Abstract

The paper aims to interpret the term “homo duplex” used by Joseph Conrad to characterize his personality in the letter to the historian Kazimierz Waliszewski. The author presents various meanings of this duality as Conrad was a citizen of the Russian Empire, and then of Great Britain. His profession was also twofold: first he was a French seaman, then an English seaman to become finally an outstanding representative of English literature. As an English writer, he emphatically emphasized his links with Polish culture, in particular with the literature of the Romantic period.