Angelaki

Journal of the Theoretical Humanities

ISSN: 0969-725X (Print) 1469-2899 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cang20

THE ENIGMA OF THE RAVEN

Vinciane Despret

To cite this article: Vinciane Despret (2015) THE ENIGMA OF THE RAVEN, Angelaki, 20:2, 57-72,
DOI: 10.1080/0969725X.2015.1039842
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2015.1039842

Published online: 18 May 2015.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 878

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Citing articles: 3 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cang20
 ANGELAKI
journal of the theoretical humanities
volume 20 number 2 june 2015

translator’s foreword
Vinciane Despret describes her 2002 book
Quand le loup habitera avec l’agneau [When
the Wolf Will Live with the Lamb] as “the
major scientific statement of my research.”
The book continues along avenues she had
started previously, such as the ethology of
ethologists, the importance of asking the
right questions in research, and the characteriz-
ation of some ethological inquiries as sleuth-
ing akin to a detective novel. Building on her
book about Zahavi and the Arabian babblers,
Despret furthers her inquiry into both important
historical episodes in the development of ethol-
vinciane despret
ogy and contemporary research that continues
to build the discipline. She structures the book translated by jeffrey bussolini
in part as a series of letter-essays dedicated to
persons who have influenced her thinking and
being, with several chapters drawing on con-
THE ENIGMA OF THE
cepts or ideas from those to whom they are RAVEN
addressed (the chapter here on ravens is to
Bruno Latour, and it draws on his concepts of
interest and the Greek middle voice as a formu- human animals are equally as much subjects
lation that allows for thinking the intertwin- of history as humans are. The second chapter,
ing of agency in productive contexts of “The Primate at the Origin of our History,”
interaction and research). The title of the to Jean-Marc Gay, looks at how conditions of
book, of course, refers to the famous verse in confinement and observation in early research
the Book of Isaiah 11.6 that prophesies a time on primates, notably by Solly Zuckerman, intro-
when, “The wolf will live with the lamb, the duced longstanding misconceptions about
leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf primate behavior that continued to reproduce
and the lion and the yearling together; and a themselves in the literature for decades. The
little child will lead them.” Isaiah provides a third chapter, “Apes and Savages in an Anar-
vivid imaginary of multispecies bonds and chist World,” to Didier Demorcy, addresses
flourishing. the work of Kropotkin and Russian naturalists
The first chapter of the book, on “Transform- who saw cooperation rather than competition
ations,” dedicated to Despret’s son Jules- defining animal interactions; the chapter also
Vincent Lemaire, concerns changes that looks at how different figurings of the relation-
animals and animal cultures can undergo ship between apes and so-called primitive
over time, and makes the case that non- humans, for instance in Darwin and Freud,
ISSN 0969-725X print/ISSN 1469-2899 online/15/020057-16 © 2015 Taylor & Francis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2015.1039842

57
 the enigma of the raven

have led to widely differing cultural and politi- suffering and domination visited upon
cal ideals. Chapter 4, on “How to Have Trust in animals by human society, and at ideas of com-
Prophets,” to Thelma Rowell, analyzes how, posing with and “living well together” as some
despite numerous reports of striking cognitive, avenues fraught with possibility yet also
technical, and emotional capabilities among vigilance.
primates and other animals in early naturalist
literature, quasi-theological and anthropo-
centric notions such as that of the great chain
to bruno latour
of being caused a subsequent ignoring or dis-
avowal of them; she points to the importance
of changing ourselves as humans to change
“
S ome years ago, the American Skinnerians,
who had heard tell somewhere that there
existed other birds than the eternal pigeon,
animals (in our observations and interactions tried to replace it with the great raven.
with them). Chapter 5 evaluates “Successes Without success. The raven, who found the situ-
and Achievements” as they might be construed ation in a Skinner Box profoundly absurd, did
for different animals; the importance of taking not at all wish to push on the levers at the
into account an animal’s own point of view and command of the little lights that illuminated
interests leads to a better sense of interesting or for any other signal. Instead, it successfully
achievements. Chapter 6 addresses “The used its enormous beak to completely dismantle
Habits of Researchers and their Animals” the apparatus. This behavior was judged to be
and extends the argument about how changing unamerican and everyone went back to
human habits also gives other animals a pigeons” (Chauvin 138).
chance to change theirs, and looks at ethology Certainly, in resisting the propositions of the
as a practice of habits involving distance, behaviorist researchers with admirable vigor,
knowing activity, politeness, milieu, and alli- the raven no doubt escaped years of monotonous
ance. Chapter 7, dedicated to Isabelle Stengers, labor in dispositives that were probably none
is “Becoming Woman,” and it looks at how the too thrilling for beings of such remarkable curi-
practice and activity of women ethologists such osity.1 It was this quality that seemed to cause so
as Thelma Rowell, Shirley Strum, and Barbara much consternation for the American research-
Smuts refigure ethology (not because of their ers: evidently, they never posed the question of
gender but because of their practice and the knowing what a raven could, through this some-
questions they pursue); it is no accident that what maniacal behavior, teach them about what
Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdi- interested it.
kas have transformed the field of primatology. “Recalcitrance” to the impoliteness of the
Chapter 8, to Bruno Latour, is translated here. behaviorists, in demonstrating such strong inci-
Chapter 9 looks into “What Parrots Talk vility, was not the only crime that the ravens
About” and considers talking birds and pri- were guilty of, according to the researchers.
mates as subjective interlocutors who can We might recall that before becoming their
become persons in the exchanges allowed by specialist, Bernd Heinrich classified them at
language; setting, milieu, and influence (co- the very bottom of the ladder of choices con-
habitation) are central aspects of the inter- sidered sensible by ornithologists.
actions and research with these animals. The list of their annoying habits does not stop
Chapter 10, to Jocelyne Porcher and Dominique there: when Heinrich submitted to his mentor a
Lestel, concerns “Bringing Animals into Poli- thesis proposal to study ravens, he strongly dis-
tics” and recalls the intriguing story that suaded him. Little work had been done on
Edward Thompson (who has come up earlier ravens, but the testimony of those who knew
in the book) was motivated in naturalism them or spent time with them converged: they
and primatology by his hopes to help instanti- are of remarkable intelligence. It would be
ate Isaiah’s prophecy in terms of multispecies better to avoid studying an animal that is
interaction. It looks at the tremendous smarter than you, he told him, in sagely

