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Comment
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Kate
Unregistered User
(10/25/01 8:13:52 pm)
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Self cannibalism (?)
Hi all--
I've been swamped, swamped, swamped, and am so sorry to be such a lousy board person these days.
A student in my enchantment literature class wants to know if there are any tales where a character eats him or herself (we've been talking about cannibalism motifs this week). I know of a Stephen King story where this takes place . . . and I'm positive there must be some examples from fairy tales or folkore, but sadly, I don't know them. Does anyone?
Kate
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Heidi
Unregistered User
(10/26/01 2:43:29 pm)
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Can't think of a thing
Kate,
I don't recall any fairy tales with this theme. Have you consulted Aarne Thompson yet?
Heidi
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Midori
Unregistered User
(10/27/01 6:55:08 pm)
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cartoons
Kate,
The only example of this that comes to mind, crazy as it sounds, are cartoons...especially Tom and Jerry and their later day post modern version "Itchy and Scratchy" in the Simpsons. There the mouse always manages to get some body part of the cat into a sandwich or onto a plate and serve it to the cat who happily eats it...with the usual time lag in figuring out that it his tail, or his stomach...gross but still funny after all these years.
So surely, there must be old terrible trickster versions?
I do know one from a wonderful book called"The Zande Trickster." Oxford , 1967. (I had the book years ago and it might still be available in a good University library). Ture, (the trickster) goes to visit a magician who at one point in the conversation cuts open his belly, pulls out his guts and some other food and begins to eat. Then he seals himself up. Ture is quite taken with this and begs the magician to show him how its done. The magician agrees to give Ture the power to do this amazing feat three times. Ture is on his way home, and of course Trickster being the greedy sort, he tries it out...once--twice--three times, and then losing track tries it a fourth time and promptly dies.
that would be my best bet.
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TamzenLee
Registered User
(10/29/01 10:42:12 pm)
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Re: Self cannibalism (?)
Find a short story by Alan Ryan called The Bones Wizard. It's in a collection of the same name. Likely listed under horror but this story is much more haunting, like an old Irish folktale. It's really, really good. Published in the early 80's so it's a little hard to find.
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Gregor9
Registered User
(10/31/01 7:12:36 am)
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Re: Self cannibalism (?)
Kate,
Somewhat related to Midori's example, there is a Cheech Wizard comic from the early '70s, where one of the lizard characters is captured by two other lizards who then dine on his extremities, and offer him a serving, too; but, then, Vaughn Bode was working on the fringe of weird humor.
GF
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