Hans Staden and the Cultural Politics of Cannibalism

Hans Staden’s Warhaftige historia und beschreibung eyner landtschafft der wilden, nacketen, grimmigen menschfresser leuthen in der Newenwelt America gelege is a fundamental text in the history of the discovery of Brazil.1 In fact, it is the earliest account we have of the Tupi Indians from an eyewitness who was captive among them for over nine months, and a key reference in the resurgent debate on cannibalism and its discourses—a debate that partly has its origins in the speculations of Michel de Montaigne, who also conversed with Tupi people who were brought as living exhibits to France. Despite this intellectual genealogy, there has not been an English-language edition since 1929, and no translation into modern German since 1942. Neither has there been a critical introduction that brings ethnographic experience of ritual anthropophagy to the task of interpretation, using other anthropological research on anthropophagic discourse, or literary criticism of the cannibal trope. I am currently collaborating with Michael Harbsmeier (University of Roskilde, Denmark) to make good these deficiencies, through the production of a new critical edition of Staden’s 1557 work that will feature a new translation from the sixteenth-century German, close annotation of the text itself and discussion of the circumstances of its production, its ethnological significance, and subsequent intellectual importance, with particular emphasis on current debate concerning cannibalism.The purpose of this paper is to outline an approach to some of these critical questions, especially the issue of the cultural politics of cannibalism. As a cultural category, cannibalism has always incorporated ethnological judgments of others, albeit usually negative in character, and so regardless of how, when, or by whom it was created, the ethnological record has an empirical as well as a logical connection with cannibalism. This was clearly argued by Arens,2 and I do not wish to rehearse or become enmeshed in his controversies at this time. However, part of the current importance of a text like Staden’s is precisely the way in which it fits into current debates on knowing or interpreting others distant in both cultural space and historical time. The text itself is not uniquely important among the class of colonial documents more generally, but the appearance of the cannibal sign in its earliest and most intense form through Staden’s text, impart particular relevance to a renewed engagement with the Warhaftige historia. Recent anthropological publications, especially Sick Societies (1992), War Before Civilization (1996), The Anthropology of Cannibalism (1999), and Man Corn (1999) have all thrust into wider cultural debate renewed images of violent, primitive savagery as the all-too-inevitable condition of humans.3 One might also reference here our related cultural obsessions with cannibal serial killers,4 as well as ethnic violence in the tribal zones5 of the modern world-system, particularly where they are expressed through unspeakable forms of mutilation and dismemberment. However, various recent ethnographic and historical studies clearly show that more is at play than a collapse into savagery in this resurgence of “traditional” forms of violence.6 In short, the time is right to reexamine that initial cannibal encounter along the Brazilian shore.The text of the Warhaftige historia originally comprised 165 folios and 56 woodcuts, and there is only one edition in which those woodcuts appear, that is, the first published in Marburg on Shrove Tuesday in 1557, by Andres Kolben at the sign of the Clover Leaf. A second edition also appeared in that year, in Frankfurt, but the original woodcuts—probably done under Staden’s direct supervision since his figure regularly appears in the scenes—were replaced by utterly irrelevant pictures of Turkey and the Levant.7 The Marburg woodcuts are a vastly underappreciated aspect of the text—possibly because they only appeared in the first edition and because they were evidently a source of inspiration for the reworking of the Staden material for presentation by Théodore de Bry in his collection of voyages.8 Since this work was also issued in Frankfurt we might assume that it simply supplanted the original Staden material, both because of the better reproductive quality of the de Bry graphics, and because of their greater accessibility as part of a widely disseminated collection in numerous editions.In the intervening years between the first edition of the Warhaftige historia in 1557 and the inclusion of a Latin translation of the text in de Bry’s 1592 collection, two further editions appeared in 1558 and 1567, respectively. In addition to the de Bry edition, there were two more Latin translations in 1605 and 1630, in which year there was also the first Dutch edition. A fourth edition of the original German appeared in folio, again in Frankfurt, in 1593. There were an additional ten editions, in German, Dutch, and French by the end of the nineteenth century. The first English-language translation was made by Albert Tootal for the Hakluyt Society under the editorship of Richard Burton, who was the British consul to Brazil in the early 1870s. There have been a number of facsimile editions since then, but only one other English translation made by Malcolm Letts.9Although French- and Portuguese-language sources have dominated the representation of Tupi cannibalism, Staden’s text is indispensable to anybody interested in the study of sixteenth-century Brazil. There are good reasons for this interpretative emphasis on French and Portuguese materials, including