58
 despret

recommending the study of protozoans the sim- its unfolding, more and more those tales to
plicity of which, the author reassures us, none- which the master writers of suspense invite us.
theless presents interesting problems. If you And this inquiry, full of suspense and sudden
want to study ravens, it will take you years turns, from season to season, from enigma to
before knowing them. Their timidity – that findings, from hypotheses to tests, will trans-
Heinrich attributes to the fact that they had form all that we know about ravens.
been, in our regions, victims of accusations of However, if we can fairly compare this adven-
the most diverse abuses and persecuted for it ture that will link Heinrich and his ravens to a
– makes them altogether unapproachable. And police investigation it is necessary also to
then count on still more years before any of observe that, to the contrary of many of them,
the information that you would be able to the “guilty” of the story are given from the
gather with difficulty can make even the least beginning: it is the ravens. That which we
sense. could consider to be the “crime,” the act that
Beyond that, if you try to elaborate any model transgresses the rules and expectations, is also
to make sense of their behaviors they will take a known: the ravens present a behavior that has
malign pleasure in contradicting it in the course no sense from the point of view of evolution.
of subsequent observations. Ravens, evidently, This “crime” that will kick off the whole affair
do not want to obey any of the rules that make appeared to Heinrich by accident in the course
research possible: the incivility that excommu- of an observation even before the inquiry com-
nicated them from the laboratories of the beha- menced: fifteen ravens were feeding around a
viorists having already been stigmatized from carcass. Nothing could be more banal, we
the time of the Flood – the ravens were in fact might think. Unless this were an assembly of
the only ones to have disobeyed the rule that sti- wrongdoers, and these wrongdoers could be
pulated that there be no mating on Noah’s Ark. deemed guilty of the transformation of an
Unruly, unpredictable, calling into question animal into a carcass – which is not the case
even the intelligence of their researchers, the since ravens generally do not attack living crea-
pertinence of their models, and the solidity of tures unless they are of very small size – there is
their dispositives, they are by all accounts unre- really no cause here to open an investigation.
liable; in any case, they were not so to a suffi- Now, in the eyes of someone who knows
cient degree to succeed in recruiting an army Maine ravens a bit, this behavior is justifiably
of biographers, as primates had been able to do. suspect. In principle, these ravens have no
However, after some years spent in caring for business being there all together. In Maine,
the peaceable world of protozoa and no doubt they are not only rare but most often solitary,
forgetting the sage advice of his advisors, with the exception of some couples and whilst
Bernd Heinrich will decide to resubmit his can- raising young. If certain ravens can come
didacy to the ravens. A sabbatical year offered together at night to share a communal nest,
by the University of Vermont, where he during the day they generally avoid one
taught, and the possession of a country house another and go about their business in places
in the Maine forests where the ravens Corvus that are at a distance from one another. The
corax live, will provide the opportunity for it. presence of many ravens at the same site can
This year will be followed by another, by therefore not be due to simple habit or coinci-
another still, and will end up extending dence. Of course, the carcass is a sufficient
beyond a decade. The ravens will literally motive for coming together; but how would
recruit their researcher into what will become they have been made aware of it, from many
a passionate inquiry; they will reveal to him kilometers away? The response is simple, Hein-
the resolution of an enigma the difficulty and rich explains: they could not all have come
the interest of which would be in accord with unless the raven who found this carcass had
what makes them impossible to study. This called them, explicitly. If that one had wanted
inquiry will come to resemble, gradually with to maintain the privilege of dining on the

