On Cannibalism 9/29

#9/29/11: In Michel de Montaigne's 16th century work, "Of Cannibals" he discuses the popular Enlightenment era literary trope of cannibalism from a very interesting perspective. As is typical of Montaigne, and most French Philosophs of this period, Montaigne procures a critique of his own society by virtue of dissecting the culture and practices of another. Montaigne is not quite at the height of the Enlightenment when he writes; in fact, around 1580, when this work is said to have been published, many of the heroes of the Enlightenment were barely a thought in the minds of their ancestors. However, Montaigne's representation of cannibals in this work, as well as his novel approach to self-critique via an examination of an exotic culture, is surely one of the building blocks of Enlightenment thought, and can be seen clearly in both Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels, written many years later. Montaigne gives his account of what his French countryman Jean Jacques Rousseau would later coin as the "noble savage" in order to romanticize the crude practice of cannibalism, and in doing so, position it opposite the barbaric practices of torture and execution being used in Europe at the time. Montaigne admits that cannibalism is certainly a practice to be frowned upon, and that it is indicative of a savage culture, but he is clever in his subtle insinuation that the European continent is far more savage than these people in many ways. Montaigne lures the reader into agreeing that a culture that eats others must be savage and barbaric, but he immediately continues by pointing out that, savage as killing a man and roasting his corpse for consumption in a spiritual ceremonial fashion is, when we take a look at the practices being performed by Europeans, and he claims, being adopted by these savages themselves, we as Europeans are in no condition to pass judgment. Montaigne tells the reader of the conditions the victims live in after their capture as being very pleasant. According to Montaigne, during their captivity, the prisoners in these cannibalistic cultures are treated with a great deal of care, and during this time they take their own revenge on their captors, hurling insults and even singing insulting songs. He cites this level of creativity and inventiveness spurred by cannibalism, as well as the relatively humane way the captives are killed quickly before being cooked as savage acts. However, he then makes the comparison to Europe, where captives are tortured, mutilated, and treated inhumanely. He also decries the barbaric way in which prisoners are executed, even mentioning that in some European cultures, prisoners are cooked alive. Having made these comparisons, he very cleverly concludes that, while he can see no fault in calling these cannibals savages, if we are willing to do that, we must also be willing to conclude that, if we use our treatment of condemned prisoners as a guide, we as Europeans are a far, far more savage people.