Discourse without Discussion: Representations of Piracy in Colonial Indonesia 1816-25

Abstract

In colonial sources the designation and condemnation of certain indigenous acts of maritime violence as piracy are presented as self-evident. This confronts modern historiography with many problems of conceptualisation, interpretation and assessment. Discourse analysis may be an effective tool. Comparing divergent representations of piracy by Dutch administrators in colonial Indonesia shows how piracy was constructed in the confrontation of colonial and indigenous states.