Fugitives, Smugglers, and Thieves explained

Fugitives, Smugglers, and Thieves: Piracy and Personhood in American Literature
Author:Sharada Balachandran Orihuela
Cover Artist:Thomas Buttersworth
Country:United States
Language:English
Subject:Piracy, illegal trade
Genre:Non-fiction
Publisher:University of North Carolina Press
Pub Date:2018
Pages:248
Isbn:978-1-4696-4092-1
Oclc:1083449498

Fugitives, Smugglers, and Thieves: Piracy and Personhood in American Literature is the debut book by Mexican academic Sharada Balachandran Orihuela. It was published by University of North Carolina Press in 2018. It explores piracy and illegal trade in American literature as a form of self-representation by colonial subjects facing abjection due to exclusionary citizenship and property laws.

Content

Balachandran Orihuela explores piracy and illegal trade in American literature. The exclusionary concepts of citizenship resulting in the social, political, and economic isolation of pirates impacts their "racial, national, and gendered identities." She uses the Two Treatises of Government and Commentaries on the Laws of England as the bases of property ownership. In her book, property is part of a "matrix of rights and claims for citizenship."[1] Balachandran Orihuela posits that certain minorities, slaves, and other colonial subjects disenfranchised by citizenship and property laws turned to piracy and illegal trade as a form of self-representation to combat abjection. Balachandran Orihuela investigated pirates, black slaves in the Antebellum South, Mexicans on the Mexico–United States border before the Mexican–American War, and Confederate blockade runners of the American Civil War.[2]

Reception

The book received positive literary reviews in Early American Literature and the Journal of American Studies.[3]

Author

Sharada Balachandran Orihuela, an Indian Mexican, was born in Mexico to Rosamaria Orihuela and Gopalan Balachandran.[4] Her father, an Indian academic, had studied at University of Wisconsin–Madison.[5] She is the granddaughter of civil servant P. V. Gopalan. Balachandran Orihuela started formal education in New Delhi and moved frequently between India, Mexico, and the United States. After moving to Oakland, California for college in 2001, Balachandran Orihuela's aunt, biomedical scientist Shyamala Gopalan, helped her cope with race relations in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and later influenced her intellectual trajectory. She is the cousin of lawyer Maya Harris and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.[6] Balachandran Orihuela completed a Bachelor of Arts in English at Mills College. In 2012, she earned a Ph.D. in English at University of California, Davis. Balachandran Orihuela joined the faculty at University of Maryland, College Park in September 2012.[7], she is an associate professor of English and comparative literature.

Notes and References

  1. Payton. Jason M.. 2019. Review. Early American Literature. en. 54. 2. 580–584. 10.1353/eal.2019.0051. 198773481. 1534-147X.
  2. Web site: Sharada Balachandran Orihuela. 2020-11-18. english.umd.edu. en.
  3. Williamson. C. B.. July 2020. Review. Journal of American Studies. en. 54. 3. 636–637. 10.1017/S0021875820000481. 225635095. 0021-8758.
  4. News: Balachandran Orihuela. Sharada. January 2012. Doctoral student highlight. 3. La Monarca. University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States. 2020-11-18. 2021-01-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20210128003628/https://ucmexus.ucr.edu/newsletter/La_Monarca_Vol_3.pdf. dead.
  5. Web site: Farrell. Liam. November 12, 2020. First Cousin. 2020-11-18. The University of Maryland Today. en-US. 2020-11-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20201113161213/https://today.umd.edu/articles/first-cousin-6ce2bda3-c5cb-49bb-8aa7-ea3c24bb5e5f. dead.
  6. Web site: Ganapathy. Nirmala. 2020-08-16. Kamala Harris' Indian roots remain in focus back home. 2020-11-18. The Straits Times. en.
  7. News: Sharada Balachandran Orihuela. The Chronicle of Higher Education.