If cattle and horses or lions had hands, or were able to draw with their hands and do the works that men can do, horses would draw the forms of the gods like horses, and cattle like cattle, and they would make their bodies such as they each had themselves. (Xenophanes qtd. in Kirk and Raven 169)Animal is the word that men have given themselves the right to give. (Derrida, The Animal That Therefore I Am 32)The history of Western philosophy is also the history of thinking and unthinking the animal. The epigraph from Xenophanes justifies man's elevation of his own species by making the case that so would other species if only they could, but at the same time it serves as a reminder that it was a commonplace in pre-Socratic thinking to acknowledge the difference between humans and animals without making reason, or the lack thereof, the essential distinction. As we know, philosophical discourse has since been dominated by the assertion that man differs, and is superior to, all animals because he possesses what they lack: reason, language, self-awareness. This shift in the understanding of what constitutes the moral status of animals is my first turning point, but there are more to follow. As Nünning and Sicks remind us, turning points can be conceived of as "gradual transformations" but also as "crucial junctures, revolutionary ruptures in the continuous flow of historical developments" (see introduction to this volume). As we will see, the turning points discussed in this paper are the result of both gradual changes and ruptures. Moreover, turning points can be understood as crises; indeed, the Greek term krisis literally translates as 'turning point.' Something comes to a head, requiring a rethinking of traditional truths and the formulation of other approaches.
Insects, worlds, and the poetic in Coetzee's writing J. M. Coetzee's literary universe creates a space for creatures often thought so insignificant that they are mostly overlooked or, if noticed at all, discarded as useless pests. In his writing, we repeatedly experience moments of wonder when insects take centre-stage, touching characters and readers alike with awe at their power of transformation. These moments are like poetic epiphanies, flashes into worlds otherwise closed to human experience. But Coetzee's imagining of insects vis-à-vis his characters also challenges the way we think about the world in general and the environment in particular, not least our own role in it. Martin Heidegger is but one in a long line of philosophers at pains to reinforce the boundary drawn between human and animal, arguing that the animal, unlike the human, only has limited access to its surroundings. Yet it is also Heidegger who is early in his recognition of the repercussions of human arrogance on the environment. Zoologist Jakob von Uexküll's research into insect worlds challenges the understanding that the human has access to the world in its entirety, stressing the relational aspect that all living beings have with their surroundings, their Umwelt, the human animal included. Agamben brings to this the idea that all animals, even insects, experience a certain openness within their environment, a capacity that Heidegger granted only to the human. This diversity of environmental worlds shaped by species-specific needs and abilities suggests that humans are subject to the same mechanisms that limit access to the Umwelt of other creatures, from which follows that any attempt to know another being's Umwelt would involve a venture into territory which requires different and novel ways of seeing. Literature is the space which invites us into unknowable worlds and supplies us with the tongue to touch on the not-yet-formulated. Coetzee's poetic imagination draws our attention to what I would like to describe as an extraordinary rapport between insects and the poetic in
No abstract
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.