"And follow round the forest track / Away behind the sofa back": the game of "Robinson Crusoe" and its space (river, forest, estate) in children’s literature and memories (Russian-English context)

Abstract

The article analyses the image of Robinson and his interpretation in a children’s game in the literature of Great Britain and Russia of the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. We will try to analyse how and for what reasons the image of Robinson Crusoe was so attractive to several generations of children, how it transformed and how the hero manifested himself differently in children’s games. Our analysis will be based on literary material, mainly works of children's literature (poetry by Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson, Sir Joseph Rudyard Kipling, prose by Kenneth Grahame), as well as writers’ recollections of childhood and autobiographical prose. Special attention is paid to the peculiarity of the "game of Robinson", which was conducted according to special rules and consisted of several options, sometimes involving only children’s imagination, sometimes transforming the world around, and sometimes requiring theatrical props. In addition, the "Robinson game" required a certain space, and a child who was not able to go to a real island was forced to adapt the world around him, giving objects new and lands new assignments.