ROBINSONADE

'Robinsonade' is a literary genre that takes its name from the 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' by Daniel Defoe. The success of this novel spawned enough imitations that its name was used to define a genre, which is sometimes described simply as a "desert island story".
The word "robinsonade" was coined by the German writer Johann Gottfried Schnabel in the Preface of his work ''Die Insel Felsenburg'' (1731).
In the archetypical robinsonade, the protagonist is suddenly isolated from the comforts of civilization, usually shipwrecked or marooned on a secluded and uninhabited island. He must improvise the means of his survival from the limited resources at hand. Unlike Thomas More's ''Utopia'' and romantic works which depicted nature as idyllic, ''Crusoe'' made it unforgiving and sparse. The protagonist survives by his wits and the qualities of his cultural upbringing, which also enable him to prevail in conflicts with fellow castaways or over local peoples he may encounter.
''Robinson Crusoe'' and "robinsonades" share plot elements with William Shakespeare's The Tempest, but the story emphasis and story message are markedly different.
''Robinson Crusoe'' was influential in creating a colonialization mythology - As novelist James Joyce eloquently noted the true symbol of the British conquest is Robinson Crusoe: "He is the true prototype of the British colonist… ". Later works expanded on and explored this mythology.
Robinsonades were especially popular in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Contents

Examples

Literature

Other media

See also

Examples

Literature

Ordered by date of publication

★ ''Iphigenie auf Tauris'' (based on Euripides' ''Iphigeneia in Tauris'') (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1787)

★ ''The Swiss Family Robinson'' (Johann David Wyss, 1812)

★ ''Masterman Ready, or the Wreck in the Pacific'' (Frederick Marryat, 1841)

★ ''The Coral Island'' (R.M. Ballantyne, 1857)

★ ''L'Oncle Robinson'' (Jules Verne, 1870; unpublished until 1991)

★ ''The Mysterious Island'' (''L'Île mystérieuse'') (Jules Verne, 1874)

★ ''L'École des Robinsons'' (Jules Verne, 1881)

★ ''Two Years' Vacation'' (''Deux ans de vacances'') (Jules Verne, 1888)

★ ''The Jungle Book'' (Rudyard Kipling, 1894) - the Mowgli stories

★ ''Baby Island'' (Carol Ryrie Brink, 1937)

★ ''Lord of the Flies'' (William Golding, 1954)

★ ''Tunnel in the Sky'' (Robert A. Heinlein, 1955)

★ ''Island of the Blue Dolphins'' (Scott O'Dell, 1960)

★ ''Friday'' (''Vendredi ou les Limbes du Pacifique'') (Michel Tournier, 1967)

★ ''Providence Island'' (Calder Willingham, 1969)

★ ''Friday and Robinson'' (''Vendredi ou la Vie sauvage'', for children) (Michel Tournier, 1977)

★ ''Clan of the Cave Bear'' (Jean M. Auel, 1980)

★ ''Foe'' (J. M. Coetzee, 1986),

★ ''The Island of the Day Before'' (Umberto Eco, 1994)

Other media

★ ''Robinson Crusoe on Mars'' (1964)

★ ''Gilligan's Island'' (1964-1967)

★ ''MacGyver'' (1985-1992)

★ '' (1990-1991) - the island episodes

★ ''Cast Away'' (2000)

★ ''Survivor'' (2000-present)

★ ''Lost'' (2004-present)

See also

★ ''Fan fiction''

★ ''Homage''