The Language(s) of Hierarchy in Daniel Defoe's <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>¹

M o s t m o d e r n studies o f D e f o e focus on the s tudy o f the representation o f ideo logy in his writings. In that sense, Max imi l i an E . N o v a k , Defoe ' s m o s t tecent biographer , identifies the variety o f m o d e r n approaches to Robinson Crusoe as those that highlight the mean ings o f the text as " e c o n o m i c parable , a spiritual autobiography, an adventure story, a n d a fable i l lustrating h u m a n deve lopment " ( N o v a k 2 0 0 1 : 5 3 6 ) . T h e a i m o f this paper , however, will be to consider the particular function that D e f o e ass igns to l anguage when he uses a discourse that is not explicitly political or societal but which nevertheless conveys the narrator's intention o f establ ishing a hierarchical order regarding those with w h o m he deals, that is, the h u m a n s o n his desert island, animals , a n d the reader himself.