Divine Hunger

Thepracticeofcannibalismisincertainculturesrejectedasevil,whileinothersitplaysacentralpartintheritualorder.Anthropologistshaveofferedvariousexplanationsfortheexistenceofcannibalism,noneofwhich,PeggySandayclaims,isadequate.Inthisbookshepresentsanewapproachtounderstandingthephenomenon.Throughadetailedexaminationofritualcannibalisminselectedtribalsocieties,andacomparisonofthosecaseswithothersinwhichthepracticeisabsent,sheshowsthatcannibalismiscloselylinkedtopeople'sorientationtotheworld,andthatitservesasaconcretedevicefordistinguishingthe'culturalself'fromthe'naturalother'.CombiningperspectivesdrawnfromtheworkofRicoeur,Freud,Hegel,andJungandfromsymbolicanthropology,Sandayarguesthatritualcannibalismisintimatelyconnectedbothwiththeconstructsbywhichtheoriginandcontinuityoflifeareunderstoodandassuredfromonegenerationtothenextandwiththewayinwhichthatunderstandingisusedtocontrolthevitalforcesconsiderednecessaryforthecannibalisminaculturederivesfrombasichumanattitudestowardlifeanddeath,combinedwiththerealitiesofthematerialworld.Aswellasmakinganoriginalcontributiontotheunderstandingofthesignificanthumanpractice,Sandayalsodevelopsatheoreticalargumentofwiderrelevancetoanthropologists,sociologists,andotherreadersinterestedinthefunctionandmeaningofcannibalism.