Festival / Evening
Marina Yaguello
The invention of languages
28 Feb 2013
The event is over
In texts, it is not uncommon for animals to talk. Myths, fables and fairy tales are full of beasts that are as loquacious as people. But some literary creations are even more bizarre : the “Houyhnhnm” horses of Swift; Kafka’s chimpanzee Peter; Bouboulov, the “canine citizen” of Boulgakov; Big and Fa, Robert Merle’s dolphins; Rover, Tige and Bounce, Clifford Simak’s philologist dogs … When comparing these fictional talking animals to actual ethological experiments on teaching words to non-human species, we are compelled to look at the relationship between speech and our humanity under a new light.
A lecture by Tristan Garcia, Philosopher and Writer, author of Mémoires de la jungle (Gallimard, 2010)
In texts, it is not uncommon for animals to talk. Myths, fables and fairy tales are full of beasts that are as loquacious as people. But some literary creations are even more bizarre : the “Houyhnhnm” horses of Swift; Kafka’s chimpanzee Peter; Bouboulov, the “canine citizen” of Boulgakov; Big and Fa, Robert Merle’s dolphins; Rover, Tige and Bounce, Clifford Simak’s philologist dogs … When comparing these fictional talking animals to actual ethological experiments on teaching words to non-human species, we are compelled to look at the relationship between speech and our humanity under a new light.
A lecture by Tristan Garcia, Philosopher and Writer, author of Mémoires de la jungle (Gallimard, 2010)
When
From 7pm
