The question of moral disengagement in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Judith Thompson’s “pink”

Abstract EN

Many scholars and researches have discussed the relationship between the colonizer and thecolonized and the effect of colonialism on both of them.

Yet, there are a very few researches that deal with the psychological impact of colonization upon colonizers.

The aim of this study is to shed light upon the question of moral disengagement that colonizers need to justify their immoral and inhumane actions against the colonized.

The study discusses the issue of creating moral reasons as a necessity for colonizers to facemany psychological challenges by applying a psychoanalytical reading of the protagonists of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Judith Thompson's “Pink.

” These protagonists show the unconscious of the colonizers that tends to employ some psychological defense mechanisms to avoid feeling guilty.

The study reveals that the protagonists who represent colonizers have psychologically applied some specific defense mechanisms such as providing moral justification, creating advantageous comparison, andblaming or dehumanizing victims to avoid having a sense of guilt.