1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910440650403321

Autore

Halter Nicholas

Titolo

Australian travellers in the South Seas / / Nicholas Halter

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Canberra, : ANU Press, 2021

Canberra, ACT : , : ANU Press, , [2021]

©2021

ISBN

1-76046-415-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (396 pages)

Collana

Pacific

Disciplina

820.935894

Soggetti

Travelers' writings, Australian - History and criticism

Islands of the Pacific Description and travel

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- List of Figures -- Preface -- Note -- Introduction -- 1. Fluid Boundaries and Ambiguous Identities -- 2. Steamships and Tourists -- 3. Polynesian Promises -- 4. Degrees of Savagery -- 5. In Search of a Profitable Pacific -- 6. Conflict, Convicts and the Condominium -- 7. Preserving Health and Race in the Tropics -- Conclusion -- Appendix: An Annotated Bibliography of Australian Travel Writing -- Bibliography.

Sommario/riassunto

This book offers a wide-ranging survey of Australian engagement with the Pacific Islands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through over 100 hitherto largely unexplored accounts of travel, the author explores how representations of the Pacific Islands in letters, diaries, reminiscences, books, newspapers and magazines contributed to popular ideas of the Pacific Islands in Australia. It offers a range of valuable insights into continuities and changes in Australian regional perspectives, showing that ordinary Australians were more closely connected to the Pacific Islands than has previously been acknowledged. Addressing the theme of travel as a historical, literary and imaginative process, this cultural history probes issues of nation and empire, race and science, commerce and tourism by focusing on significant episodes and encounters in history. This is a foundational text for future studies of Australia's relations with the Pacific, and



histories of travel generally.