59
 the enigma of the raven

carcass, the other ones would never have known: simulations of attacks on wolves, eagles, or
ravens are capable of being silent when they dogs, or even the theft of their food from right
don’t care to be noticed. This “recruitment” be- under their noses. Some observations have
havior of others around a carcass, Heinrich con- even shown that, following simulated attacks,
cludes, goes against all logic. Given the rarity of a raven will prevent its companions from
resources, a raven who finds food has no interest coming to its assistance, as if it wanted to con-
in being joined by others; and it has all the serve the privilege of showing its bravery.
means of avoiding it in remaining discreet. Ravens also accomplish a series of acts that
Why then had a raven called the others, why appear to be useless, that pertain at once to
had it invited the others to share in the party? both the game and to the affirmation of skill:
If food is difficult to find, why take the risk of transporting objects in their feet, wrapping up
needing to share it, when ravens are true these objects, especially in the presence of a
experts in hiding food items? female, it would seem, rolling on their backs,
Heinrich therefore had the “crime”: an doing superb slides in the snow or pushing
absurd behavior from the point of view of tra- snow onto their companions. This hypothesis
ditional models of evolution; he also had the of “exhibition” therefore would merit being
guilty parties. On the other hand, that which tested.
would make up the crux of the enigma and One could also just as well think that ravens
which could not be elucidated except at the practice a system of reciprocity of exchanges
end of a long and patient inquiry, the most of good conduct, as has been observed among
important element in the eyes of an ethologist, certain vampire bats in Costa Rica. A raven
would be the motive. Why do ravens do that who shares a find can count on the fact that its
which the logic of evolution should prohibit companions will return the favor, when the
them from doing? It is this motive that it will occasion presents itself.
be not only a matter of discovering but also of Yet another version can be evoked, with the
inscribing in the regime of proof. theory of sociobiology. In this case the ravens
As far as suppositions are concerned, there would constitute an umpteenth example of the
are many that we could make of this situation. “all purpose” model and, dominating in this
We could gamble on the generosity of ravens, area, of the theory of the “selfish gene.”2
in an anthropomorphic version that ethologists According to this theory, any animal presenting
prefer to avoid since the hypothesis is difficult behaviors that are said to be “altruistic,”
to test. We could, in a more plausible and verifi- whether it be a bee “sacrificing” itself for its
able manner, advance the hypothesis of a hive sisters, a bird renouncing reproduction to
moment of distraction or stupidity: the behavior feed the young of another, or a primate aiding
would not be repeated in other circumstances. a congener in difficulty, is guided by a single
We could also take up, to give credit to the motivation; this would be to transmit the great-
ravens, the hypothesis that Zahavi developed est possible number of its genes to the popu-
to understand the babblers: the fact of sharing lation. Applied to ravens, this theory would
food affirms the prestige of the one who offers stipulate that, certainly, the “altruistic” recrui-
it to others and permits him to climb, with a ters diminish their chances of survival in
great economy of conflicts, the hierarchical sharing a rare resource, but that the “sacrifice,”
ladder. Ravens, even if generally timid, are not costly from the individual point of view, can
sparing with moments of bravery. Some of reap benefits in regard to evolution. In effect,
these could be interpreted as a desire to cause still according to this theory, if the raven
a sensation. Many observations describe very shares the find with an individual who carries
audacious aerial acrobatics – steep nosedives a similar genetic baggage as its own, a close rela-
toward the ground with a swerve at the last tive for instance, it augments the probabilities
minute – generally followed by an attempt at of transmitting its genes to the next generation,
one-upmanship by one or other congener; in promoting the survival of those whom it

60
 despret

helps. According to the sociobiologists, this be nothing but details of the same motive. On
model permits the resolution, once and for all, the other hand, if you are interested in the
of the mysteries of apparently paradoxical beha- differences, in unexpected strategies, if you
viors such as “altruistic” behaviors, whether take into account the fact that the animal does
they concern ants, Florida blue jays, or hama- not cease to transgress the rules and models
dryas baboons. The animal simply obeys a rela- and that it is unpredictable in its choices, you
tively inflexible rule: help your relatives, ignore must adopt other criteria of achievement. It is
others, and you will multiply the copies of this that the ravens seem to demand. The cri-
yourself. terion of achievement chosen by Heinrich has
Ravens, however, do not seem to want to nothing of an ambitious program about it: on
yield to this rule: their sense of the family the contrary, it leaves the program totally
does not extend beyond the migration of open in regards to its realization. The primary
young. One could incidentally think that if achievement of a raven, the author explains, is
they had done so the investigator would have first and foremost that it “can procure resources
quickly reached his conclusions: when animals from the environment and convert them to more
are similar and all do the same thing, he says, of itself” (Heinrich, Ravens in Winter 36).
they very quickly become boring as subjects of Based on this simple premise, all organizations
study. If the underlying principles become remain possible. “Converting the environment
simple enough, they lose all interest once you into a little more of itself” offers huge scope
have grasped them. In other words, no investi- for invention – and incidentally responds well
gator worthy of the name could be fascinated to the raven’s extraordinary opportunism.
by a crime committed by an idiot without It remained then to understand how the
imagination. recruitment of others around resources consti-
Now, everything led Heinrich to believe that tutes, paradoxically, a way of realizing this
this situation had nothing to do with such a achievement, of accomplishing this conversion.
person, and that those in whom he was inter- The search for a motive will demand of the
ested would require, on the contrary, resources author that he explore all the paths, consider
of imagination, curiosity, and patience to be all the conditions, imagine all the tricks and
able to understand the enigma. For of all the stratagems. The politeness of “getting to
available models to take account of the reasons know”3 here takes on a surprising form: the
for cooperation among the birds, none seemed relationship is no longer inscribed in the register
able to accommodate the observations. When a on which I insisted in the previous chapters, a
model finally seems to connect all the elements register of negotiations of interests and stakes.
and give them meaning, a new version of recruit- Certainly, the question remains the same: it
ment appears that places the whole model into does concern “getting to know” by posing the
question. question, in terms of achievement, what it is
How does the motive make the “crime” an that interests the raven. But observation alone
achievement for the raven? How to accord this does not suffice. It is not only a matter of under-
achievement with that which translates, for a standing what the raven does and how it does it;
raven, the fact of succeeding in its everyday sur- it is necessary to elucidate why it does it. Of
vival? Clearly everything depends upon the cri- course one could, in ideal conditions, observe
teria that you use to qualify this as an the scene every day, verify whether the raven
achievement. If you opt for the sociobiological recruits each time, in what circumstances it
theory, you must evaluate the reproductive does so and in what other ones it does not.
success, and try to link together in the same But these conditions are not exactly those of
schema the carcass, the recruitments, the rela- ravens. Carcasses do not rain down in the
tives, the descendants, long-term strategic forests of Maine, the activity on the highways
choices and DNA. Your animal will be above notwithstanding. If you want to distinguish
all similar to others, and all the variations will from the tangle of all the possible explanations,

