Analysis Of The Book Of Cannibals - 1008 Words

History: Whose Story Is It? Interactions between people are often evaluated in terms of lands gained, lives lost, and valor earned, but there is an arguably more powerful spoil of war that is rarely discussed: the right to write the story. The victorious party gets to tell the tale, and indubitably the defeated are portrayed extremely negatively if at all. Consider the many extant ancient Spanish texts compared to the lack of decipherable Mayan texts: as part of their victory over the Mayans, the Spanish burned the Yucatan almanacs. Cultural genocide of this sort is not rare by any means; imperialism leaves a trail of extinct and dying cultures in its wake. The cannibalistic metaphor in Montaigne’s â€Å"Of Cannibals† as well as the essay itself illustrate how history is shaped by dominant narratives, made even more evident in King’s discussion of attitudes towards Native Americans in The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America. Montaigne’s description of natives consuming the defeated is analogous to European culture displacing native culture. Just as the prisoner-of-war sang that part of him is his captor’s ‘own fathers and grandfathers’ that he has previously consumed, the European domination of native culture became another chapter in European history. The flesh the prisoner consumed, however, did not retain its original shape. Instead, it was broken down and absorbed into his being. Similarly, the European subsummation of Native AmericanShow MoreRelatedThe Twentieth Century : Cannibals And Kings ( 1977 ) By Marvin Harris And Coming Of Age1297 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction This essay will discuss two major anthropological works of the twentieth century; Cannibals and Kings (1977) by Marvin Harris and Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) by Margaret Mead. Each of these works were pioneering in their contribution to anthropology, and both have also been widely criticized. Margaret Mead (1901-1978) is widely regarded as one of the most renowned, and controversial, anthropologists of her time, and helped popularize the discipline, especially in the USA where sheRead MoreWorld Events Influencing Shakespeare ¨s The Tempest Essay example1277 Words   |  6 Pageswhile the ‘Native’ is forced to accept whatever is handed to them. Likewise, the word ‘Caliban’ derives from the word ‘Carib’ or ‘Caribbean’, which was given to the natives of the islands bordering the Caribbean Sea. Strangely enough, the word ‘cannibal’ is also an anagram of ‘Caliban’ (William, 8). This suggests, that the name ‘Caliban’ in The Tempest, represents the islanders discovered in the â€Å"new world† by the Europeans. Furthermore, when Shakespeare included the scenes of Caliban, a nativeRead MoreA Study Of Culture And Marvin Harris Cultural Materialism1688 Words   |  7 Pagesguided by theory to generate explanatory value from encountered societies. This paper will examine two contrasting angles provided by Ruth Benedict’s configurational anthropology in Patterns of Culture and Marvin Harris’ cultural materialism in Cannibals and Kings. Whereas Benedict’s configurational anthropology approaches culture as an expressive art form, Harris’s cultural materialism explains the peculiarities of cultural customs as a process governed by environmental restraints and innovationRead MoreAnalysis : Cannibals With Forks The Triple Bottom Line Of 21st Century Business Essay912 Words   |  4 Pages3BL) is a bookkeeping context in 3 parts: Social, Enviro nmental (or ecological) and Financial. They are also known as 3 P’s - People, Planet and Profit, or â€Å"3 supports of sustainability. ANALYSIS, CHALLENGES CONFLICTS An expression created in 1994 by John Elkington then later used in his 1997 book Cannibals With Forks: The Triple Bottom Line Of 21st Century Business telling the distinct financial, social and environmental bottom lines of establishments. TBL measures establishment s economicRead MoreAnalyse Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe Within the Matrix of Some of the Features of 18th Century English Literature, Paying Particular Attention to How the Novel’s Thematic Preoccupation Is a Recogniztion as Well as a1561 Words   |  7 PagesRobinson Crusoe is a certified novel by Daniel Defoe, written in 1719. But before going into my analysis of the novel, it is important to remind ourselves some certain things about the 18th century period. â€Å"One thing that is certain despite the controversy that has been generated by the period is that like every succeeding period, the 18th century marks a turning point in the literary development of English Literature. Arguably it was in the 18th century in England that literature ceased to be exclusiveRead MoreSymbolic Elements in Moby Dick Essay1320 Words   |  6 Pagesrepresents a vast number of cultures all at once. He is first introduced to the reader as the man Ishmael (the narrator of the story) will have to share a bed with for the night. At their first encounter, Queequeg is portrayed as a horrifying savage and cannibal (Melville, 37) who seems ready and willing to attack Ishmael. . . . but what to make of this head-peddling purple rascal . . . his chest and arms . . . parts of him were checkered with the same squares as his face; his back too, was all overRead MoreEthnocentrism: with Whom Resides the Heart of Darkness?790 Words   |  4 Pagesbetween the Europeans and the newly discovered African natives in the book. Ethnocentrism 3 Critically lauded as one of the foremost novels of the twentieth century, Heart of Darkness has been deemed an ironic tale that contains an impressive contemplation on the relationship between ‘civilization and ‘barbarity. Yet, as time passes and new perspectives are born, Heart of Darkness has come into scrutiny as of late. In his analysis of the novel, Peter Mwikisa, a professor from the University ofRead MoreAnalysis Of When Jesus Came The Corn Mothers Went Away1265 Words   |  6 PagesSpanish, Franciscan and Pueblo Indian cultures throughout Spains â€Å"frontier† in its colonial American empire before Anglo contact. Gutierrez builds a foundation for his analysis by discussing Pueblo Indian life prior to outside contact, Franciscan theology, and the class structure of Spanish communities in each of its respective book sections. He examines meanings of the cultural interactions of gift exchange, ownership, trade, sexual rights, labor, kinship, social status, religious beliefs, and honorRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Heart Of Darkness By Chinua Achebe1364 Words   |  6 Pagescaricature of Africa and African culture. In Conrad’s book, Marlow, a sea captain, is tasked with venturing into the center of the Congo, otherwise known as the Heart of Darkness, to retrieve a mentally unstable ivory trader named Kurtz. Marlow narrates his adventures with a tinge of apathy for the enslaved Congolese who are repressed beneath the foot of the colonizing Belgians. In Heart of Darkness, the Africans are reduced to â€Å"savages† and cannibals with little or no moral values. It is Achebe’s argumentRead MoreCannibalism And Its Impact On Society1814 Words   |  8 Pageshuman’s earliest ancestors, Homo antecessor were recovered from a cave in Spain (indicating patrilocal mating habits in males) (Bowdler, 2010), providing evidence that supported the origin of cannibalism began with this species (Owen, 2010). Upon analysis of the bones salvaged it was determined that individuals were likely victims of cannibalistic activity prior or post mortem. This conclusion was attributed to the fact all family members had similar markings on their bones from stone tools , which