Metamorphoses of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe in the Twenty-First Century

A Postcolonial Reading of Terry Pratchett's Nation (2008)

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British
Cover of the book Metamorphoses of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe in the Twenty-First Century by Carola Katharina Bauer, GRIN Verlag
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Carola Katharina Bauer ISBN: 9783656185086
Publisher: GRIN Verlag Publication: May 7, 2012
Imprint: GRIN Verlag Language: English
Author: Carola Katharina Bauer
ISBN: 9783656185086
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Publication: May 7, 2012
Imprint: GRIN Verlag
Language: English

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,00, University of Bayreuth, language: English, abstract: 'There scarce exists a work so popular as Robinson Crusoe. It is read eagerly by young people; and there is hardly an elf so devoid of imagination as not to have supposed for himself a solitary island in which he could act Robinson Crusoe, were it but in the corner of the nursery.' (Ballantyne 7) With these words, John Ballantyne reinstates Robinson Crusoe (1719) as a novel appealing to younger readers in his essay about 'Daniel De Foe [sic]', published in 1810. And indeed: Although the implicit reader of the first novel in English literature was not specifically mentioned to be of young age, 'children have been its principal readers throughout the [last 300] years' (Lundin 199). Thus, it is not surprising that novels also popular with a younger audience - such as Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - resemble the famous castaway narrative by repeating its main topics and motifs like the solitary island and the shipwreck (Green 143). One of the more recent adaptations of Robinson Crusoe is Terry Pratchett's Nation, published in 2008: Taking place 'on a South Sea island in a skewed version of the 19th century' (Boyce), the story centers around the cultural encounter of the shipwrecked, adolescent daughter of a British colonial governor, called Daphne, with an indigenous boy named Mau, whose whole nation was obliterated by a tsunami. Whereas Robinson Crusoe can be clearly considered to be an imperialist and racist novel, with its protagonist becoming the 'true symbol of the British conquest' - as James Joyce puts it in his essay about Daniel Defoe in 1912 (Joyce 10) - Pratchett's book has been appraised by critics as a 'novel of ideas, a ferocious questioning of vested cultural attitudes and beliefs' (Dirda), and said to reveal 'the stupidity of 'ignorance and prejudices [i.e. concerning race]' (Tucker). But, taking Claire Bradford's warning into account that contemporary children's literature dealing with cultural difference is 'not necessarily free of the ideological freight of those earlier times [i.e. colonialist discourse]' (Bradford 48), my research paper will look at Terry Pratchett's Nation in detail: With a theoretical approach based on Postcolonial Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, this postmodern version of Daniel Defoe's novel will be analyzed with special regard to its concepts of race, gender, and culture.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,00, University of Bayreuth, language: English, abstract: 'There scarce exists a work so popular as Robinson Crusoe. It is read eagerly by young people; and there is hardly an elf so devoid of imagination as not to have supposed for himself a solitary island in which he could act Robinson Crusoe, were it but in the corner of the nursery.' (Ballantyne 7) With these words, John Ballantyne reinstates Robinson Crusoe (1719) as a novel appealing to younger readers in his essay about 'Daniel De Foe [sic]', published in 1810. And indeed: Although the implicit reader of the first novel in English literature was not specifically mentioned to be of young age, 'children have been its principal readers throughout the [last 300] years' (Lundin 199). Thus, it is not surprising that novels also popular with a younger audience - such as Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - resemble the famous castaway narrative by repeating its main topics and motifs like the solitary island and the shipwreck (Green 143). One of the more recent adaptations of Robinson Crusoe is Terry Pratchett's Nation, published in 2008: Taking place 'on a South Sea island in a skewed version of the 19th century' (Boyce), the story centers around the cultural encounter of the shipwrecked, adolescent daughter of a British colonial governor, called Daphne, with an indigenous boy named Mau, whose whole nation was obliterated by a tsunami. Whereas Robinson Crusoe can be clearly considered to be an imperialist and racist novel, with its protagonist becoming the 'true symbol of the British conquest' - as James Joyce puts it in his essay about Daniel Defoe in 1912 (Joyce 10) - Pratchett's book has been appraised by critics as a 'novel of ideas, a ferocious questioning of vested cultural attitudes and beliefs' (Dirda), and said to reveal 'the stupidity of 'ignorance and prejudices [i.e. concerning race]' (Tucker). But, taking Claire Bradford's warning into account that contemporary children's literature dealing with cultural difference is 'not necessarily free of the ideological freight of those earlier times [i.e. colonialist discourse]' (Bradford 48), my research paper will look at Terry Pratchett's Nation in detail: With a theoretical approach based on Postcolonial Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, this postmodern version of Daniel Defoe's novel will be analyzed with special regard to its concepts of race, gender, and culture.

More books from GRIN Verlag

Cover of the book Jean Piaget: Das moralische Urteil beim Kinde by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Gamification of the Internal Innovation Process by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Joseph A. Schumpeter: Demokratie als Methode - Eine Analyse by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book '...und Ihr in Bonn könnt die Bude zumachen...' by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Strategien zur erfolgreichen Umsetzung von Vorsätzen by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book YUM! Business Case Study by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Kambyses und der 'falsche' Smerdis by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Wie effizient ist der britische National Health Service NHS by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Neoinstitutionentheorie. Im Lichte der soziologischen Klassik by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Wachsende Bedeutung der VR China - aus dem Blickwinkel afrikanischer Entwicklungsländer by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Westdeutscher Anti-Amerikanismus in den siebziger Jahren by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Die Krise der Demokratie Boliviens: Demokratisierung als Antwort? by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Konzeptionelle Entwicklung eines Target-Costing-Prozesses für das Produkt 'Wellpapppalette' by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Kennzahlensysteme bei mehrfacher Zielsetzung im Logistikbereich by Carola Katharina Bauer
Cover of the book Verdopplung des Ölpreises by Carola Katharina Bauer
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy