Based on the novel The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Lurdes R. Basolí analyzes the western modes of representation of sub-Saharan Africa and points to an imaginary that has survived since colonial times. The stereotypes that are constructed at that time are forged from the clear distinction between a "they" and a "we", which fosters hierarchical relations and the false dichotomy between Africa and the West, primitive and civilized, black and white.