A brief history of cannibalism - Bill Schutt

Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

15th century Europeans believed they had hit upon a miracle cure:

Evropljani su u 15. veku verovali da su pronašli čudesan lek:

a remedy for epilepsy, hemorrhage, bruising, nausea,

sredstvo za epilepsiju, krvarenje, modrice, mučninu

and virtually any other medical ailment.

i skoro svaki drugi zdravstveni problem.

This brown powder could be mixed into drinks, made into salves

Ovaj smeđi prah se mogao pomešati sa pićem, pretvoriti u melem

or eaten straight up.

ili se pojesti bez ičega.

It was known as mumia and made by grinding up mummified human flesh.

Bio je poznat kao mumija i pravljen je mlevenjem mumificiranog ljudskog mesa.

The word "cannibal" dates from the time of Christopher Columbus;

Reč „kanibal“ datira iz vremena Kristofera Kolumba;

in fact, Columbus may even have coined it himself.

zapravo, možda ju je skovao sam Kolumbo.

After coming ashore on the island of Guadaloupe,

Po dolasku na obalu ostrva Gvadalupe,

Columbus' initial reports back to the Queen of Spain

prvi Kolumbovi izveštaji kraljici Španije

described the indigenous people as friendly and peaceful—

opisivali su domoroce kao prijateljske i miroljubive,

though he did mention rumors of a group called the Caribs,

mada je pomenuo glasine o grupi zvanoj Karibi,

who made violent raids and then cooked and ate their prisoners.

koji su vršili nasilne napade i zatim kuvali i jeli svoje zatvorenike.

In response, Queen Isabella granted permission to capture and enslave

Kao odgovor na to, kraljica Izabela je dozvolila da se uhvati i zarobi

anyone who ate human flesh.

svako ko jede ljudsko meso.

When the island failed to produce the gold Columbus was looking for,

Kada ostrvo nije uspelo da proizvede zlato koje je Kolumbo tražio,

he began to label anyone who resisted his plundering and kidnapping as a Caribe.

počeo je da svakoga ko se opirao pljački i otmici etiketira kao Kariba.

Somewhere along the way, the word "Carib" became "Canibe" and then "Cannibal."

Nekako je vremenom reč „Karib“ postala „Kanibe“ i potom „kanibal“.

First used by colonizers to dehumanize indigenous people,

Najpre su je kolonizatori koristili da bi dehumanizovali domoroce,

it has since been applied to anyone who eats human flesh.

a od tada se upotrebljava za svakog ko jede ljudsko meso.

So the term comes from an account that wasn't based on hard evidence,

Dakle, termin proističe iz izveštaja koji nisu zasnovani na čvrstim dokazima,

but cannibalism does have a real and much more complex history.

ali kanibalizam ima stvarnu i mnogo složeniju istoriju.

It has taken diverse forms— sometimes, as with mumia,

Imao je različite oblike - ponekad, kao u slučaju mumije,

it doesn't involved recognizable parts of the human body.

ne uključuje prepoznatljive delove ljudskog tela.

The reasons for cannibalistic practices have varied, too.

Razlozi kanibalističke prakse takođe su varirali.

Across cultures and time periods, there's evidence of survival cannibalism,

Kroz razne kulture i vremenske periode,

postoje dokazi o kanibalizmu radi preživljavanja,

when people living through a famine, siege or ill-fated expedition

kada su ljudi koji su prolazili kroz glad, opsade ili nesrećne espedicije

had to either eat the bodies of the dead or starve to death themselves.

morali ili da jedu tela mrtvih ili da i sami umru od gladi.

But it's also been quite common for cultures

Takođe je bilo prilično uobičajeno da neke kulture smatraju da je normalno

to normalize some form of eating human flesh under ordinary circumstances.

jesti ljudsko meso u nekom obliku u običnim okolnostima.

Because of false accounts like Columbus's,

Zbog lažnih izveštaja kao što je Kolumbov,

it's difficult to say exactly how common cultural cannibalism has been—

teško je tačno reći koliko je bio uobičajen kulturološki kanibalizam,

but there are still some examples of accepted cannibalistic practices

ali još uvek postoje neki primeri prihvaćene kanibalističke prakse

from within the cultures practicing them.

unutar kultura koje to upražnjavaju.

