A Structuralist Analysis of Heart of Darkness Novel Through the Lens of Barthes Narrative Codes

Abstract

This paper structurally analyzes the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness through the lens of Roland Barthes’ five narrative codes. Roland Barthes has contributed in narratology, and through this lens, the study aims to uncover Barthes five narrative codes in the text and to explore its contribution to the thematic exploration of imperialism, morality and human nature. Through a qualitative approach, the text has been analyzed, in which all the five codes are considered. The result of the study shows the importance of Roland Barthes's five codes in the analysis of a text that reveals hidden meaning and its contribution to the major themes of the text.