret Sharer” (1910) through the lens of ecocriticism, aided by Peter Fudakowski’s 2014 film adaptation. Targeted at a class called “Literature of the Sea,” teaching Conrad’s fiction is expected to guide students to re-evaluate the literary canon from a contemporary perspective. The film adaptation is employed as a teaching supplement to the original short story. The entire process of teaching and reading this work is structured by the threefold role of “Intercultural Translator,” “Intercultural Interpreter,” and “Intercultural Mediator” played by the director Fudakowski, the teacher, and one of the film’s characters, Li. The article reflects on how Fudakowski’s film adaption helps students understand the significance and relevance of Conrad’s short story to the twenty-first century world in general and Taiwan in particular.

Keywords:

Joseph Conrad; “The Secret Sharer;” 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑟 (film); Peter Fukdakowski; ecofeminism; postcolonial eco-justice

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