| dc.description.abstract | This thesis argues that to understand Cowan the historian, his interest in
history and his way of writing history, one must return to the roots of his
writing – his journalism. Cowan’s adroit penmanship meant that his history
writing existed in close parallel to his journalism. His writing style varied little
between the two areas, which meant that he reached a wide group of readers
regardless of their reading level or tastes. His favourite topics included travel
writing and recent history, that is, history in his lifetime. For a better
understanding of how and why he wrote, some key aspects of his life and career
have been selected for study. These aspects include his childhood, his early
journalism as a reporter for the Auckland Star, and his later journalism for
Railways Magazine. Finally, his legacy is considered from the viewpoint of his
colleagues and contemporaries.
Cowan the journalist was the making of Cowan the historian, and to better
understand the strengths of his histories one must appreciate his journalistic
background. Past and present cannot be easily separated, and his historical
work becomes more clearly articulated in the present with the discovery of
previously unknown material from the nineteenth century and representing a
quarter of his journalism output. That material has can now be appreciated for
what it is – as the wellspring of his writing, the original source of his histories. | en_US |
