ABSTRACT:Joseph Conrad fascinated Hannah Arendt. Her library contained five of his novels including The Secret Agent, Under Western Eyes, and The Rover. "The Heart of Darkness" influenced her Origins of Totalitarianism. More importantly, Under Western Eyes may have been the catalyst for her infamous phrase used as the subtitle of Eichmann in Jerusalem, and the final sentence of the book: the "banality of evil." Conrad, commenting on the normality of Nikita's brutality in Under Western Eyes, refers to "his banality." Other Conrad figures embody similar banality whether they act or not and the term reappears in The Secret Agent, The Arrow of Gold, and Suspense, as well as in his essay "Some Reflections on the Loss of the Titanic." The operation of the banal in Under Western Eyes is the focus of the paper with consideration of the parallels between Nikita and Eichmann who both rely on the "instrumental rationality" of the state to commit their crimes.

中文翻译：

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康拉德、阿伦特和“邪恶的平庸”

摘要：约瑟夫·康拉德让汉娜·阿伦特着迷。她的图书馆包含他的五部小说，包括《特工》、《西方人眼中》和《漫游者》。“黑暗之心”影响了她的极权主义起源。更重要的是，在西方眼中，她作为艾希曼在耶路撒冷的副标题的臭名昭著的短语可能是催化剂，以及本书的最后一句话：“邪恶的平庸”。康拉德在评论《西方人的眼睛》中尼基塔残暴的正常性时，提到了“他的平庸”。其他康拉德人物无论是否采取行动都体现了类似的平庸，这个词再次出现在《特工》、《黄金之箭》和《悬念》以及他的文章“对泰坦尼克号失事的一些反思”中。