Robinson Crusoe (1719) is one of the great adventure stories of Western culture, as well as being an exemplification of the novel's protean form. Defoe synthesises material from a wide range of discourses in the construction of his narrative, with travel writing, diary keeping, economic theory, political philosophy, theology, and spiritual autobiography all being drawn upon to notable effect. Arguably the most important influence on the narrative, however, is spiritual autobiography, which had come to play a critical role in the development of religious nonconformism in seventeenth-century England: nonconformism being the cultural tradition from which Defoe himself had sprung. John Bunyan's spiritual autobiography Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and its fictionalised counterpart The Pilgrim's Progress, are the most obvious direct influences on Robinson Crusoe in this respect - and on several other works...
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Citation: Sim, Stuart. "The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=351, accessed 09 June 2026.]
