What do we see when we look at an animal? What do we see especially when we look at an animal that has long had its place in the human world, such as a horse, a dog or a cat? These animals are a part of our history, and one part of any answer to such a question will come down quite directly to a historical interpretation. Yet it is also true that they themselves are strangers to our history, just as they are strangers to our language. The look that they reflect back to us reminds us that in them we encounter something alien to the historical moment, though it may be difficult to see past the layers of apparent familiarity. Animals may not participate in the world of human speech, but the muteness that shrouds their senses always accompanies us in the realm of our language. Whatever else we may establish in the realm of language about them, despite all our convictions, all our knowledge, all our reasoning, we have to acknowledge that we are looking at something that eludes ou ability to form a concept. Therefore, unless we refuse to look at all, the muteness of an animal also imposes a moment of muteness on us.
p.99, by Marcus Bullock, from the book Representing Animals, edited by Nigel Rothfels, Indiana University Press, 2002, Wisconsin
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