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Re: genre "robinsonade"

From: thomas mccormick <tom_amity~at~hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 09 Jul 2005 00:26:16 +0000
To: jvf~at~Gilead.org.il

Many thanks for the thoughtful comments about "robinsonade". Yes, there was
a real flowering of the genre from Defoe's novel and the real-life history
of Selkirk. Many modern stories, such as the tales of people surviving the
crash-landings of space ships on other planets, building civilization again,
etc., would seem to derive from the genre and show that its vitality is far
from exhausted.

Interestingly, the wreck of the English merchantman Sea Venture off Bermuda
in 1608 explores many of the same themes: The ingenuity of the survivors,
the role of Providence, etc. The accounts of it inspired Shakespeare's play
The Tempest (in which Prospero plays a backstage role similar to Nemo in
Mysterious Island) and some other works. But the genre would seem to be much
older even than that, since the story of Noah's Ark, and the reconstitution
of human society after the great flood, could also be called a robinsonade!

All I've been able to find out about the possible connotations of "Robinson"
in Defoe's novel is pretty speculative. But for what it's worth:

Crusoe, as narrator, tells us he was named "Robinson" after his mother's
family, "a good family from York." The only thematic connections I can find
are that that Robin was a nickname of the Devil, wherefore to call someone a
robinson was far from a compliment. As for York, it was anciently considered
a hotbed of un-christianity and devil worship, a place for desperate men.
Yorkshire in general, and the great forest (Sherwood Forest) bordering
Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire in particular, was notorious as the haunt of
desperadoes, demons, and fairies. "A good family" called Robinson might
suggest Robin Goodfellow, the woodland sprite whose mischevousness, never
mind his malice, were proverbial. In the early ballad Robin Hood and Guy of
Gisborne, which is set in Yorkshire as most of the early outrlaw ballads
are, Robin Hood wears red, although it's his enemy Gisborne who is given
more traits evocative of the Devil.

In Defoe's novel, Crusoe's original woes seem to come to him as a punishment
for his having rebelled against his father, or at least as a result of
filial ingratitude. Not as lurid an offense as the historical Selkirk's
"indecent behavior in church", whatever the latter may have been, but not
very nice or very christian.

That's all I've got. Any other ideas?

Tom McCormick

>From: Jan Rychlík <jan.rychlik~at~seznam.cz>
>Reply-To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
>To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
>Subject: Re: genre "robinsonade"
>Date: Sat, 09 Jul 2005 01:02:48 +0200 (CEST)
>
>>Only twice did Jules Verne write a preface to a Voyage Extraordinaire, and
>>both times the VE was a Robinsonade (2 ans, 2e patrie). He was clearly
>>very fond of the genre.
>>
>>Garmt.
>
>In 2 ans Verne mentions Cooper's "Crater" as a robinsonade featuring a
>whole community of robinsons. And In Magellanie was inspired by this book,
>so perhaps it should be considered a robinsonade also.
>
>And don't you think that Hector Servadac is, in fact, a robinsonade too?
>
>Sincerely
>
>Jan Rychlik
Received on Sat 09 Jul 2005 - 03:26:26 IDT

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