鲁滨逊漂流记中的殖民主义.docx

1、鲁滨逊漂流记中的殖民主义AnAnalysisofColonial CultureinRobinsonCrusoeandItsReflectioninRealityI. IntroductionThe Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a masterpiece of Daniel Defoe, is a pioneering English adventure fiction. It mainly tells us a story of the hero Robinson Crusoes adventure on the sea especially on a de

2、serted island all alone. After a few sails on the sea, he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but he is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on a deserted island. Robinson Crusoe struggles against hardship, privation, loneliness, and cannibals in his attempt to survive on

3、 the deserted island. Finally he succeeds in returning to his hometown England and becomes rich in the end.But according to the criticisms, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is a typical colonial literature. As Fang Min wrote in his thesis On The Colonial behaviors in The Adventures of Robinson Crus

4、oe, if we analyze The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe under the post-colonialism, we could find that the fiction reflects the colonial culture in some ways (Fang, 2010). By exploring the colonial culture in The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, we can know the thoughts of people in that period and the fo

5、rms of early colonialism and colonialism. In this thesis, the author would like to lead the readers to take a brief look at of the colonialism in The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, the influence of the colonialism on people today and the reflection of colonial thoughts today. The author will write i

6、t in the following five parts.First of all, the author will give a brief introduction of The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, both the fiction and the author Daniel Defoe.Second, the author will give a brief introduction of colonialism and colonialism in The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe and how it is

7、 showed in the fiction.Third, the author will list and analyze the reflection of colonialism today.Fourth, the author will have a brief look at of the influence of colonialism both in the history and at present.Fifth, the author will come to a conclusion that we can know a little of colonialism in T

8、he Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.II. Brief Introduction of the Adventures of Robinson CrusoeRobinson Crusoe is a novel written by Daniel Defoe and was first published in 1719. The book is a fictional autobiography of the title charactera castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropi

9、cal island near Venezuela, encountering Native Americans, captives and mutineers before being rescued. He struggled on the island alone and finally was rescued and went back to England.2.1 Brief Introduction of Daniel DefoeDaniel Defoe (ca. 1659-1661 24 April 1731), born Daniel Foe, was an English w

10、riter, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularize the form in Britain and is among the founders of the English novel. As a prolific and versatile writer, he wrote more

11、than 500 books, pamphlets and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural). Here is a brief introduction of Daniel Defoes life and the motivation of writing Robinson Crusoe Defoes father was a City tradesman and member of the Butchers Co

12、mpany. James Foes stubborn Puritanism The Foes were Dissenters, Protestants who did not belong to the Anglican Church occasionally comes through Defoes writing. He studied at Charles Mortons Academy, London. Although his Nonconformist father intended him for the ministry, Defoe plunged into politics

13、 and trade, travelling extensively in Europe. Throughout his life, Defoe also wrote about mercantile projects, but his business ventures failed and left him with large debts. But all his experience gave him the life material to complete his works, including his masterpiece Robinson Crusoe.Defoe was

14、one of the first to write stories about believable characters in realistic situations using simple prose. He achieved literary immortality in April 1719 when he published Robinson Crusoe, a travelogue, which was based partly on the memoirs of voyagers and castaways, such as Alexander Selkirk, who sp

15、ent on his island four years and four months.William Selkirk was the son of a Scottish tanner, who became the master of the Cinque Ports Galley, a privateering ship. Selkirk went to sea in 1704 under William Dampier and was put ashore at his own request (or according to some sources as a punishment

16、of insubordination) on the island of Juan Fernandez in the Pacific, hundreds of miles off the coast of Chile. The island was uninhabited, and he survived there until his rescue in 1709 by Captain Woods Rogers. Selkirk claimed later positively that the experience had made him a better Christian. As a

17、 journalist, Defoe must have heard his story and possibly interviewed him.The account of a shipwrecked sailor was a comment both on the human need for civilized society and the equally powerful necessity for individual freedom. But it also offered a dream of building a private kingdom, a self-made U

