「人命關天」在尊重生命與人權的國家,是不可等閒視之的大事;相較之下,「動物賤命」能否存留,得靠機運,而能壽終正寢的少之又少。在南非作家柯慈得獎小說《屈辱》中,人與動物的生存與尊嚴,並置對照,書中主角因性醜聞與被判安樂死的狗同樣受到「屈辱」,結果「狗」的下場是死在針頭下,而「人」則因跨越「變向動物」,進入「變向他人」,重拾尊嚴,變成「狗夫」,脫胎換骨,找到生機。為深入探討小說中人與動物之互動,本文藉用法國哲學家德勒茲與心理學家瓜塔里「變向動物」的概念,視其為「變向」的一種模式與過程,並主張當跨越其門檻並與其他「變向」做根莖式之連結時,可提供「逃逸路線」,擴展開放的人生。是故,人類與動物之交織,可造就彼此生生不息之「變向」,淨化「羞愧的味道」,並構築嶄新的生命圖像。
Human life is a matter of the utmost importance, especially in countries where human rights have been highly upheld. In sharp contrast, animal life is sustained mostly by luck, with natural death a rare case. In South-African novelist J. M. Coetzee's "Disgrace", man's life and dignity is juxtaposed with animal's. Both the protagonist (because of a sexual scandal) and the dogs (due to euthanasia) undergo disgrace; however, while the latter die under the needle, the former traverses the threshold of "becoming-animal," enters into "becoming-other," and becomes a "dog-man," a total rebirth. "Becoming-animal," to Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, is only one line of becoming, which will become rhizomatic when connected with others, opening up possibilities of a new life. Thus, the interaction between men and animals will purify the "smell of shame" and generate unceasing "becoming," mapping a new image of life.