pre-reading
Good morning:)
I was called to practice last night and didn't get this post up in a timely manner. Thanks to those of you who commented on the entry below. From here on out, please add your response to the finals questions (12-15) for the pre-reading assignment here.
posted by erdecker @ 6:58 AM
18 comments
18 Comments:
hey hey hey it's always good to be number 1!
This essay about how these people are not as barbarious as English people really made sense to me because all of the points rang true. These people ate their enemies as a token of revenge, and that's it. English people torture and punish the body while it's still alive which to me is more horrific than eating a dead person. I side with the native people in this discussion.
This was pretty interesting.
I liked how it exposed the viewpoint that not all states of nature are bad, and how bringing people out of states of nature corrupts them. It is neat the way they are so dedicated to their customs and rituals, getting up early, fasting, hunting... even eating their enemies.
It was interesting to read an article about canibalism, when it's not really a topic of today's world. I understand the idea of eating for necessity, but what was the reason behind Montaigne's society'ls cannibalism? Whas there purpose bhind it that I just didn't pick up in the reading? I didn't know if revenge was their reason, or if that was only the reason for the Brazilian's actions...
katie b.
Yeah. Montaigne stated that the actions of his society, or the others' which his society admires, (torture, eating men alive, etc) are more barbarous compared to the cannibalistic or the cultural way of life of the Brazilians. However, his people failed to see this because they were so accustomed to their way of life. In effect, these people automatically label alien customs as barbaric or uncivilized. He effectively leads us to this point in the beginning of his essay: "As indeed we have no other aim of truth and reason than the example and idea of the opinions and customs of the country we live in." This ties in a lot with BNW. Although we may think that their (BNW society) way of life is barbaric, the universe in which the characters have live is the only world they know. I don't know if it makes any sense at all.... Oops bell just rang!
The essay offers an alternate viewpoint on society. It is one we wouldn't usually think of because we don't analyze the society we are raised in during our everyday lives. I agree that we should not automatically assume our form of society is the best
I'll tout the party line and say that "It was interesting" because it showed a alernate viewpoint from the commonly held one of the era. The "Old Worlders" just assumed that because the native Americans were different from them, they were savages. It's that one Pocahontas song, which goes "Savages, savages, barely even human. Savages, savages, killers to the core. They're different from us, which means they can't be trusted!..." etc. Aparently not everyone of the day was so ignorant, however. Way to be history revisionists, Disney.
This essay challenged a paradigm (collective groan from classmates) held by Montaigne's "civilized society." They believed that as a technologically advanced people, they were exempt from being considered barbarians. Way to go against the grain, Montaigne.
I think that the essay was intended not as much as a preference for "savage" culture over "civilized," but more as a warning for writers to avoid being hypocritical in their judgements. Obviously, Montaigne does admire several aspects of the more "natural" culture, such as the simplicity and joy of life had by natives. But he also spends a significant amount of time warning his fellow Europeans to not be so quick to embrace ethnocentric beliefs.
Montaigne exposes the alternative viewpoint, the definition of civilization is not absolute, and different cultures should not be feared.
After reading this article, I found myself wondering: Are we any less barbarous today than the depicted savages from hundreds of years ago? Obviously we don't eat eachother, but we still do many "barbarous" things. We seek revenge, we often show no respect for one another, we wage war on one another in attempt to force our views on one another... Are we even civiled now in the year 2007?
*** I meant 'civilized'. ;)
This essay was really interesting because Montaigne offered an objective outsider's viewpoint on his own society. Doing this must be quite challenging, because it would require detatching yourself from everything you are familiar with. Also, the way Montaigne describe the barbarous nature of the different cultures and societies was very detatched and analytical. I would think that it would be hard not to get worked up when discussing things like torture and cannibalism. Despite this, Montaigne is able to describe the varying degrees of cruelty different cultures inflict upon their enemies.
In general, I thought it was really impressive that Montaigne was able to admire the Brazilian culture despite all of it's differences from his own.
I admire Montaigne's ability to see through the paradigms (lololol) of his era and develop an unbiased picture of the situation. In addition, I enjoyed his comparisons of the "savages" to what was known as "civilized," and how he used them to point out the hypocrisy in defining other people as "barbaric."
I think it was interesting how throughout "Of Cannibals", Montaigne is able to "offer an alternate viewpoint" by criticizing the flaws of his own society through contrasts to other civilizations (Brazil) in order to, in a sense, liberate "judgementalism" (word?). He uses logic in order to substantiate his point that the accepted vision of the term "barbaric" is rather subjective and because of this, people should be less narrow-minded and judgemental toward different societies. "I am not sorry that we should here take notice of the barbarous horror of so cruel an action, but that, seeing so clearly into their faults, we should be so blind to our own. I conceive there is more barbarity in eating a man alive, than when he is dead; in tearing a body limb from limb by racks and torments, that is yet in perfect sense; in roasting it by degrees; in causing it to be bitten and worried by dogs and swine (as we have not only read, but lately seen, not amongst inveterate and mortal enemies, but among neighbours and fellow-citizens, and, which is worse, under colour of piety and religion), than to roast and eat him after he is dead." He makes the belief that cannibalism (roasting and eating a dead man) is less barbaric than the European torture of tearing "a body limb from limb by racks and torments". Montaigne's writings were thus interestingly challenging as he depicts the "civilized" European civilization as inferior, however "advanced" the Europeans believed themselves to be.
-Sabina Ceric
It's possible to look at "Of Cannibals" as an example of what was talked about in "The Tempest in Context" (writers are very much influenced by their time). Montaigne lived during the Renaissance, when religion was a big deal:
""I am ... grieved that prying so narrowly into our faults we are so blinded in ours." - Montaigne, "Of Cannibals"
"And why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye?" - Matthew 7:3, The New Testament
i thought this was really interesting and i completely agree with montaigne when he talks about how people can do more barbaric things then eating someone... i also liked how he made the brazilians seemed more "civilized" because i think they can be really misunderstood
Montaigne states that, "All our endeavours or wit cannot so much as reach to represent the nest of the least birdlet." But the irony is that Montaigne is an artist of sorts himself. A man who really believed that nature is better than art would probably be living a simple lifestyle, not writing three books of essays and exploring new forms of expression through writing.
1) "There is nothing in that nation that is either barbarous or savage, unless men call that barbarism which is not common to them."
Love it. Barbarism signifies all of the abnormalities in humans, but Montaigne points out that maybe they are not abnormal, but rather our thinking refuses to accept them.
2)"I am not sorry we note the barbarous horror of such an action, but grieved that prying so narrowly into their faults we are so blinded by ours."
Point being, we often times don't take time to notice our own faults, but rather point out everyone elses.
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