Sacred Hunger (As Cannibalism in Cultural Systems)

Author: [USA] Sandy, written by, translated by Zheng Yuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Cannibalism is resisted in some cultures due to its evil, while in others, it plays a significant role in ritualistic rules. Although anthropologists have proposed various explanations for the existence of cannibalism, P.R. Sandy believes that none are fully sufficient. In this book, she proposes a new approach to understanding cannibalistic phenomena. Through an exhaustive examination of ritualistic cannibalism in selected tribal societies and comparative analysis of cases without cannibalistic practices, she demonstrates that cannibalism is closely linked to certain fundamental tendencies toward the material and spiritual worlds and serves as a specific means of distinguishing the "cultural self" from the "natural other." Drawing on ideas from the works of Ricoeur, Freud, Hegel, Jung, and symbolic anthropology, she argues that ritualistic cannibalism expresses the ontological structure of human existence in the world based on people's understanding of life and death, and employs this understanding to control life force, which is considered necessary for social reproduction. The presence or absence of cannibalism in a culture stems from fundamental human attitudes toward life and death and is intertwined with the reality of the material world. This book not only makes original contributions to the understanding of cannibalism and the broader anthropological issues it entails but also offers some quite pertinent theoretical perspectives on general anthropological analysis.