Knjižničarski pogled: Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native

Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native

In his essay “Why Look at Animals?” art critic John Berger discusses the gaze between humans and animals. He argues that while the gaze of animals has the power to surprise humans (who see themselves being seen through the animals' eyes), this look has been “extinguished” with the marginalizati...

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izdano v:	URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom,
Glavni avtor:	West, Anna
Format:	Article ou chapitre numérique
Jezik:	Anglais
Izdano:	FATHOM 2018
Teme:	désir regard animal évitement vipère visage vue desire gaze adder metaphor deflection faces
Online dostop:	Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM

id	openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_752
record_format	openedition
spelling	openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_752 https://doi.org/10.4000/fathom.752 urn:doi:10.4000/fathom.752 en https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/752 2018-04-23T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/gait All rights reserved Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native FATHOM Association française sur les études sur Thomas Hardy info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2270-6798 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom West, Anna désir regard animal évitement vipère visage vue desire gaze animal adder metaphor deflection faces In his essay “Why Look at Animals?” art critic John Berger discusses the gaze between humans and animals. He argues that while the gaze of animals has the power to surprise humans (who see themselves being seen through the animals' eyes), this look has been “extinguished” with the marginalization of animals from society. In Thomas Hardy's novels, humans who encounter animals face-to-face and eye-to-eye often find themselves uncomfortable being seen through the gaze of the animal. In The Return of the Native (1878), for example, Mrs Yeobright shudders under the gaze of the adder. While Berger argues for the importance of metaphor in restoring the human-animal relationship, the adder in the scene can be read not only as a metaphor for the absent-yet-implicated Eustacia, but also as a living being in its own right. Of significance to this paper is the refusal of the human-animal gaze that occurs during the encounter: the turning away, or the desire not to see oneself being seen through the eyes of another, a desire that also occurs during interactions between humans in the novel. What happens to desire when the gaze flickers, is deflected, or becomes indifference? Furthermore, how might this affect the way we look at—or away from—literary animals? Dans son essai “Pourquoi regarder les animaux ?”, le critique d’art John Berger aborde la question de l’échange de regards entre les hommes et les animaux. Il remarque que le regard des animaux a la capacité de surprendre les hommes (qui se voient eux-mêmes vus à travers les yeux des animaux), mais que ce regard a été « nié » par la marginalisation des animaux dans nos sociétés. Dans les romans de Thomas Hardy, les êtres humains qui se trouvent confrontés à des animaux, face à face, et les yeux dans les yeux, ressentent souvent une forme de malaise à se voir vus par les yeux des animaux en question. Ainsi, dans The Return of the Native (1878), Mrs Yeobright frissonne sous le regard de la vipère. Même si Berger souligne l’importance des métaphores dans le processus visant à rétablir des relations entre l’homme et l’animal, la vipère ne peut pas être interprétée uniquement comme métaphore rappelant le personnage de Eustacia, à ce moment-là absente de la scène : car elle est aussi et surtout un être vivant à part entière. Cet article se concentre sur le refus de l’échange de regards entre l’homme et l’animal dans cette confrontation : Mrs Yeobright se détourne, comme mue par le désir de ne pas être vue à travers les yeux de l’autre – un désir qui dans ce roman se manifeste également dans les relations entre humains. Que se passe-t-il lorsque le regard tremble, ou se détourne, ou devient indifférent ? Et surtout, comment ce type de scène peut-il influencer la manière dont nous regardons les animaux, ou nous en détournons ?
collection	OpenEdition Journal
language	Anglais
format	Article ou chapitre numérique
building	0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic	désir regard animal évitement vipère visage vue desire gaze animal adder metaphor deflection faces
spellingShingle	désir regard animal évitement vipère visage vue desire gaze animal adder metaphor deflection faces West, Anna Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native
description	In his essay “Why Look at Animals?” art critic John Berger discusses the gaze between humans and animals. He argues that while the gaze of animals has the power to surprise humans (who see themselves being seen through the animals' eyes), this look has been “extinguished” with the marginalization of animals from society. In Thomas Hardy's novels, humans who encounter animals face-to-face and eye-to-eye often find themselves uncomfortable being seen through the gaze of the animal. In The Return of the Native (1878), for example, Mrs Yeobright shudders under the gaze of the adder. While Berger argues for the importance of metaphor in restoring the human-animal relationship, the adder in the scene can be read not only as a metaphor for the absent-yet-implicated Eustacia, but also as a living being in its own right. Of significance to this paper is the refusal of the human-animal gaze that occurs during the encounter: the turning away, or the desire not to see oneself being seen through the eyes of another, a desire that also occurs during interactions between humans in the novel. What happens to desire when the gaze flickers, is deflected, or becomes indifference? Furthermore, how might this affect the way we look at—or away from—literary animals?
author	West, Anna
author_facet	West, Anna
author_sort	West, Anna
title	Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native
title_short	Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native
title_full	Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native
title_fullStr	Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native
title_full_unstemmed	Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native
title_sort	looking at adders in the return of the native
publisher	FATHOM
publishDate	2018
container_title	URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom
url	https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/fathom.752 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/752
_version_	1877242045413720064

Looking at Adders in The Return of the Native

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