Moses Was an Animal, and Other Insights from Animal Studies article écrit par Beth Berkowitz en conversation avec les professeurs Suzanna Millar (University of Edinburgh) et Sébastien Doane (ULaval).
Les deux responsables du groupe d'étude The Bible and Animal studies de la SBL (Society of Biblical Literarture) présentent ce domaine d'étude en émergeance.
BETH: How do you see the study of the Bible fitting into Animal Studies? Why is it important to pose the “question of the animal” specifically to the Bible?
SÉBASTIEN: Interpretations of the Bible have played an important role in constructing and reinforcing a set of assumptions about the distinction of humans and human culture from nonhuman animals and “nature.” Related assumptions concern the perceived proper relations of those designated “human” to others considered “animals” (whether nonhumans or, sometimes, other homo sapiens). Over time, these assumptions have evolved to include ideas about the (white, male, European) human destiny to rule the world, the need to domesticate other life forms, a fundamental divide between nature and culture, the superiority of Western European forms of knowledge, etc.
SUZANNA: Work in animal studies has drawn on the Bible to interrogate these issues. But it has not included the specialist expertise of biblical scholars, and it has usually worked with a limited textual selection (often focusing on Gen 1-3). Meanwhile, specialist biblical work, even when focused on themes like “animals” or “nature,” has been largely uninformed by animal studies. The Bible has often been read with anthropocentric assumptions, interpreting nonhuman animals as mere objects or as background for the Bible’s human story.
