ABSTRACT

This paper examines the relationship between the press and the construction of ‘enlightened’ public knowledge about – and imaginaries for – the emerging south in the period 1760–1777. It analyses the construction, nature, and forms of the putative Great Southern Continent in contemporary British newspapers and magazines, and offers some suggestions for how knowledge from navigators such as James Cook was given credence in the public domain back home. It draws parallels between the ‘new media’ of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment and those of the twenty-first century with their similar debates over who controls public (geographical) information, whom and how to trust, and why.

摘要

本文考察了 1760 年至 1777 年期间，新闻媒体与关于新兴南方的“开明”公共知识和想象之间的关系。它分析了当代英国报纸和杂志中假定的大南大陆的构造、性质和形式，并就如何让詹姆斯·库克等航海家的知识在国内的公共领域获得信任提供了一些建议。它将 18 世纪启蒙运动的“新媒体”与 21 世纪的“新媒体”进行了比较，后者在谁控制公共（地理）信息、谁以及如何信任以及为何信任的问题上进行了类似的辩论。