Remembering Cook, Again: The State of a Mixed-Media Field

Abstract

The last major stocktake of literature on James Cook appeared in 1997. The intervening years have witnessed only a further increase in outputs, now with broader foci – including Cook’s place in British, settler, and Pacific history as well as in every period since the eighteenth century – and with more variety in both mode and audience. This article reviews the key biographies, monographs, exhibitions, and artworks produced on Cook during this time. It finds that contemporary Australian and New Zealand concerns shape the field more than is acknowledged and that work coming out of Oceania Studies may represent the most productive way forward.