61
 the enigma of the raven

in the skein of motives, that which can truly story as that of an investigation around a
permit you to understand the stakes of the crime, in that it unfolds all along as a test of
“crime,” you have to help things along; you the intelligence and cunning of each of the part-
have to create situations that permit the ravens ners. Heinrich’s research addresses the achieve-
to help you decide, among all the contesting fic- ments of the ravens; it is interested in that
tions, the right fiction. You have to do so all the which renders them enigmatic and fascinating;
more so since the ravens will not show you, it interrogates them where they are competent
straightforwardly, what counts for them. If and where we have to become more so, theoreti-
you see a raven in front of a carcass, hopping cally to the degree that we understand nothing
about in a “dance of hesitation,” not hazarding about what they are doing, and practically to
too close but seeming to wait for one of its com- the degree that we have to learn their tricks to
rades to begin the process of cutting into it, you be able to approach them. And it addresses
can take up several possible interpretations, them above all where they actively resist the
each of which modifies the reason for recruit- models to which they could have been sub-
ment. The raven may have some fears, in view sumed. It is not only a matter of explaining or
of past experiences, that the cadaver is in fact understanding but also a matter of finding the
a predator who is feigning sleep and waiting procedures that attest to the pertinence of
for an imprudent raven in order to reverse the these explanations.
situation and convert the bird into a little The enigma, like good detective stories,
more of itself: we might recall the trick inscribes the protagonists in a relation of
thought up by Thompson’s monkey.4 You rivalry: if I want to understand them, Heinrich
could also imagine that it is a question of pre- says in some way, I must try to be as smart
cedence in the hierarchy, and that the subordi- and cunning, or more so, than they are. Not
nate ravens wait for the green light from the letting oneself be taken in easily, not letting
dominant; or that you are dealing with an inex- oneself be duped by appearances, not according
perienced raven, who does not know how to credence too swiftly; subjecting things to a
open a carcass, and who does not know the vul- strong standard of proof, enticing the ravens,
nerable places on it. With the first hypothesis, cobbling together situations that oblige them
the motive for recruitment would then be that to take a position. The politeness of “getting
of salutary egoism: it would be better to be to know” does not necessarily turn on an atten-
with many others in the case of this type of tive benevolence but on the art of finding the
error. On the second hypothesis, you find your- forces, and exchanging them, in an exercise of
self with a model of social organization, with, for rivalry – constituted by a clever mixture of com-
example, for the dominated, the obligation to plicity and opposition – and of putting to the
share. In the third, you would have still test. This politesse can sometimes even take
another type of cooperation and the exchange the form of suspicion: “respect,” the etymology
of good conducts to make sense of the motive reminds us, demands of us to look twice (re-
of recruitment: “I find, you open.” spectare). Confidence without verification
All the work of the researcher consists, then, offers little guarantee as to its robustness. A
in leading the ravens to take a position in competence that is too easily accorded attests
relation to his fictions and hypotheses: resisting to nothing, if not to the great flexibility of our
those that do not explain them; clarifying, in interpretations. If we want to witness in a
those that seem to be able to, that which reliable manner, if that which we learn from
counted for them. The scientist must, in other the ravens is to be treated with confidence, if
words, create a dispositive that confers on the we want to define ourselves as authorized by
ravens “the power not to submit to his interpret- them to speak in their name, we are required
ations.”5 It is in this way that the politeness of to offer them the opportunity to show what
“getting to know” presents itself. It does so all they can do. If they are able to take a position
the more, and it is here that I can develop this in relation to the different versions that could

