Pirate imageries and the law : utopias, seven seas and sunken treasures

Sadowski, Mirosław Michał (2024) Pirate imageries and the law : utopias, seven seas and sunken treasures. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique. (In Press) (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-024-10176-6)

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Abstract

Few phenomena in world history have such a vivid imagery in popular culture as piracy. Law is a major element of those images, whether looking through its lens one considers pirates as lawless or, conversely, as free of the shackles of society. This article proposes to investigate the relationship between the two, choosing three eponymous images as the focus of its investigations. Beginning with the study of the ways in which images of piracy were created in popular culture, the author then turns his attention to the question of the ways in which law has framed piracy throughout the ages. Thus, he looks into each of the three selected images: of pirates as symbols of liberty (focusing on the question of pirate’s social organisation and pirate utopias), of pirates as outlaws (focusing on the question of how international law has treated pirates throughout history) and of pirates as treasure hunters (focusing on the question of legal rights to sunken treasures). In the final part of the article the author ponders the endurance of images of piracy, asking the question as to what this phenomenon reveals about law in particular and society in general.

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