Take the medicinal cannibalism in Europe during Columbus's time.

Uzmimo medicinski kanibalizam u Evropi za vreme Kolumba.

Starting in the 15th century, the demand for mumia increased.

Počev od 15. veka, potražnja za mumijom je rasla.

At first, stolen mummies from Egypt supplied the mumia craze,

U početku su ukradene mumije iz Egipta snabdevale pomamu za mumijom,

but soon the demand was too great to be sustained on Egyptian mummies alone,

ali uskoro je potražnja bila prevelika da bi je održale samo egipatske mumije,

and opportunists stole bodies from European cemeteries to turn into mumia.

i oportunisti su krali tela sa grobalja u Evropi da bi ih pretvarali u mumiju.

Use of mumia continued for hundreds of years.

Upotreba mumije trajala je stotinama godina.

It was listed in the Merck index, a popular medical encyclopedia,

Navođena je u Merk indeksu, popularnoj medicinskoj enciklopediji,

into the 20th century.

sve do 20. veka.

And ground up mummies were far from the only remedy made from human flesh

Daleko od toga da su samlevene mumije bile jedini lek od ljudskog tela,

that was common throughout Europe.

a koji je bio uobičajen širom Evrope.

Blood, in either liquid or powdered form, was used to treat epilepsy,

Krv je, bilo u tečnom obliku ili u prahu, bila korišćena za lečenje epilepsije,

while human liver, gall stones, oil distilled from human brains,

dok su ljudska jetra, kamen u žuči, ulje destilovano iz ljudskog mozga

and pulverized hearts were popular medical concoctions.

i srca pretvoreni u prah bili popularna medicinska sredstva.

In China,

U Kini,

the written record of socially accepted cannibalism goes back almost 2,000 years.

pisani tragovi društveno prihvaćenog kanibalizma sežu još od pre 2000 godina.

One particularly common form of cannibalism

Posebno čest oblik kanibalizma

appears to have been filial cannibalism,

izgleda da je bio roditeljski kanibalizam,

where adult sons and daughters would offer a piece of their own flesh

gde bi odrasli sinovi i ćerke nudili deo svog mesa

to their parents.

svojim roditeljima.

This was typically offered as a last-ditch attempt to cure a sick parent,

To je obično bio poslednji pokušaj izlečenja bolesnog roditelja

and wasn't fatal to their offspring—

i nije bilo smrtonosno za potomke -

it usually involved flesh from the thigh or, less often, a finger.

obično je bilo u pitanju meso sa butine ili, ređe, prst.

Cannibalistic funerary rites are another form of culturally sanctioned cannibalism.

Kanibalistički pogrebni obredi su drugi oblik kulturno sankcionisanog kanibalizma.

Perhaps the best-known example came from the Fore people of New Guinea.

Možda najpoznatiji primer potekao je od naroda Fore sa Nove Gvineje.

Through the mid-20th century, members of the community would,

Sredinom 20. veka, članovi zajednice bi,

if possible, make their funerary preferences known in advance,

ukoliko je to moguće, unapred obznanili svoje želje u vezi sa sahranjivanjem,

sometimes requesting that family members gather to consume the body after death.

a nekad bi tražili da se članovi porodice okupe i konzumiraju telo nakon smrti.

Tragically, though these rituals honored the deceased,

Tragično je to što su ovi rituali, mada su odavali počast preminulom,

they also spread a deadly disease known as kuru through the community.

takođe zajednicom širili smrtonosnu bolest poznatu kao kuru.

Between the fictionalized stories, verifiable practices,

Između izmišljenih priča, proverljivih praksi

and big gaps that still exist in our knowledge,

i velikih praznina koje i dalje postoje u našem znanju,

there's no one history of cannibalism.

ne postoji jedinstvena istorija kanibalizma.

But we do know that people have been eating each other,

Ali znamo da ljudi milenijumima jedu jedni druge,

volunteering themselves to be eaten,

nude sebe za jelo drugima

and accusing others of eating people for millennia.

i optužuju druge da jedu ljude.