Eating and Being Eaten

This innovative book is an open invitation to a
rich and copious meal of imagination, senses and desires. It argues
that cannibalism is practised by all and sundry. In love or in hate,
fear or fascination, purposefulness or indifference, individuals,
cultures and societies are actively cannibalising and being
cannibalised. The underlying message of: ‘Own up to your own
cannibalism!’ is convincingly argued and richly substantiated.

The book
brilliantly and controversially puts cannibalism at the heart of the
self-assured biomedicine, globalising consumerism and voyeuristic social
media. It unveils a vast number of prejudices, blind spots and shameful
othering. It calls on the reader to consider a morality and an ethics
that are carefully negotiated with required sensibility and sensitivity
to the fact that no one and no people have the monopoly of
cannibalisation and of creative improvisation in the game of
cannibalism. The productive, transformative and (re)inventive
understanding of cannibalism argued in the book should bring to the fore
one of the most vital aspects of what it means to be human in a dynamic
world of myriad interconnections and enchantments. To nourish and
cherish such a productive form of cannibalism requires not only a
compassionate generosity to let in and accommodate the stranger knocking
at the door, but also, and more importantly, a deliberate effort to
reach in, identify, contemplate, understand, embrace and become intimate
with the stranger within us, individuals and societies alike.