Overview

Shipwrecked: Disaster and Transformation in Homer, Shakespeare, Defoe and the Modern World presents the first comparative study of notable literary shipwrecks from the past 4,000 years, focusing on Homer’s Odyssey, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The recurrent treatment of shipwrecks in epic poetry, drama, novels, science fiction, movies, and television demonstrates an enduring fascination with this archetypal scene: a shipwreck survivor confronting the elements. It is remarkable, for example, that the characters in the 2004 television show Lost share so many features with those from Homer’s Odyssey and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. When survivors are stuck on an island for some period of time, shipwrecks often present the survivor with the possibility of a change in political and social status—as well as romance and even paradise. In each of the major shipwreck narratives examined, the poet or novelist links the castaways’ arrival on a new shore with the possibility of a new sort of life. James V. Morrison also considers the historical context as well as the “triggers” (such as the 1609 Bermuda shipwreck) that inspired some of these works, and modern responses such as novels (Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Coetzee’s Foe, and Gordon’s First on Mars, a science fiction version of the Crusoe story), movies, television (Forbidden Planet, Cast Away, and Lost), and the poetry and plays of Caribbean poets Derek Walcott and Aimé Césaire.

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9780472119202

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Reviews

Shipwrecked lives up to its promise and delivers a thorough treatment of this fascinating theme in literature and other forms of narrative art. ... Morrison's book (impeccably produced, with several illustrations) guides the reader through four thousand years of literary and cultural history with erudition and ease. Critics and scholars specializing in one of the many authors and artists discussed may find individual chapters informative, but the non-specialist reader also will enjoy this account of how humans have experienced, imagined, and represented the catastrophe of shipwreck. ---Bryn Mawr Classical Review--Mikl s P ti, K roli G sp r University Bryn Mawr Classical Review Centering his work on the Odyssey, Shakespeare's The Tempest, and Defoe's Robinson Crusoe--but also delving into epic poetry, drama, novels, sci fi, movies, and even television--the author demonstrates that humankind has had a continuing fascination with the idea of shipwrecked and stranded individuals confronting nature and the elements ... Recommended. --Choice-- (11/11/2014)

Shipwrecked lives up to its promise and delivers a thorough treatment of this fascinating theme in literature and other forms of narrative art. ... Morrison s book (impeccably produced, with several illustrations) guides the reader through four thousand years of literary and cultural history with erudition and ease. Critics and scholars specializing in one of the many authors and artists discussed may find individual chapters informative, but the non-specialist reader also will enjoy this account of how humans have experienced, imagined, and represented the catastrophe of shipwreck. --- Bryn Mawr Classical Review --Miklos Peti, Karoli Gaspar University Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Author Information

James V. Morrison has taught at Georgetown University, USA and Davidson College, USA and is currently Stodghill Professor of Classical Studies and Humanities at Centre College, USA.

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