“To dream of a wildness distant from ourselves”: Capitalism, colonialism, and the Robinsonade

Pepperell, N

“To dream of a wildness distant from ourselves”: Capitalism, colonialism, and the Robinsonade

Pepperell, N

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Publisher:: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 2023, 59, (4), pp. 449-464
Issue Date:: 2023-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Pepperell, N https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1290-8019
dc.date.accessioned	2024-05-15T21:33:41Z
dc.date.available	2024-05-15T21:33:41Z
dc.date.issued	2023-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 2023, 59, (4), pp. 449-464
dc.identifier.issn	1744-9855
dc.identifier.issn	1744-9863
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/178975
dc.description.abstract	Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe holds an iconic position, not solely as a work of literature, but also for its influence in economic and social theory. This article reflects on this influence by mobilizing Charles Mills’s concept of epistemologies of ignorance and Lorenzo Veracini’s work on psychological defence mechanisms in settler colonial societies. This theoretical framework motivates a close textual analysis of Robinson Crusoe that focuses particularly on four textual strategies: paired contrasts between Xury and Friday that frame enslavement as a sacrificial act; strategic use of “cosmopolitan” ideals; a theory of subjection as the foundation for legitimate power; and moral relativisms that rationalize Crusoe’s theft of Indigenous land. This analysis then provides the foundation for an original interpretation of Marx’s Capital as a critically inverted Robinsonade: one designed to demonstrate how global relations of colonial expropriation generate a crucible in which a particular imaginary of autonomous individuality is forged.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Postcolonial Writing
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/17449855.2023.2244698
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	2005 Literary Studies
dc.subject.classification	4705 Literary studies
dc.title	“To dream of a wildness distant from ourselves”: Capitalism, colonialism, and the Robinsonade
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	59
utslib.for	2005 Literary Studies
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Education and Students)
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2024-05-15T21:33:37Z
pubs.issue	4
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	59
utslib.citation.issue	4

Abstract:

Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe holds an iconic position, not solely as a work of literature, but also for its influence in economic and social theory. This article reflects on this influence by mobilizing Charles Mills’s concept of epistemologies of ignorance and Lorenzo Veracini’s work on psychological defence mechanisms in settler colonial societies. This theoretical framework motivates a close textual analysis of Robinson Crusoe that focuses particularly on four textual strategies: paired contrasts between Xury and Friday that frame enslavement as a sacrificial act; strategic use of “cosmopolitan” ideals; a theory of subjection as the foundation for legitimate power; and moral relativisms that rationalize Crusoe’s theft of Indigenous land. This analysis then provides the foundation for an original interpretation of Marx’s Capital as a critically inverted Robinsonade: one designed to demonstrate how global relations of colonial expropriation generate a crucible in which a particular imaginary of autonomous individuality is forged.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/178975