Eating the other - The Animal Question in Contemporary Art

Abstract

Two questions guide this thesis. (1) how does ‘eating the other’ become problematic within the framework of posthumanism, and (2) how does contemporary art engage with the animal problem? Starting from the conviction that “nothing really convincingly settles the separation of human and animal.” (Haraway, 1991: 151), this thesis seeks to explore how ‘eating the other’, thus eating non-human animals, becomes problematic within the framework of posthumanism and ecofeminism. After a theoretical chapter that sets apart the paradigm that shapes the animal question at the basis of this writing, this thesis continues to explore how contemporary art engages with the animal question through three case studies of artworks recently exhibited at 'Kunstmanifestatie Ja Natuurlijk' (GEM Den Haag