Extinction by Exhibition: Looking at and in the Zoo

Abstract

This paper compares the phenomenological structure of zoological exhibition to the pattern prevalent in pornography. It examines several disanalogies between the two, finds them lacking or irrelevant, and concludes that the proposed analogy is strong enough to serve as a critical lens through which to view the institution of zoos. The central idea uncovered in this process of interpretation is paradoxical: zoos are pornographic in that they make the nature of their subjects disappear precisely by overexposing them. Since the keep are thus degraded or marginalized through the marketing of their very visibility, the pretense of preservation is criticized. It is suggested that the zoo as we know it be phased out in favor of more authentic modes of encountering other forms of life.

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