Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger - Hardcover

Klausmann, Ulrike; Meinzerin, Marion

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1551640597 ISBN 13: 9781551640594

Publisher: Black Rose Books, 1997

Synopsis

There have always been women among pirates and sea robbers. Metaphors of mysterious and destructive femininity may have perennially been assigned to the sea and its dangers, but the real women who sailed on ships steered them, sank with them, commanded them, even commandeered them have been ignored by a history written by and for patriarchal men.  Ample evidence of women pirates and even feminine piracy nonetheless abounds: beginning with ancient legends of Amazon sailors in several cultural traditions, and continuing uninterrupted through a wealth of confirmed historical figures, down to the present.  Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger is an account of piracy through three millennia, in histories of women and men sailing on four seas: the Chinese Straits, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean. Writing with passion and humour, but without romanticizing, or ignoring the unsavoury side of some of their heroines, the authors turn history on its head. Nor do they forget the practical details, even including genuine recipes for shark and other delights.  The volume is introduced by Gabriel Kuhn's essay on anarchism and piracy, "Under the Death's Head." Considering the history of Caribbean piracy and drawing on Stirner and Foucault among others, Kuhn describes a breaking out of structured obedience, an escape from perpetual supervision, a plunge into unpredictability, danger, "everything that makes strong, free action."

About this title

About the Author:

Klausmann is a freelance journalist in print media, radio and television.

Meinzerin, nurse and windsailing expert, has been researching the motives of sea robbers for many years.

Gabriel Kuhn is a freelance writer.

Meinzerin, nurse and windsailing expert, has been researching the motives of sea robbers for many years.

Gabriel Kuhn is a freelance writer.

About this edition

• Publisher: Black Rose Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1551640597
• ISBN 13: 9781551640594
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 298