Freitags Widerstand und die Unterwanderung von Crusoes Vorherrschaft

Abstract: Despite the general view of Robinson Crusoe as a manifesto for colonial empowerment this paper in the German language shows that the text in fact exposes the paradigmatic self-affirming colonial subject as inherently instable. It does so not only by the initial perforation of Crusoe¿s name, but also by failing ¿pro-imperialist apology¿ ¿ according to Edward Said¿s idea of contrapuntal read¬ing ¿ aimed at legitimiz¬ing Crusoe¿s supremacy over ¿his¿ island, and his power over the main non-Western protagonists, Xury and Friday. Both these parallel cases of subjugation are ridden by almost absurd logical, or economic contradic¬tions exposing the futility at the heart of their mechanics. Also, the presentation of Crusoe¿s superiority by means of the con¬struction of reli¬gious alterity is inconsistent as traces of hybridization within the Chris¬tian creed show. Moreover Crusoe¿s will to establish his Western language usage as superior backfires when Creo¬lization enters the protagonist¿s own discourse, and his self-aggrandizing declaration of being master of his island is subverted by antagonistic elements, which he ¿ unsuccessfully ¿ tries to exclude from the realm of hu¬mankind ¿ by unconvincingly de¬picting their cannibal eating hab¬its. Further, ¿anti-imperialist resistance¿ according to Said becomes obvious within the text when the visual contrast between Crusoe and colonized peoples ¿ one of the markers of alterity ¿ collapses as Friday acquires phenotypical Western traits and Crusoe devel-ops non-Western features. But it is Friday who symbolically resists colonial power most potently. Far from being only the obedient servant desired by his master he stubbornly refuses to speak Eng-lish adequately, thus exposing Crusoe¿s deficiency of authority. But most of all, after years of subjugation, he stages a revolt not only against Crusoe, but ¿ in the name of all colonized peoples ¿ against Western colonists.