18、topia, and being completely self-sufficient, without any political, social or religious constraints. So it became famous among English and the Europe.2.2 Brief Introduction of Robinson CrusoeAlthough commonly referred to as simply Robinson Crusoe, the books complete, original title as it appears on

19、the title page of the first edition is The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.Pictorial map of Crusoes island, called Island of Despair, shows many incidents.Crusoe (the family name corrupted from the German name Kreutznaer or Kreutznr) set sail on a sea voyage in August 1651,

20、 against the wishes of his parents, who want him to stay at home and pursue a career, possibly in law. After a tumultuous journey that saw his ship wrecked in a storm, his lust for the sea remained so strong that he set out to sea again. The journey ended in disaster as the ship was taken over by Sa

21、l pirates and Crusoe became the slave of a Moor. After two years of slavery, he managed to escape in a boat with a boy named Xury; later, Crusoe was rescued and befriended by the Captain of a Portuguese ship off the west coast of Africa. The ship went to Brazil. There, with the help of the captain,

22、Crusoe became the owner of a plantation.Years later, he joined an expedition to bring slaves from Africa but he was shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island (which he called the Island of Despair) near the mouth of the Orinoco river on September 30, 1659. Surviving alone with

23、 three animals, he struggled to survive and feed himself. He had lived on the deserted island alone for twenty-eight years before he discovered natives.Years later, he discovered native cannibals who occasionally visited the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he planed to kill them for commi

24、tting an abomination but later realized that he had no right to do so as the cannibals did not knowingly commit a crime. He dreamed of obtaining one or two servants by freeing some prisoners. When they came again to kill and eat the prisoners, a prisoner managed to escape; Crusoe helped him and free

25、d him from being eaten. Then Crusoe named his new companion Friday after the day of the week he appeared. Crusoe then taught him English and converted him to Christianity.After another party of natives arrived to partake in a cannibal feast, Crusoe and Friday managed to kill most of the natives and

26、saved two of the prisoners. One was Fridays father and the other was a Spaniard, who informed Crusoe that there were other Spaniards shipwrecked on the mainland. A plan was devised wherein the Spaniard would return with Fridays father to the mainland and brought back the others, built a ship and sai

27、led to a Spanish port.Before the Spaniards returned, an English ship appeared; mutineers had taken control of the ship and intended to maroon their former captain on the island. Crusoe and the ships captain stroke a deal in which he helped the captain and the loyal sailors retook the ship from the m

28、utineers, whereupon they intended to leave the worst of the mutineers on the island. Before they left for England, Crusoe showed the former mutineers how he lived on the island and states that there would be more men coming. Crusoe left the island on December 19, 1686 and arrived in England on June

29、11, 1687. He learned that his family believed him dead and there was nothing in his fathers will for him. Crusoe departed for Lisbon to reclaim the profits of his estate in Brazil, which had granted him a large amount of wealth. In conclusion, he took his wealth overland to England to avoid travelin

30、g at sea. Friday came with him and along the way they endured one last adventure together as they fought off hundreds of famished wolves while crossing the Pyrenees.III. ColonialisminRobinsonCrusoeAs novelist James Joyce noted that the true symbol of the British conquest is Robinson Crusoe: He is th

31、e true prototype of the British colonist. The whole Anglo-Saxon spirit is in Crusoe: the manly independence, the unconscious cruelty, the persistence, the slow yet efficient intelligence, the sexual apathy, the calculating taciturnity.3.1 Brief Introduction of Colonialism3.1.1 Definition of Colonial

32、ism What is colonialism? It refers to a kind of invasion policy that a greater power takes some military, political and economic measures to occupy, collocate and exploit other weak and little countries, nationalities and districts which are falling behind other countries so that they can make them colonies or semi-colonies.3.1.2 Brief Introduction of Different Forms of ColonialismAs Chen Lan wrote in the thesis Robinson Crusoe and Post-colonialism, “European colonialism began when Colombia found American continent in 1492. Traditionally, people see Colombia as a national h