Konsten att se djur : Mötet med den Andras blick och den historiska relationen mellan människa och djur i konsten.

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the relationship between humans and animals throughout history and how changes in that relationship have affected the representation of animals in art. It also analyses the significance, for the viewer, of encountering an animal’s gaze in a work of art. The study focuses on Western art history, moving from a contemporary point of departure in Julia Lindemalm’s photography to earlier paintings, especially works from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries in which domesticated animals are central. Methodologically, it combines a literature-based historical overview with hermeneutic interpretation and close visual analysis informed by theories of the gaze, empathy and the encounter with the Other. The study identifies nine possible historical changes that transformed the relationship between humans and animals and, in turn, influenced the depiction of animals in art. Three major developments appear to have had a particularly radical impact on this relationship: (1) the development of agriculture, (2) climate change in combination with the Black Death and the search for human identity, and (3) the advancement of science. The results also show that the animal’s gaze in a work of art can play an important role in generating empathy for the animal. By seeing the animal and imagining its experience from the perspective of another species, empathy may arise. Every human being has an ethical responsibility to prevent the suffering and death of the Other, regardless of species. The animal’s gaze in a work of art can make the viewer aware of the animal’s existence as an individual. If the hierarchy between humans and other animals were dissolved, and the viewer were able to see the animal as an individual, much art from the past as well as the present would no longer be considered morally acceptable. At the same time, such artworks can be valuable for understanding how humans have affected other animals throughout history.