62
 despret

take account of what they do, the version elsewhere, out of their view. The raven has
that passes the test will emerge as the most become a reliable witness for his researcher’s
robust. proposition; he not only became worthy of the
In this way, if numerous anecdotes on the proposition, but he became, by the very form
subject of ravens report their intelligence, it of it, autonomous in relation to the interpret-
does not honor them to accept this interpret- ations of his author. He helped the researcher
ation too quickly. Each anecdote, Heinrich to construct a “fact.” And the scientist, in
explains, could be susceptible to an alternative giving the raven a chance to take a position in
explanation that is just as plausible: at times relation to his proposition, became worthy of
one recollection will suffice, at times the witnessing in the raven’s name.
simple vigilance to things that we do not per- Returning to our enigma, to the motive of
ceive, at other times still happenstance or apparently inexplicable behavior: how to ask
chance. For example, when one observes a the ravens, with the same politeness, to take a
raven throw objects and detritus onto those position in relation to all the possible conjec-
who approach the nest, we consider right away tures of the investigation? How to ask them to
that it must be an intentional and dissuasive teach us the good explanation, the right
strategy. But, Heinrich says, the behavior motive? How, in other words, to unmask the
closely resembles that of a maniacal disturbed criminal? The researcher will have to learn the
person who takes out their rage on objects. On art of the trap and the net: the art of the lure
the other hand, when we see a raven succeed and the trick; the art of learning, from those
in threading many pieces of meat on its beak whose enigma you are trying to solve – and
before going to hide them, we could think that have no intention of helping you – how that
it anticipates the fact that others will come which counts can count for them. It is, in
and steal the pieces he leaves on the ground sum, the art of the mētis (μῆτις) (Detienne
during the journey. One could always respond and Vernant, Cunning Intelligence 11, 12; Les
that the simple desire not to tire itself out and Ruses de l’intelligence 10), that particular
to economize on comings and goings amply jus- form of intelligence that the Greeks cultivated,
tifies this behavior, and that it gives no proof of and that they learned from hunters and
the capacity of ravens to anticipate the inten- fishers, that intelligence that combines intui-
tions of others. tion, cunning, perspicacity, dissimulation,
Heinrich will propose to the ravens that he improvisation, vigilant attention and the sense
welcomed in an aviary to demonstrate their of timeliness. It is the only way of getting to
competences: they must prove that they are know (making knowledge) that can hope to
capable not only of anticipating the intentions address “intelligent, highly flexible” (Heinrich,
of others but of acting accordingly. We have Ravens in Winter 259) beings, like ravens,
already made reference to this experiment, so who require of those who want to know them
we will briefly recall it here. Heinrich gives the same flexibility and the same intelligence.
Orange a number of pieces of meat in front of And it is not by chance that it is this type of
his fellow creatures White and Red. Orange, “getting to know,” long eclipsed by the
anticipating what will become of this unex- choices made in philosophy, that is now return-
pected gift, immediately starts hiding the ing in some ethological research. For this type of
pieces. Each of his movements is, needless to “getting to know” was constituted exactly “to be
say, watched by the two others, who do not found in a domain where human intelligence is
then hesitate to dislodge the pieces of meat constantly at grips with the land or sea
from their hiding places. Orange tries to animals” (Detienne and Vernant, Cunning
follow them but must soon renounce the Intelligence 317; Les Ruses de l’intelligence
effort. Then he changes strategy: he simulates 305) in an area where humans saw their
the act of hiding food, and when the others are intelligence and techniques transform in learn-
busy digging to find them, he hides them ing from animals. Heinrich, we will see, will

63
 the enigma of the raven

attest to the possibility of prolonging this wait until they were full to recruit their
transformation. fellows? Maybe, Heinrich comments. But does
Strange politeness, some might say, that goes it really amount to recruitment? There is no
by way of the art of cunning, lures, and manipu- way to be sure that the later arrivals came
lation: enticing ravens; seeing without being because they heard the cry. They were perhaps
seen; tracking the least indications that would just passing by. It is necessary therefore to
betray their motives; obliging them to choose; verify the power of attraction in these cries.
luring them to actualize the choices; creating Heinrich procures a tape recorder to capture
situations as if they were natural so as to let them and loudspeakers to be able to disseminate
the birds do the talking. But it is not a matter, them later. He would also need another cadaver.
in this research, of searching out the faults to One of his friends had just killed a pig and
weaken the ravens, quite the contrary: it is a offered him the entrails. Eighty kilos should
matter rather of rendering them more robust be sufficient to motivate the generosity of the
in comparison to the researchers, of giving one who would find them. Heinrich places the
them the occasion to resist, of giving them the meat near to his observation post and waits.
power to send the researcher to work. While Two ravens arrive, followed by a third. They
Harlow’s laboratory bet on passivity, the “reac- eat silently, then they leave discreetly. After
tivity” of its subject, Heinrich’s dispositive will hours of waiting the author, discouraged,
take form as an invitation to activity to those to returns to his lodging. It is at that moment
whom the questions are addressed. By these that he hears the cries. He reverses course and
strategies and dispositives, the researcher succeeds in recording some cries. The next
commits to more activities in order to encourage day, the ravens come and go, but none of
them in return among those that he observes. In them appears to touch the meat. The one
other words, and more concretely, the investi- closest to it executes a small dance of hesitation
gator will invite the guilty to take action. and finally decides. It takes some little pieces
Heinrich’s first activity will thus be to create and sets to work going to hide them. None of
an occasion for the ravens to busy themselves the birds makes the least noise. Others come
around his problem. To make the crime poss- in the afternoon but content themselves with
ible, it would be necessary first of all to find flying over the meat, as if they simply wanted
an enticement that interests them, a carcass if to verify its presence. They remain silent.
possible. To begin with, it would be better to Why are they not recruiting now? The next
trust the ravens and to act like them. Heinrich day, the afternoon scene repeats itself. No one
will let himself be recruited by them: he will eats or calls.
report to the rendezvous made apparent by the A new hypothesis must therefore be con-
cries announcing the discovery of a meal. The sidered: the reason for their abstention is
cadaver of an elk, left there by a poacher, perhaps linked to the type of food that is
becomes the object of a noisy feast. The birds offered to them. Perhaps it is not their conge-
take flight at the approach of the researcher. ners that they are interpellating, but simply
Without shame, he takes the carcass and will the other scavengers, coyotes or bears,
place it close to his observation post. endowed with sufficient strength to open car-
The next day at dawn, two ravens arrive, fol- casses? The pig entrails being directly accessible
lowed by a third. All three remain silent. Ten to them, they may not have needed to call for
minutes later, they are joined by two others. aid. It would thus be necessary to recommence
Some “quorks” are exchanged very quietly. the experiment, this time with a cadaver that
These are no doubt salutations, not publicity. was impossible to open. A goat bought on a
The ravens eat silently. When one of them is visit to Vermont would fit the bill. The next
full, it flies up to a branch and lets out noisy day Heinrich waits with the goat cadaver
cries. Others arrive. A falcon joins them, placed prominently nearby. A raven arrives,
rapidly chased off by two ravens. Did they approaches it, then takes off again. Others

