Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe: A Mysterious Geography Representative of the ‘Will to Colonize’

Abstract

This paper desires to obtain a deep scrutiny of the biased colonial discourse which has set the basic foundation tenets of the Western imperial project globally. It is evident that colonialism makes only one phase of the long process of imperialism as an encompassing movement. The fundamental premise of the present critical study is to demonstrate that the manner in which geography is represented in literature reflects the writer's ideological, political and cultural interests as well as those of his community. Robison Crusoe, which belongs to the precolonial era, constitutes the germ of a new Western strategy of viewing the geography of the world as being vast, unpopulated, and affluent. Crusoe's story is made more efficient by wrapping it in the form a novel – a literary genre which emerged and grew side by side with colonialism. Defoe, throughout his journey across the ocean and his stay in the island, portrays the landscapes in positive terms, generally. Meanwhile, the indigenous population is either dehumanized or shown as lacking civilization. His aim, like the mainstream of his community, is to invite more young Englishmen to partake in the colonial enterprise and expansion. Crusoe’s success story is meant to generate a colonial propaganda at a time when very few Europeans dare to leave their homeland.