A Voice! A Voice! Heart of Darkness, la radio e Orson Welles

The essay tackles two neglected radio adaptations from Heart of Darkness broadcast by American CBS in 1938 and 1945. Even though both related to the actorial and authorial figure of Orson Welles, they show an entirely different approach to Conrad’s text, in particular for what concerns the crucial concept of “horror”. If the first adaptation shows an indictment of Western colonialism aligned with Conrad’s message, the second establishes a connection between the epitome figures of Kurtz and Hitler as a direct consequence of the new world scenario. The “horror” is therefore reinterpreted according to the political targets that shape and re-direct the radio adaptations. Furthermore, these plays are instrumental for the process of canonization of Conrad in the US and for the affirmation of Welles’s reputation as engagé writer.