Oceania and the Victorian Imagination

Taylor & Francis

Focusing on Oceania\u2019s impact on Victorian culture, most notably travel writing, photography, international exhibitions, literature and the culture of childhood, this collection examines the Victorians\u2019 engagement with the Pacific. Whether intriguing accounts of its exotic peoples, flora, fauna and natural history were enough in and of themselves or whether they provoked a desire to venture forth, Oceania, or the Pacific, loomed large in the Victorian popular imagination. > 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 of essays focuses on Oceania\u2019s 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 middle and upper class.