Analyze Key concepts of book:`The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the Pacific`

Situational Overdetermination in The Apotheosis of Captain Cook

by Gananath Obeyesekere

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Situational Overdetermination in The Apotheosis of Captain Cook

by Gananath Obeyesekere

With authority from the English monarch , Captain Cook and his crew left Plymouth on July 12 , 1776 on board in Resolution and the Discovery . The primary motive of the journey was to determine whether there was a passage above the North American continent . Captain Cook sailed to Africa , Australia , New Zealand , and Tahiti . He also discovered ' and named Christmas Island and went to

the Hawaiian Islands . After which , he sailed to Alaska

On his way back to Plymouth (a part of the thirteen colonies , Captain Cook returned to the Hawaiian Islands to resupply his ships . He named the islands The Sandwich Isles ' after his longtime friend , John Montague , the Earl of Sandwich . While searching for a safe harbor , Cook landed in the so-called Kealakekua Bay ' on the coast of the Big Island . The natives were surprised to see Captain Cook . The natives held a feast for Captain Cook which they regarded as the representative of Lono , the god of fertility and harvest

It was also during Cook 's arrival that all wars ceased and competitions were held to show respect and honor to the representative of Lono The natives gave special items to Cook and his crew (Cook here was treated as a god . Ceremonies were held to uphold the divinity of Captain Cook and to hope for a better future . In addition , the natives offered sacrifices to other gods , considered to be affiliates ' of Lono . The natives hoped for continued blessings of the gods

Definition of Situational Overdetermination

Thus , when Captain Cook returned to Plymouth , his ships were filled with goods given by the natives . In addition , Captain Cook was rewarded by the English monarch wealth and position in the British Empire . In Captain Cook 's dealings with the natives of Hawaii , there was what Gananath Obeyesekere called situational Overdetermination Situational Overdetermination is a particular conjunction of events renders appropriate a specific definition of the situation (Obeyesekere , 1992 : 97 . The conjunction of events here included Cook 's arrival in the Hawaiian Islands , the activation of ancient religious rituals to honor the arrival of a god , the cessation of Maui wars (in honoring the gods , there was a need to cease human activities that destroy relationship with the divine , and the assumption of leadership of the chief priest of Lono in the spiritual activities

Significance of the Encounter Between Cook and the Natives

The encounter between Captain Cook and the Hawaiian natives was according to the author , a continuation of Western mythological tradition ' To put it in simpler terms , the encounter was a form of voluntary renunciation of the old religion and morality and acceptance of the new one . However , with the onslaught ' of Western missionaries in the Hawaiian Islands , and the destruction of the old religion arrival ' acquired a new meaning . It means relative acceptance of new beliefs by covering it as a continuation...