the breadth of commentary through time, the overtly ethnological ambitions of their authors who were relatively educated and literate, their accessibility, and the fact that they were the product of a set of political, military, and economic relationships more enduring than personal encounter. Nonetheless, Staden’s highly personal account was born of a very distinct and intense experience that lasted just over nine months and in this sense was the more properly ethnographic, understood as a dialogic and sustained encounter, than the priestly ethnologies, understood as principally synthetic and second-hand. However, Staden’s text is not without the imprimatur of ethnological, if not liturgical, approval for the account of his captivity itself is preceded by an introduction by Johannes Dryander.10 The endorsement is given by Dryander since he had known Staden’s father for “upwards of 50 years” and as the proverb says, “The apple tastes of the tree. It is to be expected, therefore, that the son of so worthy a man should resemble his father in virtue and piety.”11However, it is more than a simple endorsement for Dryander also says that he was asked by Staden “to revise12 it and where necessary correct it.” The introduction thus deals with a number of matters, principally the probity of Staden’s testimony, the cultural and epistemological status of eyewitness accounts of the strange lands (largely by analogy to the way in which astronomical knowledge is established contra theology), Staden’s motives for publishing his account as pious than the of and in to and and the of those so to this to their Dryander that Staden was in his by of to whom Staden also the Staden to further the approach with which he and that also the production of part of the text which is an ethnological to the of Staden which part The intellectual and purpose of that ethnological will be a most aspect of our but it is the of Staden which I wish to on is known of Hans Staden from the of his captivity in Brazil. In he was in where there was a German in of as a set in of that year on a which had to French the Brazilian in in Staden’s and to in but again in on a that was part of a new to de the which was at the Portuguese of the Portuguese were with the which that the to the were to their the in with the Staden was to in Portuguese for a further two as a in a new Portuguese to the of on the of the of It was this that he was by the and the of his text the to this and his subsequent in the of the Staden was by a of and Staden was by his figure their of his and the of his it was only with that he was for a of However, his two years of in the had given to the Tupi and this was to As Staden this time I of their than I and I to they are to at had the to that if the Tupi for a Portuguese they so he an to play the fact that he was a German and thus be from the of between Portuguese and that and not his by a in a Portuguese and and to the Portuguese at he to a French who was living from to for the fact that he was not was to his was to be but a of which his to by a to and he they that if I do not and again they the as to the of the Staden that it was the who were to his this not only was Staden’s status as a but he also them in the figure this Staden on to asked one he at the so that the was with the figure This by or to be a most since it both and among his his this a further for Staden to as a and to that he had with his to them of the that them figure Staden to and on their as they to but not it and they to to be a and in the of the and the of other of their that was no more of they and not to Staden thus had and the to and record and it is this aspect of his text that most to his subsequent It is that both and subsequent sources to and but do not or his account of the new status of Staden also the was to that Staden was a German and was from the the of the were not to their strange but new Staden he the cannibalism of other and the he made to with various figure also them on figure and and the of and the cannibalism of including Portuguese figure Staden was to his way a French he of a they a Portuguese the Brazilian in on at the of Staden’s text is his experience of the cannibal which was more and than that of and to the and ethnological that and his wish to Staden’s captivity among the Tupi is to a of and in which Tupi cannibalism is but one of the and of the text The of and through the of cannibalism is not the only that Staden’s and other and and the of the as in which of Staden’s become his experience this purpose since the of Staden’s captive among the that is Staden’s engagement with at all to the of and ethnological into which he and Dryander to In this the text also be understood as part of Staden’s of which both and to purpose and to cultural from the experience of captive among the the of that as it on of Tupi and the text has been by subsequent it is necessary to the Warhaftige historia in to the other more and better known accounts of the sixteenth-century has the intellectual of the cannibal and in particular the that from the Brazilian in the has the way in which the cannibal was a colonial of not just violence but also a of the and of from the initial with the by Michel de Montaigne, to the nineteenth show by has of importance to on the French especially de and his of a to be by the Warhaftige which he not at for as we have the cannibal sign is at the intellectual connection between Tupi cannibalism and is not one of as for Montaigne, or but of analogy with other of In this sense the of the Tupi in Staden’s text through with the and his with other or with the just that is is not because the of the subsequent in of the