Representations of Cannibalism: course description
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Jörg Dünne, Ludwig Maximilians Universität
Columbus' first voyage to the Caribbean in 1492, described today as the "discovery" of America, is also the starting point of a continuing discussion on the limits of civilization, for which, to some extent, the figure of the cannibal can be considered emblematic. The aim of the course is to focus on representations of cannibalism as a decisive transitional time in the history of the representation of the "other", at precisely the point when the rhetorical tradition of talking about cannibalism as a topos is confronted directly with the human beings considered as cannibals. The reading of fictional and historiographical texts (e.g. Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Hans Staden/Theodor de Bry, Jean de Léry, Michel de Montaigne, William Shakespeare) will be supplemented by inquiries into the visual representation of cannibals in paintings, on engravings, or on maps of that period. Finally, the course will, in the light of the findings reached, focus on important theoretical studies on cannibalism from the fields of ethnology, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies (e.g. Oswald de Andrade, Sigmund Freud, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Walter Arens).
