THE FUSS ABOUT CANNIBALISM

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec asked, “Can the cannibal speak in the name of those he ate?” The answer is up to speculation, but undeniable are the new perspectives given by the cannibal. From Hannibal’s Chianti and fava beans to celestially-named families of hill people, cannibals have integrated themselves into cinema, literature, and newspaper headlines for centuries. But just what is the appeal? What is the fuss the all about?

Where better to start searching for answers than with the self-proclaimed “Godfather of Cannibals” himself, Issei Sagawa. Not only is Sagawa one of the most unashamed and brazen of all real life cannibals throughout history, he is one who went through the legal system to only get away with, quite literally, murder. Years before the sleazy talk show and soft-core porn magazine celebrity he’s known for today, his singular account of cannibalism was about to be committed.

While studying in France at the Sorbonne in 1981, a young woman by the name of Renee Hartevelt had the misfortune of Sagawa’s obsession falling on her. It was one evening when Hartevelt had come over to his apartment to read poetry as they sat on the bed that Sagawa realized his wants.  In his now out of print bestselling novel, In The Fog, he wrote of his thoughts as he sat next to her, “My passion is so great. I want to eat her. If I do she will be mine forever.  There is no escape from this desire.”  The next evening when she returned, Sagawa let her seat herself and as she was to begin reading the poetry, he shot her with a rifle in the back of her neck and she died instantly. Sagawa now had his meal ready to be prepared. But his own lack of preparedness on the subject emerged when he realized he had no idea how to prepare human flesh. So, like any other person, Sagawa grabs a knife and decides to start with the buttocks. He describes the experience by saying, “Suddenly a lot of sallow fat oozes from the wound. It reminds me of Indian corn. It continues to ooze. It is strange. Finally I find the red meat under the sallow fat. I scoop it out and put it in my mouth. I chew. It has no smell and no taste. It melts in my mouth like a perfect piece of tuna. I look in her eyes and say: 'You are delicious.'”

Enjoying the experience so immensely, the entire night he sampled various other body parts, all while using her underwear as a napkin. He mentions that her breast was disappointing because it was “too greasy.” He took many photos of her, indulged in some necrophiliac pleasures, and then went to sleep. The following days he picked his favorite delectables, including Hartevelt’s lips and buttocks, and then disposed of the rest in two suitcases. Not the smartest of criminals, he was soon caught, his apartment raided. Psychiatric evaluations followed and he was declared “incurable,” but then, because of the high cost of asylums, Sagawa was deported back to Japan where his wealthy industrialist father eventually got him cleared. It was then that his fame began, TV interviews, the aforementioned best selling book, being the inspiration behind The Rolling Stones song, “Too Much Blood,” and now in his later years, taking up painting. His art consists mainly of women and mostly centers on, none other than, the buttocks.  

Moving on to many years before Issei Sagawa’s fascination, the curiosity of one Mr. William Buehler Seabrook, a reporter in 1931, was sparked as to what human meat tasted like after a trip to West Africa. His dissatisfaction lingered after the trip where he had asked the tribe leader of the Guere people he stayed with what humans tasted like and the answer wasn’t good enough for him. So upon his return, he sought the aid of a hospital worker who gave him a piece of a body of a healthy cadaver who had died in an accident. With rice and stew, he prepared what he called a “sizeable rump steak” and ate the meal. This is description of the taste, “It was like good, fully developed veal, not young, but not yet beef. It was very definitely like that, and it was not like any other meat I had ever tasted. It was so nearly like good, fully developed veal that I think no person with a palate of ordinary, normal sensitiveness could distinguish it from veal. It was mild, good meat with no other sharply defined or highly characteristic taste such as for instance, goat, high game, and pork have. The steak was slightly tougher than prime veal, a little stringy, but not too tough or stringy to be agreeably edible. The roast, from which I cut and ate a central slice, was tender, and in color, texture, smell as well as taste, strengthened my certainty that of all the meats we habitually know, veal is the one meat to which this meat is accurately comparable.”

The eccentric life of Seabrook had begun far before his delving into cannibalism and would continue throughout his life. Aleister Crowley himself had stayed at Seabrook’s farm in 1920, Seabrook had traveled across the world to research his lifelong interest in Satanism and voodoo and in 1933 he committed himself to sanitarium for his alcoholism. Before dying of suicide by drug overdose in 1945, he had written over 10 books on all his experiences.

Globally speaking, we’ve covered the USA, France, and Japan. The next stop on our cannibalism caravan: Germany with the one & only “Butcher of Hanover.” From 1919 to 1924, Fritz Haarman began to satisfy his appetite via biting the necks out of young boys he lured back to his apartment with a total of at least 24 victims before he was done. The answer to what we all look like sliced up might lie in the fact that Haarman, to dispose of the remains, sold the human meat as pork. During his spree, he was not alone however, his partner Hans Grans, whom he lived with, would sell the clothes for him, however Grans would later claim that he had no involvement even though he was urged by Haarman to be a part of the killings. As would be expected, Haarman was finally caught when some of the skeletons from the parts he had kept and disposed of, washed up from a local river and was eventually connected to him. This was one of the first big murder trials in Germany and the media coverage was unimaginable. Although there was major speculation over the mental capacity and sanity of Haarman, he was put to death and was beheaded in 1925. 

Considering the consequences of cannibalism, the pull to take that first bite must truly be a strong one, so strong in fact, that our own bodies can’t sometimes resist.  Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome is a disorder that causes auto-cannibalism and other self-mutilating behaviors. Finger and lip biting are common side effects and 60% of those afflicted, have to have all their teeth removed so that they do not bite off their lips, cheeks, tongues, or other parts. Another disease called acute pancreatitis can sometimes result in the auto-digestion of the pancreas. Yes, this is a stretch, but how can we know if a subconscious cannibal is inside of us? 

To avoid being deemed pessimistic is there hope for the cannibals of the world? Well, Mark Nuckols certainly tried to create some with is 2005 invention of “Hufu.” In Nuckols own words its, “the healthy human flesh alternative for cannibals who want to quit.”  Starting the website advertising the product in May of 2005, Nuckols never quite stated whether it was all meant as a farce or not, letting the public decide. When asked how he could have ever thought up the idea, he said that it just came to him one night as he ate a Tofurky sandwich and read “Good To Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture” by anthropologist Marvin Harris on the topic of cannibalism. Despite the obvious appeal of the product, the website itself admitting it was, “a great convenience food for cannibals. No more Friday night hunting raids!” Nuckols closed the site in 2006 because of rising costs to keep it running.

At the end of the day, cannibals are still and, for all intensive purposes, will always be, enigmas in our societies and of those around the world.  Also, the true taste of human flesh itself seems to not be so clear or universal. Whether tuna, pork, veal, or tasteless, it’s apparent that not everything tastes like chicken in the realm of human carcass. But perhaps it’s the experience, not the flavor…the sight of a human torso next to the ice cube tray in the freezer. Who knows. But it seems America will continue to try and find out why as fascination and stigma run parallel into the future. Who will the next cannibal be to rear his or her head? What will the delicacy taste like to them? What name will they be branded with by the papers?  Again, who knows. But, I ask, if we are what we eat, then, aren’t cannibals just human after all?