Abstract: The connotation of Joseph Conrad's literary thought is multifaceted,and the core of his understanding of the authenticity of literature and art is mainly embodied in the following three aspects:Conrad thinks that literature and art descriptions on the world are more real than historical records,because history concerns the events themselves,while literature and art concern about people's psychological experience in the historical events. In Conrad's opinions, writers describe the real world by writing about what they are familiar with, and writers' lives and their experience differ from each other, so they gain their insights to life differently. Conrad suggests that the artistic connotation of the authenticity of literature and art lies in the description of instant human experience, and the significance of literature and art lies in the recording of real human experience in specific historical events, and it's the only way to keep instant human experience in the world.

Key words: Joseph Conrad, literature, history, writing, authenticity