Senseless Arabesques

A discussion of the powerful Platonic love in Kelly Reichardt’sfilm, Wendy and Lucy, as a poignant instance of contemporary “creaturely love” (as under siege by the forces of neoliberalism).

Nymphomania and Faunication

A discussion of Agamben’s notion of the nymph as a figure between the human and the animal (and thus helping to reveal important aspects of both).

Fickle Metaphysics

An extension of the discussion in Chapter 13.

“The Soft Word That Comes Deceiving”

A discussion of a medieval text that uses animals to seduce (for the man), and also to resist seduction (for the woman).

Horsing Around

A discussion of the famous photo of Salome playfully whipping Nietzsche, pretending to be a horse. And unpacking the animalistic subtext of their amorous relationship.

The Goat in the Machine (A Reprise)

A discussion of the incessant visibility and circulation of the animal online, and what this says about our desire for creatures (or critters) in our all-too-human modern lives.

Unsettled Being

A discussion of Ovid’s seminal work, which proposes a far more fluid ontology concerning species-being than we have today, and thus helps us see creaturely love far more clearly.

“The Creature Whom We Love”

A discussion of Proust’s extensive use of this key term and his recognition of the subhuman subtext of love.

The Biological Travesty

An extension of the discussion in Chapter 5.

Groping for an Opening

A discussion of the use of animal figures in letters between Salome and Rilke, as well as the latter’s poetry.