MR BLIGH'S BAD LANGUAGE

PASSION, POWER AND THEATRE ON THE BOUNTY

by
GREG DENING

1st. published in this edition 1992
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge

An American book, beautifully made, in Very Good Plus condition [ light bumping to top and bottom of spine stops it being Fine ] with gilt lettering to spine in a Very Good Plus unclipped wrapper.

445 pages

ISBN 0 521 38370 6

Blurbs
	"Greg Dening has produced a powerful new account of an event that has, over two centuries, helped to define our modern under-standings of tyranny and resistance. His tale about Bligh and the mutineers is imaginative and learned, engaging and entertaining, much to be enjoyed by anyone interested in the society and culture of wooden ships and iron men." —Marcus Rediker, Georgetown University Captain Bligh and the voyage of the Bounty are the starting point of this new study of the famous mutiny in history, literature and film. By juxtaposing an account of the mutiny with an analysis of its evolving place in history and culture, Mr Bligh's Bad Language offers a new interpretation of the mutiny in the context of its historical and cultural representations. Beginning with an analysis of naval life and ritual aboard the Bounty, Greg Dening argues that the famous mutiny did not take place due to punitive violence, as Captain Bligh is shown to be one of the least violent of British Navy captains. Instead, he argues, Captain Bligh misunderstood the theatrical nature of shipboard life, especially his role as captain. Moving to a larger stage, the scope of the book shifts to the reception of the mutiny in England in the eighteenth century. Connecting the voyage of the Bounty with the cultural exploration and revolutions of the age, Greg Dening shows that a mythology arose almost immediately around the participants of the mutiny and their actions, a mythology that has been continually reinterpreted into twentieth century literature and film. Gracefully written, Mr Bligh's Bad Language is an anthropological history of a new order, weaving the history of the Bounty with its role in our culture. Using a range of influences from Diderot to Foucault, Greg Dening reconstructs the voyage of the Bounty as moving between history and mythology, circumventing a dozen discourses.
	'Captain Bligh' is a cliche of our times for the extravagant and violent misuse of power. In fact, William Bligh was one of the least physically violent disciplinarians in the British navy. That paradox inspires this book to ask why, then, did he have a mutiny? Its answer is to display the theatricality of naval institutions and the mythologising power of history. The theatre of the Bounty lay not just in its rites of power on the quarterdeck and in the fo'c'sle but also on the beaches at Tahiti and in the murderous settlement at Pitcairn, on the stage in London, on altar stones and temples of sacrifice, on catheads from which men were hanged.
	"This is a brilliant contribution to historical anthropology; at once a wonderful book to read and a successful example of how to combine ethnohistorical scholarship and method with a subtle sense of how narrative can encode critical concerns about how to represent the past. Rarely have I seen theory and style so well blended together, and that too with one of the great stories of modern times?' —Nicholas B. Dirks, University of Michigan
The author
	Greg Dening is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Melbourne. His long education in philosophy, theology, history and anthropology, has resulted in a distinguished career of teaching and writing. His books, which include Islands and Beaches: Discourses on a Silent Land: Marquesas, 1774–1880 (1981), have been anthro-historical in character. He believes passionately that history is the unravelling of the double helix of past and present.
	Contents
	List of Illustrations Acknowledgements PROLOGUE 1
	ACT ONE. THE SHIP
Scene i
	Narrative
	Fatal Histories. Mr Bligh's Bad Language. Mr Christian's Lot. Sad Passions and Damned Oeconomy
Scene ii.	Reflection
	Some Cliometrics of Violence. Some Non-Cliometrics of Violence. ludicatio (law) and Coercitio (force). Dreams of Perfect Naval Discipline. Midshipmanship. Captaining. Texts for Discipline. White Jacket.
	ENTR'ACTE SHARKS THAT WALK ON THE LAND
	ACT TWO. THE BEACH
Scene i.	Narrative
	Between Land and Sea. An Icon of the Beach. Flags and Feather Girdles. Interlude: On Sacrifice. Another Sort of Altar Stone. Managing the Sublime.
Scene ii.	Reflection
	In the Name of the Revolution . . . of the King . . . of the President. Going Native. Possessing Others with a Laugh.
	ENTR'ACTE RALPH WEWITZER: THE FIRST `CAPTAIN BLIGH'
	ACT THREE. THE ISLAND
Scene i.	Narrative
	A Murderous Settlement. 'Innocence Better Imagined than Described'. 'Poore Orfing' Politics on Pitcairn
Scene ii.	Reflection
	Representation and the Contribution of Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson to Cultural Literacy
	EPILOGUE Notes Reference Bibliography Index

Illustrations
Figure 1.		Robert Dodd, 'Lieutenant Bligh Leaving the Bounty'.
Figure 2.		The Tomb of William Bligh.
Figure 3a-d.		Spaces of the Bounty.
Figure 4a— I.		The Faces of the Bounty.
Figure 5.		The Voyage of the Bounty to Tahiti.
Figure 6.		Tubuai and 'Fort George'.
Figure 7a—d.		The Launch Voyage.
Figure 8a—d.		Processions and Landings.
Figure 9a—e.		The Beach and Island of Tahiti.
Figure 10.		The Struggle between the Tahitians and the Dolphin at Matavai.
Figure 11a—d.		The God 'Oro and the Paraphernalia of his Presence.
Figure 12.		The Pandora's Last Voyage.
Figure 13.		The Wreck of the Pandora.
Figure 14.		Wallis Takes Possession of Tahiti from 'Queen Oberea'.
Figure 15.		Oberea, the Enchantress.
Figure 16.		Cook's Second Apotheosis.
Figure 17.		The Tahitian Prophet.
Figure 18.		The Bounty's Last Voyage.
Figure 19.		The Poore Orfing, John Adams.
Figure 20		Mr Bligh's Other Bad Language.
Figure 21.		The Real Gentleman Triumphs.

Spine area of wrapper	Front cover	Book's spine

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