Gulliver as Slave Trader: Racism Reviled by Jonathan Swift

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Jonathan Swift was undoubtedly a master of satire and irony. His stark, tongue-in-cheek manner of expression generally left little doubt as to his meaning for his social commentaries which were adept at questioning some of the institutions his contemporaries held most dear. In the case of
Gulliver’s Travels , however, Swift’s meaning has been the subject of significant debate among scholars for almost 300 years. Assigned to every genre from children’s literature to fantasy to science fiction,
Gulliver’s Travels
lacks the obvious definition of much of Swift’s work. Here, Elaine Robinson offers a new and fascinating interpretation for this literary classic. This volume discusses the theory that
Gulliver’s Travels
was Swift’s vehicle to condemn the African slave trade and promote the adoption of real rather than simply nominal Christianity. Dealing extensively with quotes from the work itself, it demonstrates that Swift tells us his meaning with an abundance of clues and references which he left throughout
Gulliver’s Travels . These include allusions to the works of Giovanni Boccaccio, Bernard of Clairvoux’s
Three Steps of Truth
and various passages from
The Queen Anne Book of Common Prayer . The symbolic - rather than fantastic or allegorical - nature of Gulliver and those he meets on his travels is also examined.