CW – discussion of concept of cannibalism as metaphor for [insert here], no graphic descriptions of or spoilers for anything though! TLDR at end
apparently i’m going through a phase lol. i stopped reading the original european gothic canon in chronological order to reread the dune series before the second film came out this april. immediately before that, i had read the devil’s elixirs, peter schlemihl, melmoth the wanderer, and the wandering jew, and the last unicorn was baby me’s favorite story of all time, so i was thinking about immortality and human-adjacent but not quite human/mortal concepts and beings A LOT then
i also watched saltburn and poor things around this time, so body horror, identity, parenthood/creation, agency, ownership, transformation, and desire got tossed into the soup too
now it’s two months later and in the past few weeks i’ve voraciously devoured (lol) the beastars manga, started chainsaw man, listened to preacher’s daughter by ethel cain, and read under the skin, kiss me first, and bones & all (specifically to see how writers vs. directors have responded to and presented the same or similar stories). i’m considering finally reading exquisite corpse and tender is the flesh, and even books i long ago resolved to entirely avoid, like things have gotten worse since we last spoke
sub rules say don’t ask for recommendations, and i’m not — my question for you all is, what stories would you consider to be “cannibal” stories, even if they aren’t explicitly, and why? emphasis on the WHY. for example (regardless of your opinions re: its quality or effectiveness; i’m far more interested in how different creators conceptualize this idea than in how relatively well they each pull it off), saltburn certainly doesn’t shy away from body parts and fluids, but the “consumption” is more metaphoric than literal
(to me,) single white female is a consumption story, brideshead revisited and the talented mr. ripley are consumption stories, sharp objects is a consumption story, the purge and we were animals are consumption stories, if the idol hadn’t been shit it would’ve been a consumption story, etc.
TL;DR what makes “a consumption story” for you? the concept of cannibalism or vampirism as metaphors for socially un-accepted desires (queerness, feminine sexual agency, etc.) immediately come to mind, but what else? what about books that explore this re: economics, race, other repressions and inequities? what about stories with no physical violence at all? what differences do you notice when authors of different genders, general backgrounds, etc. write these stories? what are the biggest takeaways you’ve had from them personally? advocacy for temperance, rejection, acceptance, release?
i can’t stop thinking about these concepts and would LOVE to hear what you think
by didosfire