I wasn’t aware of all the cannibal lit, but I have long avoided this genre in movies and TV. Not even Lynch or Cronenberg crossed that line. Either too obvious or too revolting.
I think the mistake here is assuming the rise of incest porn is evidence of an erosion of the cultural taboo rather than a reaffirmation of the fact that it IS taboo. I think we have culturally become more comfortable "playing" with that taboo and poking at it. Whether that's healthy or not is another discussion, but it is undeniably still taboo.
Good piece, but one nitpick: If the "Butter" being referred to here is the one by Asako Yuzuki, I don't remember cannibalism being in there. Perhaps the inciting character's actions can be compared to cannibalism? Yeah, could see that. But no acts of people-eating were done. Though I will blame this on the book being marketed as a thriller with horror elements when it is anything but.
The whole cannibalism thing is very popular on tumblr (yes, I am a person whose primary social media is tumblr in the year of our lord 2026) but I had literally no idea it also spawned a whole lot of novels. It has felt a little tired to me for a while now, but I couldn't quite pin down why, but you hit the nail on the head.
It's mechanical in the sense that the metaphor is trading-places on a real hardcore taboo with the cartoonish femcel fantasy of being scolded with any other euphemistic taboo in the perversion catalog. In a way, seems like the yearning for someone to pry their cheeks with thumb and index to extract the piece of flesh they are gnawing while unironically calling them bad girl.
You are looking at a fuming skillet and someone cracks an egg while the voiceover says: "This is your brain on porn."
As someone who was excited about cannibalism as a metaphor, I think the main issue is how poorly its utilized. Its very one note and shallow and doesn’t really explore the metaphor well. The ones where its a gender role reversal feels like they’re doing a “look an island where women do to men what men do to women!” A power fantasy for women and morality lecture for men.
It’s basically the literary equivalent of fast food pretending to be elevated.
Someone had to say it
Bones & All is another one; even got made into a Guadagnino movie
I wasn’t aware of all the cannibal lit, but I have long avoided this genre in movies and TV. Not even Lynch or Cronenberg crossed that line. Either too obvious or too revolting.
"Game of Thrones" eroded our cultural taboo against incest, so why not cannibalism?
It did not, there is still cultural taboo against incest
I think the mistake here is assuming the rise of incest porn is evidence of an erosion of the cultural taboo rather than a reaffirmation of the fact that it IS taboo. I think we have culturally become more comfortable "playing" with that taboo and poking at it. Whether that's healthy or not is another discussion, but it is undeniably still taboo.
Well yes, of course, and an eroded rock pillar in the badlands is still a rock pillar, even though it isn't what it used to be (that is, bigger).
🎶 people... People who eat people... Are the hungriest people in the world 🌎
‘Here’s a cannibalism metaphor for you: these fucking books’ haha. Also, savoury oats… yuk. Also ‘shocking’ as ‘shopping’ YES xx
You might appreciate this story of mine - spoiler, no-one gets eaten xx
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wxzy
Good piece, but one nitpick: If the "Butter" being referred to here is the one by Asako Yuzuki, I don't remember cannibalism being in there. Perhaps the inciting character's actions can be compared to cannibalism? Yeah, could see that. But no acts of people-eating were done. Though I will blame this on the book being marketed as a thriller with horror elements when it is anything but.
But people taste good and everyone needs to know it.
The whole cannibalism thing is very popular on tumblr (yes, I am a person whose primary social media is tumblr in the year of our lord 2026) but I had literally no idea it also spawned a whole lot of novels. It has felt a little tired to me for a while now, but I couldn't quite pin down why, but you hit the nail on the head.
It's mechanical in the sense that the metaphor is trading-places on a real hardcore taboo with the cartoonish femcel fantasy of being scolded with any other euphemistic taboo in the perversion catalog. In a way, seems like the yearning for someone to pry their cheeks with thumb and index to extract the piece of flesh they are gnawing while unironically calling them bad girl.
You are looking at a fuming skillet and someone cracks an egg while the voiceover says: "This is your brain on porn."
A certain Hunger by Chelsea Summers is missing in the list
As someone who was excited about cannibalism as a metaphor, I think the main issue is how poorly its utilized. Its very one note and shallow and doesn’t really explore the metaphor well. The ones where its a gender role reversal feels like they’re doing a “look an island where women do to men what men do to women!” A power fantasy for women and morality lecture for men.
It’s basically the literary equivalent of fast food pretending to be elevated.