Gulliver as Slave Trader: Racism Reviled by Jonathan SwiftMcFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 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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... horse is to think of oneself as superior and supreme , as in white supremacy . ( The medieval symbol of pride is a man on a horse . ) In Houyhnhnmland , Socrates ' clas- sism conception of the horse is metamorphosed into white ...
... horse . He thus unwittingly identifies himself as a “ yahoo , " which he is soon to bit- terly regret . " Yahoo " is ... horse's house , he waits to hear a human voice . Hearing none , he says : I began to think that this house must ...
... horse , or as the mule , which have no understanding , whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle .... An horse is a vain thing for safety : neither shall he deliver any by his great strength . In other words , Gulliver is way off ...
Contents
Acknowledgments | 1 |
The African Slave Trade 2525 | 67 |
Flagitious and Facinorous Acts | 92 |
Copyright | |
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