Description
Book SynopsisIn Converging on Cannibals, Jared Staller demonstrates that one of the most terrifying discourses used during the era of transatlantic slaving—cannibalism—was coproduced by Europeans and Africans. When these people from vastly different cultures first came into contact, they shared a fear of potential cannibals.
Trade Review“In a major contribution to historical methodology, Staller revisits sixteenth- and seventeenth-century accounts for what they can reveal, despite their biases and eurocentrism, about Africans’ understandings of and interactions with Portuguese invasion and the associated violence. Cannibalism rumors are taken seriously in this analysis as a way to unpack traumatic episodes associated with the expansion of the transatlantic slave trade.”
“This is the best scholarship to date on the history and mythology of cannibalism in west central Africa…Moreover, the simplicity of Staller’s prose belies the sophistication of his conceptual framework, making his work an important teaching tool for both the undergraduate and graduate level.”
“A welcome addition to the literature. Not only does [Staller] dispel myths about the Jaga, he demonstrates that Europeans and Africans played a key role in creating them.” * International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 53 No. 2 (2020) *
