ABSTRACT
Ever since Robinson Crusoe (1719), the desert island has been a vehicle for discussing ideas about society and nature. Moreover, because of its early adoption into the canon of children’s literature, Robinson Crusoe is also a key text about childhood-especially in adaptations for children, such as J. H. Campé’s 1779 version, or in the child-oriented Robinsonades that will come under particular scrutiny in this chapter. In such works, we recognize the motifs of Robinson Crusoe: the isolation, self-reliance, and survival of the shipwrecked; the strange environment and encounter with alien others; the building of a new society/civilization; and, finally, the escape and reintegration of the shipwrecked with the world. According to Sandra Beckett, these motifs are “usually accompanied by a spiritual regeneration” (353); the isolation could lead to “new self-awareness” but also to “a regression into animality” (ibid). Although child Robinsonades share these features with more adult-oriented Robinsonades, it is also clear that the motifs have been somewhat modified for the texts to conform to the conventions of children’s literature.
