What is it about?
I read Forster's use of animals in two pivotal scenes of A Passage to India to suggest that animals per se, and hyenas in particular, are essential to the novels ethical comportment. I extrapolate from this specific argument to suggest that Forster's approach is typical of modernist ethics more broadly.
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Why is it important?
Clearly, the article partakes of the recent vogue for animal studies, but does so less in terms of the human/animal binary or any brand of anti- or post-humanism. Instead, it suggests that the modernists were already thinking through animals, already understood humans as animals, and saw in the blurry human/animal spectrum opportunities for engaging in sophisticated and complex thought about ethics.
Perspectives
Researching hyenas was a delight. They are fascinating creatures, and the specifics of their biology are hugely important for their tropaic functions. I wish the paper were twice as long so I could deal more fully with the topic.
Dr Stephen Ross
University of Victoria
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Thinking Modernist Ethics with Animals inA Passage to India, Twentieth Century Literature, January 2015, Duke University Press,
DOI: 10.1215/0041462x-3153967.
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