64
 despret

come, no more interested than the first one. These two hypotheses combined – they
They neither call nor do they eat. Could it be recruit but seem to be scared to approach –
that the goat is, in their eyes, an inferior substi- can become the object of a new formulation:
tute for what they usually eat? Heinrich goes to are they perhaps scared of having to do with a
test his lure on other ravens, kilometers from fake cadaver and do they wait until they are suf-
there. Those ravens accept his gift with much ficiently numerous to diminish the risk? But the
goodwill. logic of the following observations does not
Nothing, however, says that if the recruitment allow the support of this hypothesis: the
does not seem to be addressed to other species it ravens, if that were the case, should have
would then be a signal of invitation addressed to stopped calling their congeners once they
fellow ravens. The lure could be used to respond started to eat and thus verified that it was not
to this question: the ravens fall for the trick. The a trap. Perhaps the danger does not come
call seems very well indeed to recruit them. from the prey, and their hesitation is simply
There will be, within fifteen minutes, thirty due to the fact that they are scared of a predator
birds around the new feast organized by Hein- who prowls around? This hypothesis can be
rich … but none of them eats! tested by simply leaving the choice to the
From squirrel cadavers to rabbit remains ravens. Heinrich places the meat on the
from the side of the highway, from cow ground and in a tree. The ravens, if the predic-
kidneys to pieces of giblets, the ravens demon- tions are correct, will go without hesitation into
strate the most erratic behaviors: eating the tree, where they have nothing to fear.
without being called, calling without eating, However, they will not be so obliging, the
eating and calling, eating in the morning and author says: against all expectations, they feed
not in the afternoon, or the contrary. There is on the ground, after a hesitation dance. On the
only one logic: that of the most complete other hand, how to understand the fact that
unpredictability. the ravens can seem so fearful when at other
Things become singularly and decidedly times they are capable of so much bravery?
more complicated: not only do the ravens not Isn’t this the crux of the problem? Wouldn’t
respond to questions but they pose new ones. there be some ravens who are braver than
It is no longer about understanding why they others, which would justify the fact that some
call, but on the one hand understanding why can eat while others hesitate for a long time
they do it in some situations and not others; before doing so? Wouldn’t this be dependent
and on the other why they feed at certain on age or experience: bravery, in raven societies,
times and seem not to want to do so at other being precisely “what separates the ‘men’ from
times. For the first question, Heinrich considers the ‘boys’” (Heinrich, Mind of the Raven
that the response could be linked to the quantity 272)? But how could we ask them to verify
of food available: lately, they have been content this hypothesis?
with small game found here and there. If there is The author recounts a shocking coincidence
not enough of it, the ravens would perhaps have that flows from the comparison of all his obser-
the advantage of remaining silent. The hypoth- vations: sometimes the recruitment is done,
esis is simple to test; the game warden would sometimes it is not; but, in the second case, it
help by bringing all that he would be able to frequently happens that only two ravens eat.
find by way of large cadavers in the forest. Hein- Heinrich decides to verify this coincidence: he
rich organizes an enormous banquet. Against all places two piles of food in nearby places and
expectations, the ravens seem to respond to the observes. Two birds come to feed from one of
first hypothesis: they recruit, no doubt because them; a recruitment of many ravens takes
the food is abundant. But they require the place at the other one. Is this then a couple
author to pose the second question: they do and a group? Later observations support the
not, however, touch the food. They execute thought that ravens form very stable couples,
the dance of hesitation. that can last a lifetime. We think, moreover,

