S./N. (Próba autoetnograficznej lektury eseju Jolanty Brach-Czainy)
S./N. (An Attempt at an Autoethnographic Reading of Jolanta Brach-Czaina’s Essay)

Summary/Abstract: This essay, oscillating around Jolanta Brach-Czaina’s short story entitled S., offersa contextual reading that takes into account the philosopher’s reflections from hervarious texts on inter-species kinship, which are problematic today. The overridingpoint of reference for this approach is the ethical perspective inherent to post-anthropocentricstudies. Questions about the intricacies of human-animal relationshipsare at the center of my considerations. While Brach-Czaina’s enigmatic textquestions the efficacy of communication with the so-called companion species andtheir agency, or even subjectivity, it is also exceptionally accurate in identifying theusually tabooed ambivalences of the experience of care, especially those related tothe crisis-induced sense of doubt or powerlessness, and being overwhelmed withresponsibility and abnegation, which substantially weaken or re-evaluate intimacy.As a result, on the one hand, S. proves to be an exceptional testimony of theessayist’s struggle with her own ambiguous attitude towards animals; on the otherhand, it provokes reflection on possible reconfigurations of inter-species relationships.Such considerations are inscribed in the framework of the autoethnographicnarration dedicated to the terminal illness of the author’s cat.

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