Krzywda w perspektywie reprezentacji
Harm in the Perspective of Representation

Author(s): Anita Jarzyna
Subject(s): Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: harm; suffering; speciesism; animal rights; discourse; Holocaust
Summary/Abstract: This article is devoted to conceptualizations of the category of harm in narratives and other cultural representations of animals. The author proposes to treat harm as one of the key, and even founding concepts of animal studies, which has marked the directions of reflection and is related to the issue of the problematization of the anthropological boundary, and anthropomorphization, or agency, among others. The varieties and transformations of harm narratives considered in the article include comparisons or analogies with the fate of humans, especially references to the Holocaust – initially regarded as controversial, and over time, as increasingly inadequate – as well as forms of relativization of violence and manipulation of it. At the same time, the author draws attention to the risks associated with focusing on harm, which may result in secondary victimization of animals, manifested in variants of instrumentalizing abuse. The point of arrival of the article is the question of the need to develop categories complementary to harm, including vulnerability.

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