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Savagism and civilisation: The Iranun, globalization and the literature of Joseph Conrad
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Savagism and civilisation: The Iranun, globalization and the literature of Joseph Conrad

J.F. Warren
Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol.LXXIV(Part 1), pp.43-69
2001
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Abstract

Lanun. The name struck fear into the hearts and minds of riverine and coastal populations across Southeast Asia nearly two centuries ago. Recently, ethno-historical research has shown that where Lanun or Iranun maritime raiding is concerned, old traditions die hard. The terror of the sudden, harsh presence of these well-armed alien raiders lives on in the oral recollections, reminiscences, popular folk epics and drama of the victims' descendants in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia to this day. Only in one part of the globe, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, did Europeans find 'piracy' flourishing extensively, pursued as a calling, not by individuals, as was the case with most of those who had followed the profession of buccaneering in the West, but by entire communities and states with who it came to be regarded as the most honourable course of life - a profession.

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