Venus Rising: The uses of Tahiti in the European Imagination

Anthony Pagden is a political theorist whose main concern is in the political theory of empire, especially in how the West sought to explain to itself how and why it had come to dominate so much of the world, and in the present consequences of the erosion of that domination. He has also written widely about cosmopolitanism, nationalism, internationalism, and about the history and the future of the European Union. He is the author of more than a dozen books many of which have been translated into a number of European and Asian languages.

In this lecture, Pagden explains that much of his interest lies in the fictionalized Tahiti created by European romanticization of the island. He discusses Louis-Antoine de Bougainville’s voyage to Tahiti, his claim of the island for France, and the Tahitian man, Ahutoru, that he brought back to France. Pagden discusses French high society’s reaction to Ahutoru, the contemporary explanations for why he could not learn English, and his appreciation for opera. He also explores Denis Diderot’s response to Bougainville’s book, Supplément au voyage de Bougainville, especially Diderot's particular interest with the sexual culture of Tahitian people, using their non-monogamous and sexually open culture to criticize Christian values and restrictions and to point to a fulfillment of a society dedicated to achieving human pleasure.