Island Studies Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2006, pp. 143-162
REVIEW ESSAY:
From Odysseus to Robinson Crusoe: A Survey of Early Western Island Literature
Chet Van Duzer
12177 Winton Way
Los Altos Hills, CA 94024-6431
USA
chetv@aol.com
Abstract
This paper examines the history and development of books about islands in Western
culture. Islands are prominent in Homer’s Odyssey, and Plato’s island of Atlantis is
perhaps the most famous mythical island of all time. The Greeks were the first to develop
the island-book as such, but Roman writers showed much less interest in insular themes.
The article traces the history of the immrama (medieval Irish accounts of mythical Atlantic
island voyages), notes the importance of islands in Marco Polo and John of Mandeville,
describes the rise of the isolario, or island-book illustrated with maps, and concludes with
the emergence of the Robinsonade.
Keywords: islands, Greek, Roman, medieval, immrama, isolario