Daniel Defoe, Pirates & Colonialism

 


Captain Avery, infamous English pirate

  
NOTE: The reading assignment for this week is in the post below this one. 

Do you ever wonder what we professors do with our spare time?  Do we read books?  Write essays?  Or just make you guys do it?  Well, here's your answer...

I've just published an article related to our class, in that it explores colonialism, English nationalism, and trade/slavery in the 'pirate novels' of Daniel Defoe.  If you're interested in seeing how I use the very arguments/ideas we discuss in class in my own critical writing, this essay may somewhat somewhat interest you, especially if you like pirates!  In general, the article is about how Daniel Defoe used real-life pirates to create a model for the English tradesman, as someone who had the "artistic license" to plunder both domestic and foreign ships in the interest of trade (a trade that would ideally open up foreign markets in "dark" places).  In one work, The King of Pirates (1719), he writes two letters based on the real-life exploits of Captain Avery, a notorious English pirate who raided the treasure ships of the Great Khan and founded a pirate 'utopia' on Madagascar.  In the other work, Captain Singleton (1720), he creates a fictional pirate who rises through the ranks to become one of the most ruthless, yet economically sensible of English pirates with the help of his right-hand mand, William the Quaker (a Quaker pirate!). 

Click here to read the article in Digital Defoe: http://english.illinoisstate.edu/digitaldefoe/

And yes, you can even grade it and offer me comments for revision!