“A Bunny Is a Beautiful Thing” or Animals as Machines (!?). The Perception of the Animal World in Slovenian Folk Songs

Abstract

The article proceeds from the human-animal relationship as presented in selected folk songs and seeks to redefine the tra- ditional view of animals (as some sort of animate machines). Using ecological and philosophical premises, the author seeks to demonstrate that animals belong where human beings have already ensconced themselves. In analyzing animal ballads and humorous songs, the author discovers various images and roles of animals as well as human perceptions of the animal world either as a real microcosm or merely a metaphorical one. Research thus shifts from an analysis of motifs and themes to the concrete or cultural relationship of the human towards animals in folklore. It is shown that the relationship between humans and animals in folk songs is explicitly anthropocentric and based on two types of historical views on animals: the synanthropic view, which treats animals as harmful, and the anthropophilic view, which regards animals as useful; however, because of certain ethic dimensions this often switches to ironicization, concealing the horror of certain human acts towards animals.

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Članek izhaja iz razmerja človek–žival, kot nam ga prikazujejo izbrane ljudske pesmi, kjer si avtorica prizadeva redefinirati tradicionalni koncept pogleda na žival (kot nekakšen živalski stroj). S pomočjo ekoloških in filozofskih premis skuša dokazati, da žival sodi tja, kamor se je že usidralo človeško bitje. Ob analizi živalskih balad in šaljivih pesmi odkriva raznovrstne podobe in vloge živali in odnos človeka do živalskega sveta, ki ga v njegovem mikrokozmosu dojema kot resničnega ali le kot metaforičnega. Raziskava se premešča od motivno-tematske analize vlog živali v pesmih do konkretnega oziroma kulturnega razmerja človeka do živali, kakor se izraža v ljudski pesmi. Ugotavlja, da je človeški odnos do živali v ljudskih pesmih izrazito antropocentričen in izražen v dveh tipih pogleda na živali, ki jima lahko sledimo v zgodovini: v sinatropskem (živali so obravnavane kot škodljive) in antropofilnem (živali so koristne). Kljub temu pa lahko v pesmih zaznamo etično razsežnost, upesnjeno v ironizaciji posamičnih grozljivih človeških ravnanj z živalmi.