This discussion addresses the following outcome:
Review the historiography of Atlantic piracy and the ways in which it has intersected with popular imagery (CO#5)
In this discussion, we will examine the ways that the real history and the fictional representations of pirates have changed over time and in some cases become intertwined. Pennell’s first chapter in Bandits at Sea tackles the historiography of pirates, which is the “history of the history”, or the evolution of scholarship on the subject.
Before beginning this discussion, read Chapter 1 (Links to an external site.) of Pennell and Chapter 1 of Rediker. Then consider the following questions in a post of at least 250 words:
According to Pennell, how has the study of the history of piracy changed over time? In what ways did it become intertwined with a romanticized and fictional representation of pirates?
Do you agree with the following statement by Marcus Rediker: “Pirates were terrorists of a sort. And yet we do not think of them that way. They have become, over the years, cultural heroes, perhaps antiheroes and at the very least romantic and powerful figures in an American and increasingly global popular culture” (pg 5-6)? Why or why not?