of on the Brazilian is by an to make sense of the anthropophagic as it from ritual into a to the of material circumstances or of cannibalism of its cultural also into the cultural politics of cannibalism at the time, a no of the than an for his of the of also by this one should at that the historical of cannibalism but the of that has been to its of that itself is not always so and in is in his of the of cannibalism of the very as to cannibalism, that is is to as is the However, the of of mutilation and with a of cannibalism that is to of the he in his discussion of of the who to and was to by on his to they not their as if of or them as the was as if for as has with to the of the including the this well be of the for which might be and since and might be so in to their as well as in this cannibalism is not this of ethnological has the and important to the and of the cannibal from the of commentary of the two the intervening This emphasis on the of and in the cannibal is with other recent anthropological and more this intellectual also the cannibal as an in the of the Brazilian as a of in the of colonial This was also the of cannibalism in the a of French in the In with this of the cannibal sign a of cannibalism as also as a of an economic and that its Cannibalism thus particularly by and as and However, has a for this we the of cultural contra who here only a of the of the also the of the debate as to the and form of the in the French and it is this aspect that is the for Montaigne, both Tupi and of cannibalism are related to the of the and done in the of to the the key for the of and this is a in the of or an analogy of that and Montaigne, as a the of the Tupi to the is an to the of the it is a that not at all for However, to the Tupi precisely because of the in that the of the between and the subsequent of the cannibal is to be and so only for as with that so the to be as to their not their in the of that the of their are supplanted by the of a cultural which the of and the of Nonetheless, a and commentary on the French sources to the Tupi of the Brazil in the century. It is all the more necessary that the Warhaftige historia of Hans Staden be this commentary for the it to the French and since this is to in his work on de a of that the to the the and the in the of French the are as of as a of the as of of this cannibal also to the of French and in the it is the of direct experience which here since as the of the in fact his or had others do from a of the of the cannibal in and to an analogy with the of in French this ritual in subsequent account in the and a work de it is that is the key to the of the cannibal that of the of the and the of the ritual in to these However, this ritual and of the cannibal to as by to some be on the of by in this but the of the cannibal to the as by years and as by is to the of cannibalism with an work of the on the and of the As this of the with to the of his and from through and from is utterly on Staden’s and particularly its materials, also have had a on French or at the very a direct on their and Montaigne, have a to a form of ethnographic engagement with the than a more distant or ethnological his work the most to the account of it is important to that he was only years he to Brazil. was not in the of the from to account of this was some years he had become a in the in and he was to do so not by the original encounter but by the of In this Staden with and not to have Staden’s work and it only in the editions of and from their is more In fact, very new ethnographic but vastly the and of that In his the cannibal a and the of is made through an of various of Tupi and he clearly the of In this new of the and are expressed through the of the and The given through the ethnological of the a cannibalism that no of and so However, a cannibalism is also as well as Tupi space through the and of in cannibal As a was also a of some in so that the of and cannibalism of the play into his representation of as they do in de Bry’s of the and This is given further in since he cannibalism the of just to the A was to their a to which was In his originally on the the is into the and with the of the the of of the of this for so is to his literary to the Brazil of his Tupi cannibalism, as a of and by their in a way that the of and was not in cannibalism also and a of as the of the cannibal sign so debate over the account of the Tupi to the that of the French of de time is on account of his as a if the cannibal at all the to his in on to the unspeakable of by way of the In this way de the cannibal who thus from the Brazil the and of the cannibal in the anthropological has been principally by and I have to some of the controversies that work has It is the and of his that to a and approach to source materials, he clearly in his of those to the of the of cannibalism in This not that the of the to the early of colonial encounter is but it that we wider that as a cultural is no to its than other or of the cannibal is as an of this but to or also have been highly to the of those is from the of the of Brazil and representation by as have also to and and made here is that Staden’s text, to the ethnological of Montaigne, as well as the discussion of the Tupi and their cannibalism in the in fact, be as critical to our of the cannibal of the the Warhaftige historia in of that ethnological and that both and to text to be the of all it more than good with of Staden’s and engagement with the This is in part by the way in which Staden’s close and of his with the Tupi highly to ethnological but also by the way in which his account the and the ritual this paper it is clearly not be to properly the