Discovery and empire

Discovery and Empire cover

The French in the South Seas

edited by John West-Sooby

FREE | 2013 | Ebook (PDF) |聽978-1-922064-52-3聽| 302 pp

17 colour illustrations

顿翱滨:听

Download Free PDF

  • Chapter details

    Introduction
    John West-Sooby
    顿翱滨:听

    1. The Globe Encompassed: France and Pacific Convergences in the Age of the Enlightenment
    John Gascoigne
    顿翱滨:听

    2. The Abb茅 Paulmier鈥檚聽惭茅尘辞颈谤别蝉聽and Early French Voyages in Search of聽Terra Australis
    Margaret Sankey
    顿翱滨:听

    3. The Acquisitive Eye? French Observations in the Pacific from Bougainville to Baudin
    Jean Fornasiero and John West-Sooby
    顿翱滨:听

    4. Discovering the Savage Senses: French and British Explorers鈥 Encounters with Aboriginal People
    Shino Konishi
    顿翱滨:听

    5. A Case of Peripheral Vision: Early Spanish and French Perceptions of the British Colony at Port Jackson
    John West-Sooby
    顿翱滨:听

    6. New Creatures Made Known: Some Animal Histories of the Baudin Expedition
    Stephanie Pfennigwerth
    顿翱滨:听

    7. 鈥淧rimitive race鈥, 鈥減ure race鈥, 鈥渂rown race鈥, 鈥渆very race鈥: Louis Freycinet鈥檚 Understanding of Human Difference in Oceania
    Nicole Starbuck
    顿翱滨:听

    8. Imperial Eyes on the Pacific Prize: French Visions of a Perfect Penal Colony in the South Seas
    Jacqueline Dutton
    顿翱滨:听

The French connection with the South Seas stretches back at least as far as the voyage of Binot Paulmier de Gonneville (1503-1505), who believed he had discovered the fabled great south land after being blown off course during a storm near the Cape of Good Hope. The story of his voyage remained largely forgotten for over 150 years, but eventually resurfaced in 1664 thanks to the publication by the Abb茅 Jean Paulmier of a document in which he argued, on the basis of this supposed discovery, for the establishment of a Christian mission in this "third part" of the world. While historians today contest the authenticity of various aspects of the Abb茅 Paulmier鈥檚聽惭茅尘辞颈谤别蝉, there is no doubt about the impact it had in France, both on the collective imagination and, more concretely, on French plans for exploration and colonial expansion. It was not until the eighteenth century, however, that France began sending mariners to the southern oceans on a regular basis, and by that time a new maritime power had begun to emerge: Great Britain. Together, these two nations would play a decisive role in determining the configuration of these little known parts of the globe, and particularly of the Pacific, which had for so long been the almost exclusive preserve of Spain.'聽(From the聽Introduction聽by John West-Sooby.)

Discovery and Empire聽is a collection of essays originating out of a symposium that was held at the State Library of South Australia on 8 July 2009. The symposium formed one of the strands of the XVIIth Biennial Conference of the Australasian Association of European Historians (6-9 July 2009), the overall theme for which was 'Europe鈥檚 Expansions and Contractions'.