"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.
Table of Contents
1. ROBINSON CRUSOE MEETS THE DISCWORLD: PRATCHETT VS. DEFOE
2. DANIEL DEFOE’S ROBINSON CRUSOE (1719) IN THE LIGHT OF POSTCOLONIAL THEORY
2.1 Robinson Crusoe – A ‘True Symbol of British Conquest’
2.2 Friday and the ‘Savages’ – Race, Religion and Slavery in Robinson Crusoe
3. TERRY PRATCHETT’S NATION (2008) – ‘REWORKING THE OLD CRUSOE-MYTH’
3.1 ‘Ghost Girl’ and ‘Noble Savage’ – Searching for Robinson and Friday
3.2 Representing the Past: The British Empire and colonialist discourse in Pratchett’s Nation
4. CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines the postcolonial dimensions of Terry Pratchett’s 2008 novel "Nation" by comparing it to Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe." The study explores how Pratchett’s postmodern robinsonade challenges or reinforces traditional colonial tropes regarding race, gender, and the cultural construction of the "other."
- Comparison between Defoe’s imperialist narrative and Pratchett’s postmodern adaptation.
- Analysis of Postcolonial Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies, and gender representations.
- Investigation of the "female robinsonade" genre and its subversion of Victorian ideals.
- Evaluation of the "native" perspective versus the "master-slave" dichotomy.
- Critique of Western scientific and mathematical "universality" within colonial discourse.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 Robinson Crusoe – A ‘True Symbol of British Conquest’
Besides this, I shar’d the Island into Parts with ’em, reserv’d to myself the Property of the whole, but gave them such Parts respectively as they agreed on; and having settled all things with them, and engaged them not to leave the Place, I left them there. (Defoe 220)
Thus, Daniel Defoe ends the famous fictional autography of the Western, civilized castaway, shipwrecked for 28 years on a tropical island in the West Indies – a tale probably influenced by the account of the ‘real’ Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk, living in involuntary isolation on a Pacific Island for four years (Lindner 95). Whereas the ongoing popularity of the ‘first English novel’ certainly can be explained by its moments of suspense – not only once is Crusoe in mortal danger, because of pirate attacks, storms at sea or cannibals (Defoe 9-15, 131-133) – as well as by its allure as a myth of a self-made man, “designed as a blueprint for the construction of an individualized, adult self” (Sill 61); Robinson Crusoe is drenched with the logic and rhetoric of British imperialism – a fact evident especially in the behavior and opinions of the protagonist himself.
Summary of Chapters
1. ROBINSON CRUSOE MEETS THE DISCWORLD: PRATCHETT VS. DEFOE: This chapter introduces the research context, establishing the connection between Defoe’s classic castaway narrative and Pratchett’s modern adaptation while outlining the paper's theoretical framework.
2. DANIEL DEFOE’S ROBINSON CRUSOE (1719) IN THE LIGHT OF POSTCOLONIAL THEORY: This section deconstructs Defoe’s novel as an imperialist work, focusing on how it constructs the European protagonist as a master figure while relegating indigenous peoples to inferior, colonial subjects.
2.1 Robinson Crusoe – A ‘True Symbol of British Conquest’: This subchapter analyzes how the protagonist’s narrative voice and utilitarian mindset reflect the rhetoric of British imperialism and secular salvation.
2.2 Friday and the ‘Savages’ – Race, Religion and Slavery in Robinson Crusoe: This analysis focuses on the dehumanization of the "other" in Defoe's work through the lenses of race, religious hierarchy, and the justification of slavery.
3. TERRY PRATCHETT’S NATION (2008) – ‘REWORKING THE OLD CRUSOE-MYTH’: This chapter shifts focus to Pratchett’s "Nation," examining how it attempts to subvert traditional colonial paradigms through new narrative techniques.
3.1 ‘Ghost Girl’ and ‘Noble Savage’ – Searching for Robinson and Friday: This subchapter explores the role of the female protagonist and the attempt to provide a more nuanced perspective for the indigenous "native" characters.
3.2 Representing the Past: The British Empire and colonialist discourse in Pratchett’s Nation: The discussion centers on Pratchett’s critique of British imperial culture, while noting the limitations and persistent stereotypes present in his utopian fantasy.
4. CONCLUSION: The final section synthesizes the findings, arguing that while Pratchett attempts an effective counter-narrative, his work remains partially entangled in the very colonialist discourses it aims to critique.
Keywords
Robinson Crusoe, Terry Pratchett, Nation, Postcolonial Theory, British Empire, Imperialism, Critical Whiteness Studies, Colonial Discourse, Subaltern, Female Robinsonade, Race, Gender, Indigenous Culture, Cannibalism, Mimicry.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this research paper?
The paper provides a postcolonial reading of Terry Pratchett’s 2008 novel "Nation," investigating how it functions as a postmodern response to Daniel Defoe’s classic "Robinson Crusoe."
Which theoretical frameworks are applied?
The analysis utilizes Postcolonial Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies to examine the power dynamics between colonizer and colonized.
What is the primary research goal?
The aim is to determine if Pratchett successfully creates an effective counter-narrative to imperialist ideologies, or if the novel continues to rely on problematic cultural stereotypes.
Which narrative techniques does Pratchett employ in "Nation"?
Pratchett employs a "polyphony of historical voices" and shifts the character focalization toward the indigenous "native" protagonist to challenge traditional Eurocentric perspectives.
How is the portrayal of the "other" compared between the two novels?
While Defoe constructs Friday as a "blank space" for imperial inscription, Pratchett attempts to grant his native characters agency, though the paper argues this effort remains constrained by the fantasy genre.
What role does gender play in this analysis?
The paper examines the "female robinsonade" genre, highlighting how Pratchett’s protagonist, Daphne, subverts Victorian gender expectations and the colonizer role.
How does the death of the Nation's inhabitants influence the narrative?
The tsunami-induced catastrophe serves as a plot device that forces the re-evaluation of Western ideology and forces the survivors to forge a new identity outside of the British Empire.
Does the paper conclude that "Nation" is a successful postcolonial work?
It concludes that while "Nation" is a significant attempt to decolonize the Robinson Crusoe myth, it is limited by its simplified worldview and continued reliance on problematic tropes like cannibalism.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Carola Katharina Bauer (Autor:in), 2010, Metamorphoses of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe in the Twenty-First Century, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/193476
