On the execution of the young giraffe, Marius, by the Copenhagen Zoo: Conquergood’s “Lethal Theatre” and posthumanism

ABSTRACT

The author uses the work of Dwight Conquergood and posthumanist analysis to frame the killing of the young giraffe, Marius, by the Copenhagen Zoo as an execution. In doing so, he deploys the work of Irus Braverman to demonstrate the imbrication of humans, animal others, and technology in discourses of management of biopower and breeding value to pose the queer observation that it is none of our obligation to breed in captivity.

KEYWORDS:

• Posthumanism
• performance studies
• zoo ethics
• Dwight Conquergood
• giraffe

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the editors of this special issue, as well as the faculty and students of Northwestern University for their invitation to speak at a colloquium honoring the work of Dwight Conquergood, where this project began.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.