...Defoe’s fictions of exploration and cultural contact, this chapter suggests, use gunpowder as a figure that explores both sovereign violence and modern individualism. Robinson Crusoe, The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, and Captain Singleton...

... to and critiques of these theorizations of sovereignty, rights, and obedience. civility conquest Defoe Daniel Captain Singleton Edward Hobbes Thomas and Cavendish magic political community Purchas Samuel savagery emergency in Britain gunpowder and atrocity monarchy objects magical sovereignty...

... of savage wonder, in which “uncivilized” people stand astonished when first witnessing European displays of technological prowess, particularly gunpowder. This repeated motif--the “first gunshot topos”--performs important conceptual work on ideas of consent and political legitimacy. Wonder induces...