intellectual of in its so I will to two of the most recent that of de and and be as and to the of and as well as more widely known the work of de and de as well as de of the de the text of Staden a key in of Tupi cannibalism that are not or are in other In the connection between of and of the importance of the of as as a in the of and the of particularly in the cultural of and as well as the personal of by the Tupi cannibal the of the as a and the that are the of the of and others also the of cannibal as de it is Staden’s in particular that to the of Tupi and cannibalism as an intense aspect of a the connection between and the of as by de is to the for and cannibalism the that the and that both I that there is a ethnological in the of Staden’s text as a of the way in which he if not key of cultural we to Staden’s to an Staden was to a cultural of some his Tupi through his of and in a way which his cultural is thus a source of knowing that is both and at to that of the priestly of and in Staden’s account of his close encounter with the figure he de to that was a of or it was It is precisely this of personal and the of ethnological that the record of Staden’s encounter so and in the of the work of Staden is not to the of ritual since this work is more with the that have been made of sixteenth-century source and the Warhaftige historia is thus all the more as to the of Staden’s text, no than the of the Warhaftige historia as a This the fact that Staden’s text is for the and of its materials, this has been the of critical editions of the Warhaftige as was the with the second in Frankfurt in 1557, the 56 woodcuts, or them with the by de and this is part of the that this aspect of the text is The original woodcuts have been relatively not for thus the of these into the made by de Bry the into a new and However, this clearly the and so that was and particular to Staden’s were in the by de it has been the de Bry that have and and so the of the original woodcuts to subsequent who have on the of as of the first experience of but them with the de Bry’s the of ritual that it is particularly to that Staden’s of the have some because of his reference to a particular figure the of the and as well as the in various of and in of further figure In short, without close of the text, in both its and its have an early in the production of a new edition of the Warhaftige it be clearly and to like a as to the of Hans Staden’s text and its in the cultural history of cannibalism. However, I to have at the of that will be in that edition. it is through the close of and a of the ethnological to the of text and to that text in both the of these debates and the circumstances of its these it should be to new and ethnological for the Warhaftige we have the of Hans Staden some key with the more established sixteenth-century of Montaigne, and and if the work of to have more than its of close criticism it is in of the importance of his of those early French of the more important of those with the French are the ethnographic quality of Staden’s text which that of the he on the Tupi are or only in other his of with the of cannibalism, and the of a in the representation of cannibalism. In these Staden’s text appears as but and as also with the wider of captivity in the this only to the to also the of Staden’s text, of which is but one the of Dryander in the production of the text, to this will be further research on his with as well as the production of the Staden’s of the production of these be as the more personal of Staden’s by clearly in they do not show the reworking that is so in de One key that this in Staden’s text is that of which be as both a and Hans is on figure the where he was to be Hans was further figure as if the of the French were as the of as the of his it is French that Staden’s as both and he a they it with some which the had given One that he might have for this since they also to the French as I and he as with the it have been from where and from whom they a French the of Staden’s will not with the of they since they that are not or they have given a they that were It is they no account of was appears in all the woodcuts his that he his and This in to the of it is he in with Staden might have been to then, the of the of Staden and the of the Tupi the text will more and In a and as the to as of in both the of Staden and the of the Tupi will especially where there in the Tupi it to be that the of and his text, the politics of and Tupi along the Brazil in the has been in this or the commentary of However, it is that Staden was part of that which was to Tupi to the that by of the in close with the had to of their It is important also to that all the accounts of the Tupi cultural from a of only years between the first encounter of Staden and the of In which it be that Staden Tupi cannibalism at a particularly intense and as like or to their and their of Tupi as it was under and the of the cannibal was both to this and to the way in which the the is thus an important of not since in other the cannibal sign was overtly by in of colonial the the cultural politics of cannibalism are no intense than they were in the an aspect of debates on knowing and but also to the cultural of In this the cannibal is resurgent as an as with other “traditional” forms and of violence in and so historical and epistemological of the Brazilian is thus a of I the critical in this paper will the importance of Hans Staden’s Warhaftige and that it will to be better for the intense and account that it is, as well as for the of with which it that distant of cannibal encounter on the Brazil

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