65
 the enigma of the raven

that when the young leave the nest they associ- would be necessary to find the right way to
ate in bunches until the age of three or four recruit the ravens for the resolution of his
years. However, if the first affirmation concern- problem.
ing couples seems to be correct, Heinrich com- Now, if Heinrich learns with difficulty the
ments, nothing is less sure for the second one: means of recruiting the ravens, it is in fact the
it is not necessarily the case that since we fre- inverse that is in the course of declaring itself.
quently see groups of ravens around refuse It is the ravens who will recruit the author.
that they live together in a bunch. We can The indices of this transformation take shape
only affirm that they frequently share commu- gradually with the research. “It is still dark,
nal nests for the night. Observations also show and I’m already being awakened by raven
that couples defend their territory against all calls! Several birds are flying over Kaflunk
intrusion. This defense can take highly variable making short, high-pitched calls that are
forms: they can sometimes attack any congener unlike the usual quorks. These calls convey exci-
who approaches, sometimes they settle only for tement. The birds are flying to a kill! I feel it.
escorting it to the boundary of the territory. Do Even I can understand, and I too am recruited”
the first to arrive form a couple, and the second (Heinrich, Ravens in Winter 81).
a group of juveniles? Do they all belong to the We cannot ourselves understand it otherwise:
same group? We can’t be sure, since we cannot if this recruitment by non-humans was able to
know whether, on the one hand, birds arriving acquire such an efficacy, it is because the
in a pair form a couple, and whether, on the human was transformed by those whose
other hand, these are the same ones who enigma he was trying to understand. The story
mutually recruit one another, a condition of conveys nothing so much as that of a becoming.
being able to affirm that this would be a true Heinrich’s long investigation connected him to
group. the ravens in an unexpected manner. In learning
After all these months of research, Heinrich to recruit them, he learned to be recruited by
confesses that he has no answers. Quite the con- them. That which constitutes achievement for
trary: he now has nine hypotheses and not a raven now constitutes, in another way,
enough life left to be able to test them all. He achievement for himself; feeding on their
had to transport tons of meat, purchased emotions, letting himself be pervaded by their
goats, donated pigs, gifts from the game joy, letting himself be drawn into their
warden, deer abandoned by poachers; he had enigma: converting the environment into a
to scour the highways for road-kill cadavers; little more of himself. He learned to become
and on top of that he had to spend hundreds sensitive to what makes the ravens sensitive.
of hours immobile in his observation post, “The majority of bird sounds have no emotional
race through the woods and the snow, climb content for us. It surprises me, therefore, that
up into trees, endure extended waits, raise many of the raven’s calls sometimes display
false hopes, use lures in the form of recordings emotions that I, as a mammal for whom they
… and the mystery is deeper now than at the are not intended, can feel [ … ] I also feel I
start. Biological detective stories, he comments, can detect a raven’s surprise, happiness,
are visibly more complicated than the classical bravado, and self-aggrandizement from its
investigations: the more you find out the more voice and body language. I cannot identify
you know that there are things that you do not such a range of emotions in a sparrow or in a
know (Heinrich, Ravens in Winter 301). More hawk” (Heinrich, Ravens in Winter 250). For
cunning, more imagination, more activities to the author, the joy of a feast around a carcass
oblige the ravens to choose between hypotheses. takes on the same force of recruitment that it
It would be necessary to organize more feasts, can have for a raven. When the raven dances
simulate invitations, call again and again by the dance of hesitation the researcher holds his
means of recordings, propositions, and situ- breath: there he is, also hesitating, before that
ations capable of interesting the ravens. It which he wants to understand.

66
 despret

This becoming “with the raven” that builds other ones do not allow to be asked. Tame and
up and transforms that to which the human is be tamed to better find out what matters from
sensitive will in turn submit him to new a raven’s point of view; gain the trust to
demands. These will radically reorient the respond to the demands of the politeness of
course of the research. How to take account of “getting to know.” Make of this taming a dis-
what counts for a raven, without going tinctive occasion to convey other things, and
through the ways that the ravens themselves to respond to other questions. This occasion,
negotiate it together? The position of control Heinrich explains, “occurs when the individual
and exteriority reached its limits. The ravens close to the bird is trusted, has earned a trust
cannot respond to questions in the manner that is not offered lightly. Given that trust,
that they were posed to them. If some are much is revealed that could otherwise never be
brave and others are not; if some have good seen” (Heinrich, Mind of the Raven 32).6
reasons to be afraid and others have none; if A huge aviary will be built in the garden, and
the models do not hold water since they young ravens will be released there. Theo, Thor,
cannot take account of the “eccentrics”; if Ralph, Ro and Rave will teach the author that
there are small differences we cannot perceive ravens develop their personality in the course
that guide the behaviors; if recognizing one of the first months: Ralph will be the most
another is important, then it is necessary to go adventurous and the most curious; he will also
by way of what the ravens demand. “Progress be the one who will be the most attached to
often depends more on how well one follows the researcher. He will soon become the domi-
the situation than on how well one controls it. nant and show that the hierarchy takes shape
Especially when control is difficult” (Heinrich, as a function of bravery. Those who are the
Ravens in Winter 196). One must learn to first to eat while the others hesitate win a sort
recognize them. One must also learn to ask of tacit right of precedence, without there
them to give evidence differently and to try to being any conflict around this point. The exper-
understand how a raven ponders a question. iment will be an achievement. “My observations
The first evidence will arrive in the form of a were possible only because I was so closely in
weakened raven that has to be saved. The author their midst. My rearing them from nestlings,
brings him to his house and feeds him. The sur- and daily association with them for ten
prise is overwhelming: while it will sometimes months, had won me their trust, which made
take a raven three days to approach a carcass, the expression of their fine-grained unfiltered
and the least provocation can provoke its and hence complex behavior possible in my
flight, the pensive raven seems to find the situ- presence. The aviary also compensated for my
ation “altogether normal,” and comes, after inability to fly. I could follow them here, while
two hours of taming, to eat from his hand. at the same time provide an experimentally
“And now, when everything is suddenly new, crowded situation that elicited flexible and inno-
this bird acts as if nothing is out of the ordinary! vative behaviors that otherwise might occur
I do not know how they perceive the world. I can only rarely in the field where the birds can
only guess that they see it not as an absolute but more easily avoid each other if they choose”
as departures from the accepted. When every- (Heinrich, Mind of the Raven 259). The dispo-
thing is different, then comparisons cease, and sitive of taming, then, proves to be a privileged
almost anything can be accepted. And come to access of “getting to know”: it actualizes compe-
think of it, isn’t that how humans perceive the tences that have less chance of occurring in
world as well?” (Heinrich, Ravens in Winter usual conditions: those of the birds and those
133). Heinrich will tag him and release him, of the researcher. It transforms habits: once
after his recovery. The new program is again, those of the birds and those of the one
launched: it is necessary to recognize the who investigates them.
ravens. It is also necessary to feed some of In a parallel fashion, Heinrich will tag each of
them who can respond to questions that the the ravens that he can catch. He makes each an

