Robinsonade

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Robinsonade is a literary genre that takes its name from the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The success of this novel spawned so many imitations that its name was used to define a genre, which is sometimes described simply as a "desert island story".[1]

The word "robinsonade" was coined by the German writer Johann Gottfried Schnabel in the Preface of his 1731 work Die Insel Felsenburg (The Island Stronghold).[2] It is often viewed as a subgenre of survivalist fiction.

Contents

[edit] Literary form

Robinson Crusoe and "robinsonades" share plot elements with William Shakespeare's The Tempest, but the story emphasis and story message are markedly different.

Robinson Crusoe was influential in creating a colonialization mythology—as novelist James Joyce eloquently noted the true symbol of the British conquest is Robinson Crusoe: "He is the true prototype of the British colonist…". Later works expanded on and explored this mythology.

Robinsonades were especially popular in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries.[citation needed]

[edit] Themes

In the archetypical (and eponymous) robinsonade, the protagonist is suddenly isolated from the comforts of civilization, usually shipwrecked or marooned on a secluded and uninhabited island. He must improvise the means of his survival from the limited resources at hand.

Some of the common themes include:

  • Isolation (e.g. desert island, virgin planet)
  • A new beginning for some of the characters
  • Encounters with natives or apparent natives
  • Commentary on society

See also themes for subgenres below.

[edit] Topianism

Unlike Thomas More's Utopia and romantic works which depicted nature as idyllic, Crusoe made it unforgiving and sparse. The protagonist survives by his wits and the qualities of his cultural upbringing, which also enable him to prevail in conflicts with fellow castaways or over local peoples he may encounter. However, he manages to wrest survival and even a certain amount of civilisation from the wilderness. Works that followed went both in the more utopian direction (Swiss Family Robinson) and the dystopian direction (Lord of the Flies).

[edit] Subgenres

There are many works which do not fall into one of the listed subgenres. Swiss Family Robinson, for example, is not a robinsonade proper (see below) because it sees nature as more bountiful than in Robinson Crusoe.

[edit] Robinsonade proper

The robinsonade proper is closer to the type, in that it also contains:

  • Progress through technology
  • A storyline following the triumphs and the rebuilding of civilisation
  • Economic achievement
  • Unfriendliness of nature

It is slightly dystopian about the friendliness of nature, but slightly utopian about the powers of human achievement.

[edit] Science fiction robinsonade

Robinsonade also includes many space-travel science fiction works. The earliest is Lucian's True History, in the 2nd century AD (and thus well before Defoe's book)

The basic premise is that our cosmonauts (astronauts) arrive at new worlds, terraform them if necessary, then live and prosper there, building a civilization where none existed before. The vastness of interstellar space, and the constraints of relativistic physics, may keep them isolated for thousands of years from other human or non-human (possibly robotic) settlements scattered across the galaxy, hidden amongst hundreds of billions of other stars and planets; and in their new life, they may meet aliens, just as Robinson Crusoe met Man Friday.

A classic example of an SF robinsonade which has all the elements of the robinsonade proper is Tom Godwin's The Survivors.

[edit] Apocalyptic fantasy robinsonade

Sears List of Subject Headings[3] recommends that librarians also catalog apocalyptic fantasies—such as Cormac McCarthy's popular novel The Road, or even Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers—as robinsonades. Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index[4] however, exempts The Revelation of John and other biblical apocalyptic passages from this cataloging rule.

[edit] Examples

[edit] Literature

Ordered by date of publication

[edit] Other media

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Steampunk anthology, 2008, ed. Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, ISBN 978-1892391759
  2. ^ (German) Die Insel Felsenburg, 1731, Johann Gottfried Schnabel
  3. ^ Sears List of Subject Headings, 18th ed., Joseph Miller, ed. (New York: The H. W. Wilson Co., 2004)
  4. ^ Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index, 22d ed. (Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 2003)
  5. ^ http://www.kettererkunst.com/dict/robinsonade-desert-island-fiction.shtml, 25 November 2009

[edit] External links

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