期刊文章分类查询,尽在期刊图书馆
华东师范大学 200241
AbstractRobinson Crusoe is one of the classics of colonial literature. In the novel, Crusoe, the main character, told about his story of living on an isolated island. By using the first person, Daniel Defoe not only narrated Crusoe’s life vividly, but also introduced another figure-Friday, who was saved by Crusoe from other Cannibals.To transform Friday into a “civilized”companion and servant, Crusoe adopted all kinds of strategies and approaches, including cultural transformation.
Key words Friday, Crusoe, cultural transformation, identity
Introduction
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), born Daniel Foe, was once an English trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. Later in his life, he became a prolific and versatile writer in that his works covered not only novels, but also tracts and pamphlets, and the total number of his works reached more than five hundred. Daniel Defoe holds a fairly high position in English literature and he was reputed as the “the father of English novels”.
1 How Crusoe transformed Friday culturally
1.1Crusoe’s flagrant disregard of Friday’s original culture
In fact, the master and slave relationship was readily built between Crusoe and Friday at the very beginning of the conflict between Crusoe and the Cannibals. “At length he came close to me, and then he kneeled down again, kissed the ground, and laid his head upon the ground, and, taking me by the foot, set my foot upon his head; this, it seems, was in token of swearing to be my slave forever.” According to the excerpt, there is no doubt that it was with the power of the gun that Crusoe saved Friday and conquered him in that “I caught hold of Friday. ‘Hold,’ says I, ‘stand still’; and made signs to him not to stir; immediately I presented my piece, shot and killed one of the kids…but I could easily see that the meaning was to pray me not to kill him.” However, after Crusoe saved Friday from the clutches of Cannibals, he didnot ask what his name was, rather he directly named him “Friday” according to the European calendar - since it was Friday when he saved him, so he named him this way in memory ofthe date.
1.2Crusoe’s ubiquitous cultural penetration into Friday’s life
Besides the flagrant disregard of Friday’s original culture, Crusoe also endeavored to transform Friday into a “civilized” one by ubiquitous cultural penetration into hisdaily life. At that time, in a European’s eyes, being naked and eating men was tantamount to ignorance and barbarism, so Crusoe decided to carry out the plan of remolding Friday. For instance, he asked Friday to wear “a pair of linen drawers, a jerkin of goat’s skin and a cap of hare-skin,” which made himlook more like a “civilized” European. Gradually, Friday was accustomed to the habit. To get Friday to be more familiar with European ways of living, Crusoe once told Friday about his life in Europe, “I described to him the country of Europe, particularly England, which I came from; how we lived, how we worshipped God, how we behaved to one another, and how we traded in ships to all parts of the world. I gave him an account of the wreck which I had been on board of, and showed him, as near as I could, the place where she lay.”
3The profound meaning of the cultural transformation
Judging from the negative description of Friday by Crusoe at the very beginning - “His hair was long and black, not curled like wool…His face was round and plump; his nose small, not flat, like the negroes; a very good mouth, thin lips, and his fine teeth well set, and as white as ivory,” (Robinson Crusoe, 2008:264, Oxford University Press) we can surmise that actually Friday was once a native black. And it reminds me of the Said’s theory of Orientalism, under which Europeans take it for granted that they are congenitally superior to other nations and their “advanced” civilization far exceeds the marginalized and degenerate Eastern one both in the influence and dominance over the rest of the world. It offers a justification for the European invasion or colonization of the natives who are considered uncivilized and lagged militarily, economically, politically and culturally, which is well displayed in the relationship between Crusoe and Friday. Initially, at the brink of Friday’s being killed by other Cannibals, Crusoe appearedbefore him as a savior, and it was the force and coercion of the gun that surprised Friday, that is,as I mentioned before, at first Friday wasconqueredbythe power of gun, which could kill a maneven without touching him. Then, in order to possess a “civilized” servant, Crusoe decided to transform Friday thoroughly so thathecouldturnover a new leaf. And beforelong, Crusoe made it. It is obvious that Friday’s life and destiny were not decided by himself but by Crusoe. And for Friday’s part, he had no tendency of resistance against Crusoe’s intention and arrangement. In turn, his not having any self-consciousness facilitated his transformation from a native Cannibal to a “civilized andqualified” servant. On the one hand, Friday’s transformation entailed the loss of his own cultural awareness and identity; on the other hand, Friday’s meek attitude reinforcedCrusoe’s role as a dominator and his self-construction. For my part, Friday is the prototype ofthe Orientals who were conquered by European colonists and lost their own cultural identity; and Crusoe, who reaffirmed his superiority by Friday’s blind obedience, is the embodiment of the colonists of that time who were so-called civilized andhad the strong desire to establish their paramount authority over the rest of the world.
Bibliography
[1]Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe, Oxford University Press,2008.
[2]The Golden Bough (A new abridgement), James George Frazer, Published byPublishingOnline, 2001.
[3]Orientalism, Said, Published by the Penguin Group, 2003.
论文作者:应科杰
论文发表刊物:《文化研究》2016年6月
论文发表时间:2016/10/25
标签：华东师范大学论文; 期刊论文; 尽在论文; 文章分类论文; 图书馆论文; hold论文; caught论文; 《文化研究》2016年6月论文;