Eating and being eaten : cannibalism as food for thought / edited by Francis B. Nyamnjoh

Published: Mankon, Bamenda, Cameroon : Langaa Research & Publishing CIG, [2018]
Copyright Date: ©2018
Physical Description: 1 online resource (x, 332) : illustrations
Additional Creators: Nyamnjoh, Francis B., 1961-

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Contents

Introduction: Cannibalism as food for thought / Francis B. Nyamnjoh -- The violence of translating people into cannibals : the man-eating anthropologists / Andreas Buhler -- Incorporated or cannibalised by posthuman others? : sanctions and witchcraft in contemporary Zimbabwe / Artwell Nhemachena & Maria Kaundjua -- 'The body of Christ? Amen' : Christianity and the cannibalisation of the Bamenda grassfielders (Cameroon) / Walter Gam Nkwi -- Researching cannibalising obligations in post-apatheid South Africa / Ayanda Manqoyi -- Lehu la gago le ya mphidisha = Your death nourishes me / Veronica Dimakatso Masenya -- Rainbow nation of the flesh / Dominique Santos -- My African heart : the obscure gourmandise of an enlightened man / Moshumee T. Dewoo -- Consumerisation of cannibalism in contemporary Japanese society / Akira Takada.

Summary

This innovative book is an open invitation to a rich and copious meal of imagination, senses and desires. It argues that cannibalism is practised by all and sundry. In love or in hate, fear or fascination, purposefulness or indifference, individuals, cultures and societies are actively cannibalising and being cannibalised. The underlying message of: 'Own up to your own cannibalism!' is convincingly argued and richly substantiated. The book brilliantly and controversially puts cannibalism at the heart of the self-assured biomedicine, globalising consumerism and voyeuristic social media. It unveils a vast number of prejudices, blind spots and shameful othering. It calls on the reader to consider a morality and an ethics that are carefully negotiated with required sensibility and sensitivity to the fact that no one and no people have the monopoly of cannibalisation and of creative improvisation in the game of cannibalism. The productive, transformative and (re)inventive understanding of cannibalism argued in the book should bring to the fore one of the most vital aspects of what it means to be human in a dynamic world of myriad interconnections and enchantments. To nourish and cherish such a productive form of cannibalism requires not only a compassionate generosity to let in and accommodate the stranger knocking at the door, but also, and more importantly, a deliberate effort to reach in, identify, contemplate, understand, embrace and become intimate with the stranger within us, individuals and societies alike. --

Subject(s)

ISBN

9789956550739 (electronic bk.)
9956550736 (electronic bk.)
9956550965
9789956550968

Bibliography Note

Includes bibliographical references and index.

View MARC record | catkey: 43283112