The Discerning Narrator sheds new light on Joseph Conrad’s controversial critique of modernity and modernization by reading his work through an Aristotelian lens. The book proposes that we need Aristotle – a key figure in Conrad’s education – to recognize the profound significance of Conrad’s artistic vision.

Offering Aristotelian analyses of Conrad’s letters, essays, and four works of fiction, Alexia Hannis illuminates the philosophical roots and literary implications of Conrad’s critique of modernity. Hannis turns to Aristotle’s ethical formulations to trace what she calls "the discerning narrator" in Conrad’s oeuvre: a compassionate yet sceptical guide to appraising character and conduct. The book engages with past and current Conrad scholarship while drawing from Aristotle’s Poetics, Politics, and Nicomachean Ethics, as well as classical scholars to offer original philosophical analyses of major and understudied Conrad’s works.

Drawing on Aristotle, Hannis provides a fresh context for making sense of Conrad’s self-differentiation from modernity. As a result, The Discerning Narrator provides an affirmation of literature’s invitation to wonder about the possibilities inherent in human nature, including the potential for painful depravity, heroic excellence, and ordinary human happiness.

"“In view of the uncertainty regarding the actual extent of Conrad’s education, Hannis’s volume not only contributes valuable insights on the Aristotelian echoes in the writer’s oeuvre, but invites further research upon the classical underpinnings of his works.”" - The Conradian