The purpose of this paper is to make a critique of imperialism and war represented in the selected four transnational texts such as Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1899), Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958), Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), and Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer (2015), delving into some characteristics of intertextuality and tactics of the transnational literacy among the texts.
Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which sheds new lights on the criticism of colonialism in the 19th century, presents some limits in dealing with European imperialism. The novel's limits in depicting African people and women bring about the publication of Achebe's Things Fall Apart, which shows the dynamic representation of African culture and the positive role of African women through the strategy of fostering the transnational literacy. However, Achebe's limit is lack of the will of resistance against the European infiltration to African territory, as the suicide of the protagonist Owkonko shows Achebe's inertia in confronting European colonialism.
Meanwhile, Coppola's Apocalypse Now, which is much indebted by Conrad's Heart of Darkness, plays a role as a critique of American imperialism and its intervention in Vietnam. Though Coppola's movie is different from the previous American movies about Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now fails to embracing the marginalized voice of Vietnamese people. Coppola's negative portrayal of Vietnamese people brings about the publication of Nguyen's The Sympathizer, which is the antithesis of Coppola's depiction of Vietnamese culture and women. Nguyen's message for showing the transnational literacy is well presented because he shows his critical stance against Coppola's work in Apocalypse Now. However, Nguyen's limit lies in its non-ideological ending, though he attempts to recuperate Vietnamese voice and history in his text.
In conclusion, I argue that the four transnational texts are powerful in resisting the atrocity of war and imperialism in spite of their limits.
By showing the characteristics of intertextuality in these novels and movie, I call for the attention on the current world situation where war and imperialism is going on even in the 21st century.