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Malinowski and the cannibal

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by daniel, Dec 3, 2006.

  1. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski had a conversation with a cannibal (I believe on the Trobriand Islands) during World War I. The cannibal asked Malinowski how the Europeans could possibly eat the great number of people being killed in the war. Malinowski replied that they did not eat them at all. The cannibal was shocked, and told Malinowski that the Europeans were utterly barbaric, to kill so many people when they didn't even have any intention of eating them.

    Source: Peoples and Cultures of the World, a lecture series from The Teaching Company, taught by Professor Edward F. Fischer.

    I agree with the cannibal.
     
    #1 daniel, Dec 3, 2006
  2. MarinJohn

    MarinJohn Senior Member

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    I guess BBQ sauce hadn't hit the European markets yet.
     
    #2 MarinJohn, Dec 3, 2006
  3. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Dec 3 2006, 04:17 PM) [snapback]357154[/snapback]</div>
    So what's our excuse?
     
    #3 daniel, Dec 3, 2006
  4. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    Ever wonder where McDonald's new Soylent McGreen sandwiches come from?
     
    #4 Stev0, Dec 3, 2006
  5. fshagan

    fshagan Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Dec 3 2006, 03:06 PM) [snapback]357126[/snapback]</div>
    So who are you having "for dinner"? ;)

    Its a good story, and besides the anti-war theme (which I know resonates with you more than most of the rest of us), it does illustrate that even bad things can be done with the best of intentions.
     
    #5 fshagan, Dec 4, 2006
  6. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Dec 3 2006, 08:06 PM) [snapback]357126[/snapback]</div>
    This is why I'd have little hesitation if I were to find myself stuck somewhere in the Andes after a plane crash... :ph34r: We're essentially no different than any other mammal...
     
    #6 Mystery Squid, Dec 4, 2006
  7. MarinJohn

    MarinJohn Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Dec 3 2006, 06:59 PM) [snapback]357174[/snapback]</div>
    No white truffle shavings to add to the stew pot?
     
    #7 MarinJohn, Dec 4, 2006
  8. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

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    I just haven't found the right combination of spices yet... I'm always looking for volunteers to try out my new ideas on :p
     
    #8 eagle33199, Dec 4, 2006
  9. koa

    koa Active Member

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    Did you also agree with Jeffery Dahmer?
     
    #9 koa, Dec 4, 2006
  10. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(koa @ Dec 4 2006, 09:40 AM) [snapback]357429[/snapback]</div>
    His crime was the killing, not the eating.
     
    #10 daniel, Dec 4, 2006
  11. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

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    Plus, i never heard how he fixed his food... sautéed? grilled? What spices? :p

    Yes, the killing was the issue, societies view on cannibalism merely the headlines that brought in readers. When it comes right down to it, Many people have a problem with game hunting for pleasure - if you shoot a deer, eat the damn thing instead of just putting its head on your wall. but those same people don't have a problem when we go to war and kill thousands of people, only to bury them and let their bodies rot and turn to dust.
     
    #11 eagle33199, Dec 4, 2006
  12. fshagan

    fshagan Senior Member

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    Daniel, have you had any independent verification of the story? The reason I ask is that I seem to remember that most cannibalism was ritualistic in nature, and not for "daily sustenance". I don't have the references any longer, but I seem to remember that the idea of cannibals eating humans on a regular basis was more myth than fact. Anyone know?
     
    #12 fshagan, Dec 4, 2006
  13. Wildkow

    Wildkow New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Dec 4 2006, 08:39 PM) [snapback]357794[/snapback]</div>
    From my understanding the eating was ritualistic and usually involved the organs not so much the meat. The organs they believed gave them some kind of power.

    I would like to see (must eat all that you kill) added to the Geneva Convention that should cut down on the wars a bit. Sure gives a whole new meaning to the "Other White Meat" don't it?

    Wildkow
     
    #13 Wildkow, Dec 5, 2006
  14. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Dec 4 2006, 08:39 PM) [snapback]357794[/snapback]</div>
    The "story" is merely an anecdote, reported by Professor Edward F. Fischer in the above-referenced lecture series. I presume that Malinowski reports it in one of his books or articles. There can be no independent confirmation of the conversation.

    You are right, that most cannibalism is ritualistic. But there are examples of people being used as an actual food source. Apparently the Aztecs ate the people they sacrificed. Nominally the sacrifices were made to give strength to Huitzilopochtli (the sun) but it is believed that they were also an important contribution to the Aztec diet, explaining why the number had risen to 10,000 per year by the time of the Conquest.

    I presume the point of the anecdote was the cannibal's surprise at learning of the immense carnage of the war, which to him could have had only one conceivable purpose, and his shock at learning that the Europeans did not even avail themselves of that. We consider the cannibal barbaric for eating human flesh, but he considers us barbaric for killing millions of people and allowing that flesh to go to waste.

    By studying other cultures, anthropology allows us to get a glimpse of ourselves from an outside perspective. Whether or not this particular cannibal regularly ate whole people, his view of the world was that you should not kill more than you can eat. He viewed European society with the same disgust as a conservationist views a hunter who kills for fun and allows the carcas to rot.
     
    #14 daniel, Dec 5, 2006
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