During the mid 1500's, French nobleman Michel de Montaigne1 travelled from Europe to the newly 'found' American territories. There he was met with the newly colonized peoples of the
Americas, also known as the Brazilian "barbarians", a term coined by the Europeans2 whom had traveled there. Montaigne quickly shaped his own view of this group of peoples, and almost as quickly put his opinion in front of many noble Europeans in the form of an essay known as "Of
Cannibals"3
. His essay challenged the haughty denigration of the Brazilian cannibals that had grown to be so common among Montaigne's contemporaries, but not by arguing that cannibalism was a morally acceptable practice. Rather, Montaigne made the more provocative claim that, as barbaric as the Brazilian cannibals may have been, they were not nearly as barbaric as the sixteenth century Europeans themselves.
"I find that there is nothing barbarous or savage in this nation according to what I have been told, except that everyone gives the title of barbarism to everything that is not according to his usage..."4 Europeans, upon finding the Brazilian natives, assumed that because of the nature in which they lived5
, that they were in fact wild like animals and needed to be taught how to live properly. The word barbarian became almost synonymous with the Brazilian peoples and
Montaigne had an issue with this. He saw that the Brazilian peoples were far less barbaric than what the Europeans thought they were, and clearly refutes this in the document.6
"They are savages in the same way that we say fruits are wild, in which nature produces of herself and by her ordinary course."7
Montaigne had the proper idea in viewing the Brazilians, he knew that they wer...
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...ding Montaigne in postmodern perspective. Volume 16, Issue 1-2, pp. 51-68. Kluwer
Academic Publishers.
This journal was very interested and helped in my readings. I didn't actually quote from it, as there wasn't really anything specific I wanted to add to my paper from this. It viewed Montaigne from a postmodern view, and it opened up further perspectives for me to view the topic that he speaks about. It changed my view and opinion on the matter slightly, which is why I have included it here. It pertains to my subject and helped me focus my studies.
Zweig, Stefan. Montaigne. Frankfurt: Fischer. 2008.
This novel describes many things about Montaigne, it talks about his life, his voyages and many other interesting topics. Of course it dabbles into his essay on cannibalism, and this is where it became most relevant to my studies. Very interesting read.
To certain issues, I have a better understanding of not only how to approach it, but why it may occur. After reading his writings, I felt that I knew the personality of Hancock since the book included plenty of personal stories (e.g., of his parents and his children) and he had a distinct writing style. Although I may subjectively dislike this writing style since it appeared to be excessively verbose (i.e., he could say what he is trying to convey in fewer words), the book remains beneficial.
There is evidence in both Lord of the Flies and A Separate Peace that display the savagery of man. In Lord of the Flies there is savagery found when the choir boys and most of the bigguns separate from Ralph’s authority and form their own tribe. In A Separate Peace, savagery is found in unnamed characters during Leper’s war experience - he feels such a need to escape from evil and savagery in the war that he takes the risk and actually does. In both of these novels, the archetype and motif of savagery is present in young boys, ultimately resulting in the downfall and degenerating of man.
In relation to the text as a whole, it is a perfect explanation of what Montaigne declared earlier in the chapter as the cannibals’ motto: “ la vaillance contre les ennemis et l’amitié à leurs femmes”. The latter part may be contested from a feminist perspective, but both parts of the passage help the reader achieve a greater understanding of the text and of 16th century Brazilian culture, in regards to the ways in which they treat their enemies, and their
We must begin with Brazil’s history in order to understand the problem and how it came to exist. During the year 1500, Brazil was “discovered” by the Portuguese. The Portuguese saw the indigenous people as “savages” because they did not look or dress like Europeans. Hence, the idea that indigenous people are “savages” help influence the Portuguese that indigenous people need to be controlled and become more civilized. During the 16th century the Portuguese used “black” slaves to work in plantations to increase trading in Europe. After the year 1850 slave trade was abolished, but the Portuguese continued to bring slaves from Africa, illegally. Edward Eric Telles states, “Roughly three hundred years later, when the slave trade ended in 1850, 3.6 million African Americans had been brought to Brazil as slaves, ...
By that point in time the Brazilian music scene was split into two. One side consisted of the traditionalists who were supported by both the conservative establishment as well as the leftist opposition, led by intellectuals, the cultural elite and students. They opposed all foreign influences on Brazilian music. Most artists at the time either supported or followed the “rules” set by the traditionalists. The other side were those who were fans of English and American music (Perrone, Dunn 96-97).
