Defoe's America / Dennis Todd.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Todd, Dennis, 1944-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731--Criticism and interpretation.

Defoe, Daniel.

Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731.

National characteristics, American, in literature.

Imperialism in literature.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xi, 229 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Summary:

"The Americas appear as an evocative setting in more than half of Daniel Defoe's novels, and often offer a new beginning for his characters. In the first full-length study of Defoe and colonialism, Dennis Todd explores why the New World loomed so large in Defoe's imagination. By focusing on the historical contexts that informed Defoe's depiction of American Indians, African slaves, and white indentured servants, Dennis Todd investigates the colonial assumptions that shaped his novels and, at the same time, uncovers how Defoe used details of the American experience in complex, often figurative ways to explore the psychological bases of the profound conversions and transformations that his heroes and heroines undergo. And by examining what Defoe knew and did not know about America, what he falsely believed and what he knowingly falsified, Defoe's America probes the doubts, hesitancies, and contradictions he had about the colonial project he so fervently promoted"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Defoe's America

Mastering the savage: conversion in Robinson Crusoe

Servitude and self-transformation in Colonel Jack

Moll Flanders and the misrepresentation of servitude

Conclusion: Defoe, cannibals, and colonialism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780521195812

0521195810

OCLC:

632228530

Online:

Cover image

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description