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Literature, Authorship and Childhood in Friedrich Forster’s and Josef von Báky’s Robinson soll nicht sterben

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Friedrich Forster’s 'Robinson soll nicht sterben', published both as a play (1931) and a novella (1949), offers a fictionalized account of the final days of Daniel Defoe. In 1957, Forster’s Robinson was furthermore adapted for the screen by Josef von Báky. In this contribution, I will explore the intermedial adaptation and appropriation of Defoe’s biography in the works of Forster and von Báky. In particular, I will focus on three crucial aspects: (1) the narrativization of Defoe as a literary character, (2) the economic and ideological notion of (literary) authorship, (3) the role and context of children’s literature for the staging and adaptation of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. In so doing, this contribution will explore the works of Forster and von Báky through the genre-lens of fictional biography, fairy tale, detective story and their related processes of canonicity.
Journal: Journal for Literary and Intermedial Crossings
ISSN: 2506-8709
Issue: 2
Volume: 5
Pages: d1-21
Publication year:2020
Keywords:Friedrich Forster, Josef von Báky, Intermediality, Adaptation, Robinson Crusoe
Accessibility:Open