| Description |
xvii, 251 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
|
regular print |
| Contents |
Machine derived contents note: Table of contents for The apotheosis of Captain Cook : European mythmaking in the Pacific / Gananath Obeyesekere. -- Bibliographic record and links to related information available from the Library of Congress catalog -- Information from electronic data provided by the publisher. May be incomplete or contain other coding. -- List of Illustrations Preface Captain Cook and the European Imagination 3 Myth Models 8 Improvisation Rationality and Savage Thought 15 The Third Coming: A Flashback to the South Seas 23 The Visit to Tahiti and the Destruction of Eimeo 34 The Discovery of Hawaii 40 The Thesis of the Apotheosis 49 Further Objections to the Apotheosis: Maculate Perceptions and Cultural Conceptions 60 Anthropology and Pseudo-History 66 Politics and the Apotheosis: A Hawaiian Perspective 74 The Other Lono: Omiah, the Dalai Lama of the Hawaiians 92 Cook, Lono, and the Makahiki Festival 95 The Narrative Resumed: The Last Days 102 The Death of Cook: British and Hawaiian Versions 109 Language Games and the European Apotheosis of James Cook 120 The Humanist Myth in New Zealand History 131 The Resurrection and Return of James Cook 137 The Versions of the Apotheosis in the Traditions of Sea Voyagers 142 Cook, Fornication, and Evil: The Myth of the Missionaries 154 On Native Histories: Myth, Debate, and Contentious Discourse 163 Monterey Melons -- or, A Native's Reflection on the Topic of Tropical Tropes 171 Myth Models in Anthropological Narrative 177 The Mourning and the Aftermath 187 Appendix I: The Destruction of Hikiau and the Death of William Watman 193 Appendix II: Kalii and the Divinity of Kings 197 Notes 201 Bibliography 237 Index 245 -- Library of Congress subject headings for this publication: Hawaii History To 1893, Hawaii History To 1893 Historiography, Cook, James, 1728-1779, Polynesia Discovery and exploration, Ethnology Polynesia |
| Summary |
"In January 1778 Captain James Cook "discovered" the Hawaiian islands and was hailed by the native peoples as their returning god Lono. On a return trip, after a futile attempt to discover the Northwest Passage, Cook was killed in what modern anthropologists and historians interpret as a ritual sacrifice of the fertility god. Questioning the circumstances surrounding Cook's so-called divinity - or apotheosis - and his death, Gananath Obeyesekere debunks one of the most enduring myths of imperialism, civilization, and conquest: the notion that the Western civilizer is a god to savages. Through a close reexamination of Cook's grueling final voyage, his increasingly erratic behavior, his strained relations with the Hawaiians, and the violent death he met at their hands, Obeyesekere rewrites an important segment of British and Hawaiian history in a way that challenges Eurocentric views of non-Western cultures." "The discrepancies between Cook the legend and the person come alive in a narrative based on shipboard journals and logs kept by the captain and his officers. In these accounts Obeyesekere sees Cook as both the self-conscious civilizer and as the person who, his mission gone awry, becomes a "savage" himself - during the last voyage it was Cook's destructive side that dominated. After examining various versions of the "Cook myth," the author argues that the Hawaiians did not apotheosize the captain but revered him as a chief on par with their own. The blurring of conventional distinctions between history, hagiography, and myth, Obeyesekere maintains, requires us to examine the presuppositions that go into the writing of history and anthropology."--Jacket |
| Analysis |
Exploration |
|
Oceania |
| Notes |
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-244) and index |
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Includes index |
| Notes |
Association of American Publishers PROSE Award, 1992 |
| Subject |
Cook, James, 1728-1779.
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Cook, James.
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Ethnology -- Polynesia.
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| SUBJECT |
Hawaii -- History -- To 1893 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85059350 -- Historiography.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh00006046
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Hawaii -- History -- To 1893.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85059350
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Polynesia http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85104688 -- Discovery and exploration.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99002238
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| LC no. |
91042364 |
| ISBN |
0691036217 |
|
0691056803 |
|
0930897684 |
|
