Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is presented as an autobiography of the title character  – who is a castaway spending 28 years on a remote tropical desert island near the coasts of Venezuela and Trinidad, and encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers before being rescued. Robinson Crusoe was well received in the literary world and is often credited as marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre. It is generally seen as a contender for the first English novel. The work has been variously read as an allegory for the development of civilization; as a manifesto of economic individualism; and as an expression of European colonial desires.  Joining me today are Dr. Jakub Lipski, Dr. Glynis Ridley and Dr. Andreas Mueller. Dr. Jakub Lipski is an associate professor of English at Kazimierz Wielki University in  Poland. He is the author of In Quest of the Self: Masquerade and Travel in the Eighteenth-Century Novel and Painting the Novel: Pictorial Discourse in Eighteenth-Century English Fiction. Dr. Glynis Ridley is the author of Clara’s Grand Tour: Travels with a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-Century Europe, which was winner of the Institute of Historical Research  Prize. She is professor of English at the University of Louisville. Dr. Andreas Mueller is professor and chair of English at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He is the author of A Critical Study of Daniel Defoe’s Verse and editor of Daniel Defoe’s Non-Fiction: Form, Function, Genre. He has published several essays on Defoe. Recommended Readings: Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719) Glynis Ridley, Andreas Mueller eds. Robinson Crusoe After 300 Years (2021) Jakub Lipski ed. Rewriting Crusoe: The Robinsonade across Languages, Cultures, and Media (2020) This podcast is sponsored by Riverside, the most efficient platform for video recording and editing for podcasters. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show