The Companionship and Consumption of Animals; Can They Coexist?
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
Ellensburg
Event Website
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source
Start Date
15-5-2019
End Date
15-5-2019
Abstract
As Donna Haraway proposes, animal rights and human relationships produce contradictory sets of relationships, where animals are companions who can also be consumed for their flesh and labour. As Haraway proposes “There cannot be just one companion species; there have to be at least two to make one” (12). Following Haraway, I argue that animals, specifically dogs, can be companions as well as consumed by their human counterparts, but that we must differentiate between positive and negative forms of consumption. I specifically use Grant Morrison’s comic series We3 to examine how forms of animal consumption does not affect their ability to be companions, providing this consumption is not unidirectional and does not render animals as devoid of inherent purpose. We3 follows the adventure of a dog named 1, a cat named 2, and a bunny named 3. The animal companions are bioengineered to be used as military slaves, but escape certain death, and eventually become companions to a human who positively consumes their distinction and intellect for companionship. In this sense, We3, I argue, extends Haraway’s ideas that animals are thought to lack purpose until they are bestowed with intention, which creates a separation between human beings and animals, and places humans at a higher position in the social hierarchy. I ultimately propose that We3 conveys that although animals can be consumed by humans in a negative way, positive and mutual forms of consumption can coexist within animal-human companionship, which highlights the complexities in the social atmosphere of animal lives.
Recommended Citation
Barrett, Michaela, "The Companionship and Consumption of Animals; Can They Coexist?" (2019). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 23.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2019/Oralpres/23
Department/Program
English
The Companionship and Consumption of Animals; Can They Coexist?
Ellensburg
As Donna Haraway proposes, animal rights and human relationships produce contradictory sets of relationships, where animals are companions who can also be consumed for their flesh and labour. As Haraway proposes “There cannot be just one companion species; there have to be at least two to make one” (12). Following Haraway, I argue that animals, specifically dogs, can be companions as well as consumed by their human counterparts, but that we must differentiate between positive and negative forms of consumption. I specifically use Grant Morrison’s comic series We3 to examine how forms of animal consumption does not affect their ability to be companions, providing this consumption is not unidirectional and does not render animals as devoid of inherent purpose. We3 follows the adventure of a dog named 1, a cat named 2, and a bunny named 3. The animal companions are bioengineered to be used as military slaves, but escape certain death, and eventually become companions to a human who positively consumes their distinction and intellect for companionship. In this sense, We3, I argue, extends Haraway’s ideas that animals are thought to lack purpose until they are bestowed with intention, which creates a separation between human beings and animals, and places humans at a higher position in the social hierarchy. I ultimately propose that We3 conveys that although animals can be consumed by humans in a negative way, positive and mutual forms of consumption can coexist within animal-human companionship, which highlights the complexities in the social atmosphere of animal lives.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2019/Oralpres/23
Faculty Mentor(s)
Michelle O'Brien