Representations of Space(s) in Robinson Crusoe

Abstract

Limiting the perspective on the real-and-imagined binary in spatial analysis risks overlooking various important aspects of space. This article, following the concept of the thirdspace by Edward Soja, proposes and explores a different approach to analyzing the representation of space, its impacts, and the changes it goes through in the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. It analyzes space from three broad perspectives suggested by Soja: lived, perceived, and conceived. Expanding the perspective in analyzing space from an all-inclusive angle, this article aims to uncover various factors and influences that construct the space of the island in Robinson Crusoe. Going beyond the real and imagined, this article addresses the perception of space, which is simultaneously both real and imagined, and beyond such binaries. The factors and influences that help Crusoe change the island space fundamentally, and in turn change his own personality and mindset stems from a diverse range of sources, including power and socio-economic dynamics of Crusoe’s homeland, religion, his unpredictable and erratic nature, and domination and subjugation of the island, his search for a “smooth” space of freedom, the exercising of power, home, mortality, and the acceptance of his father. This article is an exploration of how these influences shape the space of the island, and how the space causes and reflects the changes in Crusoe.