Desert Island, Broken Planet

Ever since its inception, the Robinsonade genre has been evidence of the lingering fascination with involuntary isolation. Ruprecht L. Tauchmann traces the cultural evolution of the Crusoe story, revealing how the socioenvironmental pressures of the 21st century shape the castaway narratives in novels, films, series, and video games. From tropical islands to Martian deserts, Crusoe stories continue to adapt and are subject to variation and selection within the mental ecology of global culture. In an age of global catastrophes, these stories do more than entertain; they reconfigure risk perception. They explore what it takes to sustain life in the face of collapse, transforming the desert island into a cultural laboratory for navigating ecological crises. ‘Desert Island, Broken Planet’ demonstrates how Crusoe stories encode adaptive strategies to navigate the shipwrecks ahead.