Fears, Apprehensions and Conjectures

Riccardo Capoferro

doi:10.30687/el/2420-823x/2017/01/007

Abstract

The importance of Robinson Crusoe in the origins of the novel depends not only on its progressive plot and empirical style, but also on its pioneering narrative devices. Defoe’s work is characterised, in particular, by a new approach to the creation of suspense, considered by narratologists as one of the universals of narrative. This approach is based on a consistent, highly diversified use of hypothetical thinking. Crusoe’s emotionally charged previsions have the function of presenting possible plot developments, staging, and causing, the oscillation between fear and hope that is characteristic of suspense. Defoe’s work with suspense shows that epistemological change, in particular the rise of the modern notion of probability, had relevant implications also at the level of narrative discourse.

Highlights

The importance of Robinson Crusoe in the origins of the novel depends on its progressive plot and empirical style, and on its pioneering narrative devices
While narratology has highlighted that novelistic writing deploys models of cognition that circulate in contemporary culture, the practice of narrative analysis has not displayed a keen, widespread interest in how cultural change affects fictional devices
Defoe’s use of hypothetical thinking is no less evident in his General History of Discoveries and Improvements (1727), which delineates a history of empirical science, with the same approach already used in the e-ISSN 2420-823X ISSN 2385-1635 first chapter of the Essay

Summary

Introduction

The importance of Robinson Crusoe in the origins of the novel depends on its progressive plot and empirical style, and on its pioneering narrative devices. I will focus on Crusoe’s hypotheses and their narrative uses. While narratology has highlighted that novelistic writing deploys models of cognition that circulate in contemporary culture, the practice of narrative analysis has not displayed a keen, widespread interest in how cultural change affects fictional devices.2 a focus on context becomes essential if the object at hand is a ground-breaking work like Robinson Crusoe.

Results

Conclusion