Słoń a sprawa literaturoznawców, czyli o zoofilologii słów kilka. Rekonesans
An Elephant and the Case of Literary Scholars, or, A Few Words about Zoophilology. Reconnaissance

Summary/Abstract: This article is entirely dedicated to zoophilology—a new discipline of research, which emerged with the fusion of philological sciences and modern, ethically deepened animal studies. The author—following Aleksander Nawarecki, who coined the term—is trying to define the genesis, subject of research, and methodology of zoophilology. Its most important intellectual context is the non-anthropocentric humanities, also called posthumanities. One of the main tasks of zoophilology studies is to show how writers question the evaluative opposition between men and animals. More and more often getting to know the perspective of animals—their non-human point of view, which is so difficult to imagine—is becoming one of the ambitions of modern literature and art. The role of zoophilologists is conceived as trying to analyze and interpret such “postanthropocentric” texts. It is an attempt to reach a deeper understanding of how literature enables us to put ourselves in the position of others.

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