Richard, I'd like to weigh in on this one. Recently some solid anthropological, historical, folklore, and African Studies work has cast doubt on whether cannibalism was really practiced among any groups of human persons on the planet . . . barring the extreme sado-masochistic behaviors recently in the news in Europe and the U.S.
It appears that past reports that purported to document actual cannibalism as an acceptable practice among various tribal groups may have been the result of outside anthropologists and ethnographers being told tall tales in the bush. Currently, this is a loaded topic since it calls into questions much of the work of past and current scholars. I imagine that this will become clear over the course of the decade. If, in fact, it does pan out that no peoples literally practiced cannibalism (literally eating other humans), then 'Abdu'l-Baha's comment would need to be taken more broadly. Of course, the science of the day affirmed such cannibalism in Africa. One of the problems we have in Native Studies is sifting through the past 100 plus years of ethnographic work to determine which work is reliable, questionable, problematic, or downright spurious. By the way, does anyone online here remember the name of the anthropologist whose work last year created quite a stir in the news on this topic? All the best to everyone, Susan Dr. Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez, Professor of English Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625 U.S.A. [EMAIL PROTECTED]; (309) 677-3888; fax (309) 677-2330 -----Original Message----- From: Richard H. Gravelly [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 6:22 PM To: Baha'i Studies Subject: Re: Reflections Thank you Susan, Why would I look at Abu'l-Baha's statement regarding cannibalism amongst the men of the Sudan as hyperbole? Why would a statement of fact be hyperbole in your view? Richard. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
