Dynamitage cocasse de l’anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporaines

The tradition of satirical representation has granted animals the status of a comparer, from which stems a system of analogies between human flaws and (alledged) animal habits. Contemporary plays and performances shift this anthropomorphic prism, making it more radical, fit for representing horror (...

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Main Author: Laetitia Pasquet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" 2016-07-01
Series:Sillages Critiques
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4479
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author Laetitia Pasquet
author_facet Laetitia Pasquet
author_sort Laetitia Pasquet
collection DOAJ
description The tradition of satirical representation has granted animals the status of a comparer, from which stems a system of analogies between human flaws and (alledged) animal habits. Contemporary plays and performances shift this anthropomorphic prism, making it more radical, fit for representing horror (and not mere flaws). The system of analogies thus implodes, implying the demise of stability, meaning and harmony. Of all animals, man thus seems to be the least human one. This shift paves the way for a new scenic and verbal representation of animals in the poetic wild, liberated from the chains of meaningful clarity and allegory. The satirical prism is thus replaced by an uncanny, awkward form of comedy that no longer claims to convey a meaning and cause spectators to smile reassuringly, for spectators are no longer at the top of God’s creation. The plays by Steven Berkoff (Decadence - 1981), Gregory Motton (Cat and Mouse Sheep – 1998), Caryl Churchill (Far Away - 2001) and the 2008 mime show by Geoff Sobelle and Charlotte Ford (Flesh and Blood & Fish and Fowl) all illustrate this shift in satirical anthropomorphism. Their bestiary shows the collapse of metaphorical stability and in the light of Derrida’s concept of ‘carnophallogocentrism’ (which deconstructs the supremacy of reason, the reification of animal bodies at once), they stage not only the demise of anthropomorphism, but also the very grounds of the definition of humanity.
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1969-6302
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publisher Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
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spelling doaj-art-6679230c67314dcdacfc9dea791d4c762025-01-30T13:48:06ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022016-07-012010.4000/sillagescritiques.4479Dynamitage cocasse de l’anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporainesLaetitia PasquetThe tradition of satirical representation has granted animals the status of a comparer, from which stems a system of analogies between human flaws and (alledged) animal habits. Contemporary plays and performances shift this anthropomorphic prism, making it more radical, fit for representing horror (and not mere flaws). The system of analogies thus implodes, implying the demise of stability, meaning and harmony. Of all animals, man thus seems to be the least human one. This shift paves the way for a new scenic and verbal representation of animals in the poetic wild, liberated from the chains of meaningful clarity and allegory. The satirical prism is thus replaced by an uncanny, awkward form of comedy that no longer claims to convey a meaning and cause spectators to smile reassuringly, for spectators are no longer at the top of God’s creation. The plays by Steven Berkoff (Decadence - 1981), Gregory Motton (Cat and Mouse Sheep – 1998), Caryl Churchill (Far Away - 2001) and the 2008 mime show by Geoff Sobelle and Charlotte Ford (Flesh and Blood & Fish and Fowl) all illustrate this shift in satirical anthropomorphism. Their bestiary shows the collapse of metaphorical stability and in the light of Derrida’s concept of ‘carnophallogocentrism’ (which deconstructs the supremacy of reason, the reification of animal bodies at once), they stage not only the demise of anthropomorphism, but also the very grounds of the definition of humanity.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4479metaphorcomicsatirecontemporaryAnthropomorphismcarnophallogocentrism
spellingShingle Laetitia Pasquet
Dynamitage cocasse de l’anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporaines
Sillages Critiques
metaphor
comic
satire
contemporary
Anthropomorphism
carnophallogocentrism
title Dynamitage cocasse de l’anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporaines
title_full Dynamitage cocasse de l’anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporaines
title_fullStr Dynamitage cocasse de l’anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporaines
title_full_unstemmed Dynamitage cocasse de l’anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporaines
title_short Dynamitage cocasse de l’anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporaines
title_sort dynamitage cocasse de l anthropomorphisme dans quelques satires contemporaines
topic metaphor
comic
satire
contemporary
Anthropomorphism
carnophallogocentrism
url https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/4479
work_keys_str_mv AT laetitiapasquet dynamitagecocassedelanthropomorphismedansquelquessatirescontemporaines