Book contents
- Daniel Defoe in Context
- Daniel Defoe in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Part I Life and Works
- Part II Literary Context
- Part III Authorship and Copyright
- Part IV The Monarchy and Parliament
- Part V Social Structures and Social Life
- Part VI Critical Fortunes and Literary Afterlife
- Chapter 40 Critical Reception up to 1900
- Chapter 41 Critical Reception after 1900
- Chapter 42 Continuations and Adaptations
- Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 41 - Critical Reception after 1900
from Part VI - Critical Fortunes and Literary Afterlife
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 April 2023
Book contents
- Daniel Defoe in Context
- Daniel Defoe in Context
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Part I Life and Works
- Part II Literary Context
- Part III Authorship and Copyright
- Part IV The Monarchy and Parliament
- Part V Social Structures and Social Life
- Part VI Critical Fortunes and Literary Afterlife
- Chapter 40 Critical Reception up to 1900
- Chapter 41 Critical Reception after 1900
- Chapter 42 Continuations and Adaptations
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
This chapter honours the considerable challenge of attempting to sum up the critical reception of an author whose oeuvre is both compendious and disputed. It contemplates the gradual shift of focus in the twentieth century from biographical to literary criticism in the many attempts to wrestle Defoe into something comprehensible. As a reliable touchstone amid the many twentieth-century attribution wars, Robinson Crusoe has and continues to dominate critical inquiry into Defoe due to (rise of the) novel theories. And yet, ultimately, scholarship has also managed to move beyond, without giving up, Crusoe.
- Type
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- Information
- Daniel Defoe in Context , pp. 355 - 362Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023