Oceania and the Victorian Imagination — Where All Things Are Possible

Publisher description: Oceania, or the South Pacific, loomed large in the Victorian popular imagination. It was a world that interested the Victorians for many reasons, all of which suggested to them that everything was possible there. This collection ofessays focuses on Oceania's impact on Victorian culture, most notably travel writing, photography, international exhibitions, literature, and the world of children. Each of these had significant impact. The literature discussed affected mainly the middleand upper classes, while exhibitions and photography reached down into the working classes, as did missionary presentations. The experience of children was central to the Pacific's effects, as youthful encounters at exhibitions, chapel, home or school formed lifelong impressions and experience. This text contributes significantly to our discussion of the non-peripheral place of Oceania in Victorian culture.

Richard D. Fulton is Vice Chancellor at the University of Hawai'i-Windward Community College, USA, and Peter H. Hoffenberg is Associate Professor of History at the University of Hawaia€?i-Manoa, USA.