Of men and beasts: an anthropological analysis of the movie Men and Chicken
Апстракт
Following the path established in Serbian anthropology by the subdiscipline of the anthropology of film, as well as the anthropological "section" for the study of science fiction, the analytical focus of this paper is the film Men and Chicken. Contrary to critics who saw in this film "an unreadable, morbid and cynical postmodern horror", the basic thesis of this paper is that the film helps us not only to question public ideas about science, but also to shed light on the hopes, fears and conceptual dilemmas caused by the advance of biotechnologies. It helps us to, using a product of popular culture close to the experience of the general public, analyze the way in which the imaginarium of the film deals with the "paradox at the heart" of western thought - the simultaneous claim that humans are animals and that animality is the polar opposite of what we hold to be human. The paradox in question need not be an intellectual chew toy for a bored mind, nor an opportunity for demonstrating th...e wondrous power of an analytical process of Levi-Straussian calibre, rather a very relevant question in current institutional and public discussions on creating hybrid embryos/ species at the heart of which are attempts to establish the biological, moral and cultural status of humans, non-humans and hybrids.
Кључне речи:
Us and Others / science / science fiction / popular culture / humanity / biotechnology / anthropology of filmИзвор:
Etnoantropološki problemi, 2017, 12, 2, 437-465Издавач:
- Univerzitet u Beogradu - Filozofski fakultet - Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Beograd
Финансирање / пројекти:
- Антрополошко проучавање Србије: Од културног наслеђа до модерног друштва (RS-MESTD-Basic Research (BR or ON)-177035)
Институција/група
Etnologija i antropologija / Ethnology and AnthropologyTY - JOUR AU - Kulenović, Nina PY - 2017 UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/2389 AB - Following the path established in Serbian anthropology by the subdiscipline of the anthropology of film, as well as the anthropological "section" for the study of science fiction, the analytical focus of this paper is the film Men and Chicken. Contrary to critics who saw in this film "an unreadable, morbid and cynical postmodern horror", the basic thesis of this paper is that the film helps us not only to question public ideas about science, but also to shed light on the hopes, fears and conceptual dilemmas caused by the advance of biotechnologies. It helps us to, using a product of popular culture close to the experience of the general public, analyze the way in which the imaginarium of the film deals with the "paradox at the heart" of western thought - the simultaneous claim that humans are animals and that animality is the polar opposite of what we hold to be human. The paradox in question need not be an intellectual chew toy for a bored mind, nor an opportunity for demonstrating the wondrous power of an analytical process of Levi-Straussian calibre, rather a very relevant question in current institutional and public discussions on creating hybrid embryos/ species at the heart of which are attempts to establish the biological, moral and cultural status of humans, non-humans and hybrids. PB - Univerzitet u Beogradu - Filozofski fakultet - Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Beograd T2 - Etnoantropološki problemi T1 - Of men and beasts: an anthropological analysis of the movie Men and Chicken EP - 465 IS - 2 SP - 437 VL - 12 DO - 10.21301/EAP.V12I2.5 ER -
@article{ author = "Kulenović, Nina", year = "2017", abstract = "Following the path established in Serbian anthropology by the subdiscipline of the anthropology of film, as well as the anthropological "section" for the study of science fiction, the analytical focus of this paper is the film Men and Chicken. Contrary to critics who saw in this film "an unreadable, morbid and cynical postmodern horror", the basic thesis of this paper is that the film helps us not only to question public ideas about science, but also to shed light on the hopes, fears and conceptual dilemmas caused by the advance of biotechnologies. It helps us to, using a product of popular culture close to the experience of the general public, analyze the way in which the imaginarium of the film deals with the "paradox at the heart" of western thought - the simultaneous claim that humans are animals and that animality is the polar opposite of what we hold to be human. The paradox in question need not be an intellectual chew toy for a bored mind, nor an opportunity for demonstrating the wondrous power of an analytical process of Levi-Straussian calibre, rather a very relevant question in current institutional and public discussions on creating hybrid embryos/ species at the heart of which are attempts to establish the biological, moral and cultural status of humans, non-humans and hybrids.", publisher = "Univerzitet u Beogradu - Filozofski fakultet - Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Beograd", journal = "Etnoantropološki problemi", title = "Of men and beasts: an anthropological analysis of the movie Men and Chicken", pages = "465-437", number = "2", volume = "12", doi = "10.21301/EAP.V12I2.5" }
Kulenović, N.. (2017). Of men and beasts: an anthropological analysis of the movie Men and Chicken. in Etnoantropološki problemi Univerzitet u Beogradu - Filozofski fakultet - Odeljenje za etnologiju i antropologiju, Beograd., 12(2), 437-465. https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V12I2.5
Kulenović N. Of men and beasts: an anthropological analysis of the movie Men and Chicken. in Etnoantropološki problemi. 2017;12(2):437-465. doi:10.21301/EAP.V12I2.5 .
Kulenović, Nina, "Of men and beasts: an anthropological analysis of the movie Men and Chicken" in Etnoantropološki problemi, 12, no. 2 (2017):437-465, https://doi.org/10.21301/EAP.V12I2.5 . .