Tracing the origin of the stereotypical image of pirates
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Date
2021
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Publisher
Université Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
Although pirates' representation in art is drastically different from reality, yet not many
scholars and researchers have been interested in the subject. This research is among the few
attempts to investigate the origin of pirates' representation in literature and through the study
of one of the first novels that portray pirates, which is Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure
Island. Our thesis aims to show that the way pirates are depicted in Treasure Island
influenced their representation in the books published later. It is our assumption in this
research that Louis Stevenson is credited with creating new stereotypical images of the
pirates in his book. The second assumption is that his text had a significant impact on the
pirates' representation in other literary texts and even media. To conduct our research, we
relied on two major theories used in comparative literature, which are influence and
Intertextuality.Thus, It is our intention, in this research, to compare Louis Stevenson's novel
with the pirates' book One Piece for its Japanese magna Eiichiro Oda and also with The
Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (2003-2017) and Pirates (1986) in terms of their
representation of pirates and the aspects related to piracy. We would say, in brief, that this
research attempts to show the influence of Treasure Island on modern pirates' literature and media by highlighting the stereotypes that were not to become widespread without Treasure Island.
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Keywords
Media, Treasure Island, One Piece