Cannibalism (redirected from Canibal)

cannibalism (kăn`ĭbəlĭzəm) [Span. caníbal, referring to the Carib], eating of human flesh by other humans. The charge of cannibalism is a common insult, and it is likely that some alleged cannibal groups have merely been victims of popular fear and misrepresentation. Nevertheless, archaeological research suggests that ancient societies did practice cannibalism, and it has been observed in Africa, North and South America, the South Pacific islands, and the West Indies. Widespread cannibalism is usually not found in state-level societies, which have the means to tax and control surplus labor. Nevertheless, one of the most famous cases of cannibalism is that of the Aztecs, who sacrificed their prisoners of war and undoubtedly ate some of them. According to available evidence, most authorities consider the partaking of human flesh almost always to be a ritual practice. A minority of anthropologists, however, believe cannibalism emerged as a cultural response to chronic protein shortages. In modern Western society, cannibalism is commited only by the deranged or by people who otherwise face death from starvation (see Donner Party). In contrast, various traditional cultures are known to have encouraged their members to eat part of their kinsmen's corpses out of respect for the deceased in a practice known as endocannibalism. For example, Foré women of New Guinea, who dispose of the dead, ritually ate their deceased relatives' brains. Some anthropologists believe that head-hunting evolved from cannibalism. Among a few peoples the head of the enemy is preserved and the rest of the body or selected parts of it are eaten; this may represent a connecting link between cannibalism and head-hunting. The term cannibalism is also used in zoology to describe species who prey upon their own kind, such as lions, crabs, ants, and some kinds of fish.

Bibliography

See P. Brown and D. Tuzin, ed., The Ethnography of Cannibalism (1983); A. W. B. Simpson, Cannibalism and the Common Law (1984).

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cannibalism

The usually ritualistic eating of human flesh by humans. The term derives from the Spanish name (Caríbales or Caníbales) for the Carib people, first encountered by Christopher Columbus. Reliable firsthand accounts of the practice are comparatively rare, causing some to question whether full-blown cannibalism has ever existed. Most agree that the consumption of particular portions or organs was a ritual means by which certain qualities of the person eaten might be obtained or by which powers of witchcraft and sorcery might be exercised. In some cases, a small portion of the dead person was ritually eaten by relatives. Headhunters (see headhunting) sometimes consumed bits of the bodies or heads of deceased enemies. The Aztecs apparently practiced cannibalism on a large scale as part of the ritual of human sacrifice.

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cannibalism

In zoology, the eating of any animal by another member of the same species. Certain ants regularly consume injured immatures and, when food is scarce, eat healthy immatures; this practice allows the adults to survive the food shortage and live to breed again. Male lions taking over a pride may kill and eat the existing young. After losing her cubs the mother will become impregnated by the new dominant male, thereby ensuring his genetic contribution. Aquarium guppies sometimes regulate their population size by eating most of their young.

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Cannibalism

Alive

account of cannibalism among air crash survivors. [Am. Lit.: Alive]

Antiphates

chieftain of Laestrygones, man-eating giants of Italy. [Gk. Lit.: Odyssey; Rom. Lit.: Metamorphoses]

Beane, Sawney

highwayman who fed his gang on victims’ flesh. [Br. Culture: Misc.]

black giants

kill, roast, and devour Sindbad’s companions. [Arab. Lit.: Arabian Nights in Magill II, 50]

Caliban

his name is anagram of cannibal. [Br. Lit.: The Tempest]

Clymenus

eats child who is product of incestuous union with daughter Harpalyce. [Gk. Myth.: Howe, 114]

Cronos

swallowed his children at birth; they lived again when he was forced by Zeus to disgorge them. [Gk. Myth.: EB (1963) VI, 747]

Donner Party

of 89 emigrants to California, 47 survive by eating others (1846-1847). [Am. Hist.: EB, III: 623]

Hansel and Gretel

fattened up for child-eating witch. [Ger. Fairy Tale: Grimm, 56]

Laestrygones

man-eating giants encountered by Odysseus. [Gk. Lit.: Odyssey]

Lamia

female spirit in serpent form; devours children. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 146; Br. Lit.: “Lamia” in Benét, 563]

Lycaon

turned to wolf for cannibalistic activities; whence, lycanthropy. [Gk. Myth.: Espy, 37]

Modest Proposal, A

Swift’s satire suggesting that children of the poor be used as food for the rich (1729). [Br. Lit.: “A Modest Proposal” in Harvey, 793]

Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, The

for four days, survivors feed on Parker’s flesh. [Am. Lit.: Poe, “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym” in Magill I, 640–643]

Pelops

cut up and served as meal to gods. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 817]

Tereus

wife Procne murders son Itys and serves him to Tereus. [Gk. Myth.: Howe, 144]

Thyestean banquet

banquet where Atreus serves Thyestes’ sons to him as food. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 1081]

Ugolino

when his children die of starvation in prison, he devours them. [Ital. Poetry: Inferno]