Pacific Possessions The Pursuit of Authenticity in Nineteenth-Century Oceanian Travel Accounts 1st Edition by Chris J Thomas ISBN 0817320946   978-0817320942

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ISBN 10: 0817320946
ISBN 13:  978-0817320942
Author: Chris J Thomas

Reframes Polynesia and Melanesia through analysis of nineteenth-century travel writing
 
In Pacific Possessions: The Pursuit of Authenticity in Nineteenth-Century Oceanian Travel Accounts, Chris J. Thomas expands the literary canon on Polynesia and Melanesia beyond the giants, such as Herman Melville and Jack London, to include travel narratives by British and American visitors. These accounts were widely read and reviewed when they first appeared but have largely been ignored by scholars. For the first time, Thomas defines these writings as a significant literary genre.
 
Recovering these works allows us to reconceive of nineteenth-century Oceania as a vibrant hub of cultural interchange. Pacific Possessions recaptures the polyphony of voices that enlivened this space through the writing of these travelers, while also paying attention to their Oceanian interlocutors. Each chapter centers on a Pacific cultural marker, what Thomas refers to as each writer’s “possession”: the Tongan tattoo, the Hawaiian hula, the Fijian cannibal fork, and  Robert Louis Stevenson’s cache of South Seas photographs.
 
Thomas analyzes how westerners formed narratives around these objects and what those objects meant within nineteenth-century Oceanian cultures. He argues that the accounts served to shape a version of Oceanian authenticity that persists today. The profiled traveler-writers had complex experiences, at times promoting exoticized exaggerations of so-called authentic Polynesian and Melanesian cultures and at other times genuinely engaging in cultural exchange. However, their views were ultimately compromised by a western lens. In Thomas’s words, “the authenticity is at once celebrated and written over.”

Pacific Possessions The Pursuit of Authenticity in Nineteenth Century Oceanian Travel Accounts 1st Table of contents:

Introduction

• Defining “Authenticity” in Nineteenth-Century Oceania
• The Relationship Between Travel, Exploration, and Representation
• The Role of Nineteenth-Century Travel Accounts in Shaping Western Perceptions of the Pacific
• Overview of the Book’s Themes and Objectives

Chapter 1: The Age of Exploration and the Pacific Imagination

• Early European Encounters with Oceania
• Romanticism, Colonialism, and the Desire for the “Other”
• The Pacific as an Exotic Ideal: From Natural Wonders to Cultural Curiosities
• Early Travel Accounts and Their Influence on Western Audiences

Chapter 2: Constructing the “Authentic” Pacific

• The Quest for “Primitive” Societies: Idealization and Exoticism
• Authenticity in Art, Literature, and Ethnographic Accounts
• The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Shaping Western Narratives of the Pacific
• Representations of Pacific Islanders: Stereotypes, Myths, and Realities

Chapter 3: Key Figures in Nineteenth-Century Pacific Travel Writing

• The Explorers, Missionaries, and Traders Who Shaped Travel Accounts
• James Cook, William Bligh, and Their Legacies in Pacific Narratives
• The Contributions of Women Writers and Travelers to Pacific Representations
• Case Studies: The Works of Authors like Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, and others

Chapter 4: The Politics of Representation

• Colonial Power Dynamics in Travel Writing
• The Impact of Imperialism on the Perception of Pacific Cultures
• Travel Accounts as Tools of Empire and Scientific Inquiry
• The Tension Between Ethnographic Objectivity and Cultural Bias

Chapter 5: Nineteenth-Century Media and the Popularization of the Pacific

• Illustrated Travel Accounts and the Role of Visual Representation
• The Influence of Print Media: Newspapers, Magazines, and the Rise of the Travelogue
• The Pacific in Western Popular Culture: Literature, Theater, and Art
• Early Photographs and the Visual Legacy of the Pacific in Western Imagination

Chapter 6: Authenticity and the Changing Landscape of Pacific Travel

• Shifting Ideas of Authenticity in the Context of Tourism and Globalization
• The Impact of Western Presence on Pacific Societies: From Missionary to Tourist Invasion
• How Travel Accounts Responded to the Changing Reality of Pacific Islands in the 19th Century
• The Decline of the “Untouched” Pacific: Encounters with Colonization, Disease, and Trade

Chapter 7: Indigenous Perspectives and Counter-Narratives

• The Resistance to Western Representations: Oral Traditions and Indigenous Voices
• Indigenous Agency in Shaping Their Own Narratives
• The Politics of Authenticity from a Pacific Islander Perspective
• Case Study: The Influence of Early Pacific Writers and Leaders on Reclaiming the Narrative

Chapter 8: Legacies and Lasting Impacts of Nineteenth-Century Travel Accounts

• The Continued Influence of 19th-Century Travel Narratives in Modern Understanding of Oceania
• The Role of History in Contemporary Pacific Cultural Identity
• Nineteenth-Century Travel Accounts and Their Role in Environmental and Cultural Preservation Movements
• Rewriting the Authentic Pacific: Contemporary Efforts to Decolonize Travel Writing

Conclusion

• Reevaluating Authenticity in Light of Colonial and Post-Colonial Perspectives
• The Enduring Appeal of the Pacific in Travel Writing and Tourism
• Reflecting on the Ongoing Conversation Between Western and Pacific Views of the Region
• The Future of Pacific Representations in a Globalized World

Appendices

• A. Annotated List of Key Travel Accounts and Sources
• B. Glossary of Key Terms and Concepts
• C. Suggested Further Reading on Nineteenth-Century Pacific Studies
• D. Index

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