商品簡介
Captain Cook in the Underworld is a book-length poem by a gifted poet, an archetypal exploration of Western mythology and legend as it `discovers' itself in the South Pacific.
Originally commissioned as the libretto for a new work with composer John Psathas for the fiftieth anniversary celebration of Wellington's Orpheus Choir, this is a highly stylised, `operatic' account of the voyages of Captain Cook. Sullivan employs a bold risk-taking approach and offers fresh perspectives on Cook's Pacific explorations.
As the poem unfolds, European myth (Orpheus, Venus, Cook) makes space for Polynesian myth (Lono, Maui, Reinga). In the final pages, Cook's soul faces up to the damage his expeditions have inflicted on the indigenous peoples of the Pacific. This theme of European guilt and recognition will have a strong and shocking impact.
作者簡介
Robert Sullivan was the 1998 Literary Fellow at the University of Auckland, and in 2001 he was the Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa.
