1/ Re-reading Donna Haraway's Companion Species Manifesto on the historical entanglements of humans and dogs
Her Cyborg Manifesto is more (in)famous, but I find this more readable, beautiful, and relatable.
Also explains the false dichotomy of nature/culture well.
Selections:
Conversation
2/ "Contrary to lots of dangerous and unethical projection in the Western world that makes domestic canines into furry children, dogs are not about oneself.
Indeed, that is the beauty of dogs. They are not a projection, nor the realization of an intention... They are dogs" 😄
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3/ "Dogs are about the inescapable, contradictory story of relationships – co-constitutive relationships in which none of the partners pre-exist the relating, and the relating is never done once and for all"
Replying to
4/ For context, Haraway is writing about her relationship with her dog... but being Haraway, also writing about our obligations to companion species, and the importance of historical context in how we think about "nature," and "culture," and where those categories collapse.
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5/ It's only 60 pages and a fascinating read if you co-exist with a dog as your companion.
Good intro to Haraway too. Only mildly strange and baffling (in a good way) 😉
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