A grotesque body is one that is open, sickly, comprised of many parts, and overflows in excess. In Montaigne’s Of the Caniballes, Europeans view figures of cannibalism as the Native inhabitants of the New World. The consumption of humans involves opening up the contained body, allowing its inner parts to be abjected beyond its internal boundaries. For colonizers, participants of cannibalism are barbarians who eat their victims by transforming their classical bodies into grotesque forms. As a result, these cultural practices make them inferior and savage compared to the modern Europeans. However, in reality, Europeans are also closely related to cannibalistic practices. A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies written by Las Casas show how Spaniards are barbaric in their character. They lack control and engage in a series of horrific excesses due to their insatiable hunger for power and
...e by the desire to hunt and kill and how they are putting themselves at risk by venturing into unknown, unsafe land. Hence, the reoccurring them that humans are naturally savage is evident in this passage. With savagery comes danger, reinforcing the feeling that the boys will encounter trouble.
Our fore fathers experienced the cruelty of barbarians. Barbarians are members of a people considered by those of another nation or group to have a primitive civilization. They were of a fierce, brutal, and cruel person. The ugly side of the barbarians are there cruelty, insensitive, uncultured person and uncaring nature. The best adjective that I can think of to describe them is to call them a boor. They burned homes and left children and families homeless time and time again.
Typical Western thought directs people to examine the practices of cannibalism as savage and primitive. More often than not, this type of association exists because the people viewing the action are frightened and confused by that which they do not understand. In fact, some would even claim that, “cannibalism is merely a product of European imagination” (Barker, 2), thereby completely denying its existence. The belief that cannibalism goes against “human instinct”, as seen in many literary works including Tarzan, reduces those who practice it to being inhuman. (Barker, 1) However, scientific findings demonstrate that those who practice cannibalism are still human despite their difference in beliefs; therefore, not only can rationalization be extrapolated from those who practice the act of cannibalism, but also denying the fact of the participant’s very humanity has been undermined through scientific findings.
the discovery of the new lands which later became known to be America. In his First
With her time with the Wari’ in South America, Conklin expected to learn more of how illnesses affected varying cultures. In the end she found herself studying a whole differing topic with one of the few remaining societies that could remember back when they practiced both endo- and exo- cannibalism. While with the Wari’, Conklin managed to connect the practice of cannibalism to the burials of the rest of the world. Overall she does meet her intended purpose of studying the culture while learning more about their varying cultural norms.
a positive one. I enjoyed his book and I respected him as a person as well as a speaker. Homer
...s the superiority of the former to the latter; in the second case, he greatly decreases the distance between the two groups and the level of superiority that Brazilians have over Europeans. Finally, his essay, as a whole, ultimately reinstates a great distance between the two groups, and Europeans reclaim superiority over Brazilians. Notably, in the first two cases, nature is also elevated above art, but art finally subjugates nature. Perhaps this is because Montaigne identifies with “Lycurgus and Plato… [who] could [not] believe that our society could be maintained with so little artifice and human solder” (153). Montaigne’s essay suggests that he relies on the artifice of his writing and interpretations to explore and define social groups, explore and establish social hierarchies, and maintain social order in a manner that ultimately favors him and his people.
Montaigne presents the view of his countrymen, who are as barbaric as a cannibalistic society. I used this article to show the similarity between what he is criticizing and what Narby is.
In Montaigne’s essay On the Cannibals, the critical analysis of European and Brazilian societies through the scope of the “other” establishes the distinction between the two worlds. However, the definitions of “self” and “other” quickly become blurred as Montaigne connected more synonymous aspects in governance and functioning of the two groups of people. By labeling the outsiders as the “self” and accepting their formalities as the norm, he undermines the Europeans as the “other” and uses the Barbarians to examine the civilized with an untainted perspective, enabling close scrutiny and analysis of both societies. It is through this definition that Montaigne is initially able to offer criticism of the ignorance of European arrogance and assumed superiority over the Barbarians. Montaigne concludes that the civilized and uncivilized both possess aspects that deviate from the idealized state of purity of Nature. The Europeans are far more corrupted but upon further introspection, the Cannibals are evolving towards the same nature of developing a more inorganic society. Therefore, the definition of the “self” offers a more profound understanding of the Barbarians and dismisses the importance of Montaigne’s society while stating the inevitability of transitioning to a more developed culture like the Europeans by the Barbarians.