Robinson Crusoe’s Canoes

Among his many experiments in manufacturing in the Life and Strange Surprising Adventures, Robinson Crusoe tries his hand at building canoes. The last of these, built with Friday’s help, is a hybrid of Carib and European design, a traditional dugout fitted out with sail and rudder. I read this vessel as a transcultural object, reflecting the technological adaptations common in the contact zone. At the same time, I investigate the history of …