Primater emellan. En läsning av Henry Drummonds berättelse ’’Apan som ingen kunde döda’’

Abstract

Primater emellan. En läsning av Henry Drummonds berättelse ''Apan som ingen kunde dö da'' Abstract: ''The anthropocentric primate. A species discursive reading of the story 'The monkey that would not kill.''' In children's literature nonhuman primates are often represented either as ferocious beasts or as curios and charmful vicarious children. In this article I demonstrate how these different constructions interestingly coexist in the popular story ''The monkey that would not kill'', written by the Scottish evangelist and professor of the natural sciences Henry Drummond in 1891. My study anchors the figuration of the monstrous ape historically in a Christian discourse and the figuration of the childlike ape in a zoological discourse, and link them to the literary genres of horror and comedy, respectively. Both of the figurations are anthropocentric in their reductive ways of representing the ape as strange enemy or subordinate ''friend'': they confirm the hierarchic dualism between man and ape. My reading also points out the excessive passion that characterizes the meeting between the species in the story, as a kind of leakage from the dualism. In light of Giorgio Agamben's concept of the ''anthropological machine'', I conclude the article reflecting on the human shepherd's energetic attempts to kill the animal not only as an act of domination, but also as bearing witness to the obsession with ''experimenting'' with other primates, in order to consolidate a human species identity.

Biografier om dyr:

“…Men måten den fremstilles på, varierer. Studier viser at apekatten i skjønnlitteraturen enten er skildret som slem, grotesk eller dum, eller som et fredelig og harmonisk dyr med mange menneskelige egenskaper (Björck, 2013). Samtidig eksisterer det ifølge Amelie Björck en tendens til en vending vekk fra «(…) apförakt til vänskapligt umgänge» (s. 3) i barnelitteraturen, noe som kan ses i sammenheng med en økt bevissthet om likhetene og ulikhetene mellom aper og mennesker, og en større interesse for apens egenart.…”