Abstract
Conception sub-question n°1: what are the controversial aspects of the animal question from the point of view of semiotics that must be taken into account in this type of work?
This chapter will first tackle the existing controversies, by focusing on three cases that are particularly representative: controversies about language, consciousness and emotions among animal studies.
It will then present the point of view of humanities, on the question of what an animal is (and, by contrast, what a human is), but also on the question of the place and the role of language sciences. It will present the specific but largely present case of the French academic tradition in the genesis of the book. Finally, it will make explicit the position of the author concerning this book, a position characterised as “the lesser evil”, and will expand more particularly on the specific treatment of the issue of definitions.
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Notes
- 1.
It is worth noting that kittens are scared when looking into a mirror, while adult cats seem like they could not care less and act like they could not see anything in there anymore, which is a point that has rarely been studied. Similarly, cats can closely watch a computer or television screen and react (differently depending on the cat) to other cats they see on screen.
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Delahaye, P. (2019). Debates and Controversies. In: A Semiotic Methodology for Animal Studies. Biosemiotics, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28813-6_2
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