The Elephant’s Graveyard: Spectres of the Abyss? by Barbara Creed

summary by @nietzscheswritings (assisted by Google Gemini Pro for fact-checking and editorial clarity)

In the essay "The Elephant’s Graveyard: Spectres of the Abyss?", Barbara Creed explores the conceptual history of the "abyss" and its relationship to human and non-human animals. According to Creed the inquiry begins with the nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who famously posited, "And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you". For Nietzsche, the abyss signifies nihilism and a world devoid of meaning, truth, and purpose. Creed defines the abyss as a signifier of an unfathomable chasm, death, and nothingness, and questions why human animals have constructed such a concept and whether other species share it.

Historically, the boundary between human and animal has been defined by the capacity to comprehend death. Creed notes that René Descartes viewed animals as "automata," machines lacking reason, feeling, or the ability to understand their own deaths. This anthropocentric view, which suggests only humans are aware of the impending "abyss" of death, influenced philosophers like Martin Heidegger and Georges Bataille. However, Creed contrasts this with Charles Darwin’s argument that emotions evolved in both humans and animals, and she provides evidence of complex mourning rituals and altruism in species such as elephants, gorillas, and chimpanzees.

The abyss manifests in scientific and artistic discourses as both a destructive and creative force. In modern science, black holes at the galactic center signify both the collapse of stars and potential birthing places, mirroring Mayan myths of a "toothed abyss" or womb. Artistic representations further illustrate this duality. Edgar Allan Poe’s "A Descent into the Maelstrom" depicts the whirlpool as both a site of horror and a beautiful, regenerating space. Similarly, J.M.W. Turner, Edvard Munch, and René Magritte explore the abyss through motifs of savage storms, existential screams, and surreal, dark worlds.

Creed further examines the association of the abyss with woman’s body and the concept of abjection. In patriarchal ideology, the womb is often constructed as a "primeval 'black hole'" that is simultaneously terrifying and generative. Drawing on Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection, Creed explains that the abject—that which disturbs identity and order, such as bodily waste and corpses—is located in the abyss where "meaning collapses". Creed notes that nature and animals are often marginalized as abject to define the "proper civilized body" as hairless and clean, free of its animal origins.

Contemporary artists challenge these anthropocentric boundaries by emphasizing the "shared embodiedness" and vulnerability of all living things. Janet Laurence’s "Stilled Lives" critiques natural history museums as graveyards where dead animals are arranged for the "anthropocentric human gaze". Marian Drew uses still-life conventions to depict roadkill, highlighting the ethical responsibility humans often ignore. Sue Coe’s radical illustrations of slaughterhouses and the execution of the elephant Topsy confront animal cruelty by exploring death from the animal's perspective. Patricia Piccinini’s hybrid sculptures, such as "The Young Family," dismantle the human-animal boundary by depicting shared emotions like love and concern.

Creed concludes by citing Jacques Derrida, who argues that the most effective line of demarcation between species is the claim that animals do not understand death. Derrida suggests that we should instead acknowledge the shared finitude and vulnerability of all creatures. While John Berger observes that humans and animals currently stare across an "abyss of non-comprehension," Creed suggests that art and literature are committed to entering this abyss to establish a "creaturely and ethical relationship" with the animal world.