Gulliver as Slave Trader: Racism Reviled by Jonathan Swift

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McFarland, 2006 M07 25 - 252 pages

The pointed social commentaries of master satirist Jonathan Swift are heavy with irony, but Swift rarely left any doubt about his true meaning. In the case of Gulliver's Travels, however, Swift's meaning has been the subject of debate among scholars for almost 300 years. Here, Elaine Robinson offers a new and fascinating interpretation for this literary classic.

Pointing out clues throughout Gulliver, Robinson demonstrates Swift's uses of Everyman, Bernard of Clairvaux, Bonaventure, Boccaccio, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton to define real Christianity as a basis for protesting the African slave trade and racism. In doing so, she illuminates Swift's insight, honesty, piercing irony, and brilliant wit, and calls attention to the disturbing relevance of Gulliver's Travels in the 21st century.

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Contents

The African Slave Trade
25
Malignant Aggression
67
Flagitious and Facinorous Acts
92
Repository of Abominations
126
Black Superiority
154
Chapter Notes
227
Copyright

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About the author (2006)

Elaine L. Robinson is a retired English literature instructor.

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