67
 the enigma of the raven

identity file, puts a ring on the leg, and then a some of them join a communal nest, the next
small piece on the left wing, in different colors day the ones who do will be present with their
for each one. The colors determine the age and night companions around a carcass that the
the name of each one of the ravens. The members of the nest had discovered some time
stories change from this moment on: the inves- before. Those who could not join the nest will
tigator has become biographer. W20 and Ro not be.
try to court R26, but being rejected each time, Next, only the dominant juveniles recruit in
they finally give up. The juvenile Ro is the presence of adults, the others do not do it
amazing: in the absence of adults he behaves except in their absence or at a distance. If one
like a dominant. But as soon as adults arrive, compares this behavior with those that take
he reverts to all the attitudes of submission. place in the aviary, one could then consider
Some birds are very regular, others are often that the fact of recruiting must be linked to
absent. They have habits that individualize demonstrations of bravery. The best proof of
them. Ro and R26 both arrived at the same the value of a bird is its capacity to procure
time today, but each one from a different side: food. As among the ravens, the fact of eating
they are probably not in a real relationship; or often depends on bravery, and since bravery is
else they have broken up. The marking often gained by experience, the fact of calling
spreads, in the stories, even to those who are others around a food find, would it not consti-
not banded: the one who has only one leg did tute a reliable gauge of the quality of the recrui-
not come yesterday; the one who has a white ter? The ravens fully demonstrate this: bravery
spot on the back seems more timid, the one counts for them, it is a good measure of the
who does not have a tail was there today. Not value of partners, and a good opportunity to
being there today comes across in another show one’s own. Those of a very fearful nature
manner: when he tried hard to establish a stat- will not take so many risks in many situations,
istic on their dispersion by attaching a signal unless it is for something that really counts. It
beacon to some of the youngest ravens, Heinrich is truly that which, among the ravens, separates
discovers that many among them were killed: the men from the boys.
“The statistics that I knew so well were taking The first motive for the crime is therefore elu-
on new meaning. These were “my” raven cidated. But it is necessary also to understand
friends and neighbors being killed” (Heinrich, that this motive was not the only one: it links
Mind of the Raven 81). together many of the events, but not all of
If the terms that guide the “getting to know” them. It cannot explain, for one thing, the fact
were transformed, this does not mean that the that in certain cases the recruitment seems to
investigation is abandoned. On the contrary: it have taken place elsewhere: and, for another
will finally, and thanks to these transformations, thing, that sometimes the ravens who come in
come to its conclusion. The questions addressed pairs sometimes eat and others don’t. It is in
to each one, Ro, R26, W20, white back, one leg, engaging this detail that the second motive can
Thor, Theo, and all the others, will bear fruit. be brought to light. To elucidate it, it is necess-
One simply has to listen to them tell, at ary to link two pieces of information. The first
certain times, and to offer them propositions, of these requires proof by means of an exper-
at other times. First of all, the fact that the iment. This will be set up to determine the
birds can mix in many places with resources link between position in the hierarchy and the
seems to indicate that the recruitment is not manner of recruiting. If the raucous recruitment
oriented toward the protection of a stable can be, at some times and in some circum-
group. Certainly, information can be trans- stances, an opportunity to show one’s bravery,
mitted among the group that finds itself what would the reasons be for a more discreet
together during the night: if one keeps some recruitment, at a distance? Would it be the
birds in captivity and releases them in the fact of less brave or subordinate ravens? Hein-
evening after several days, but only letting rich kept twenty birds for a month and observed

68
 despret

how the hierarchy was organized. When this models are now commensurate with their unpre-
proves to be clear and stable, the birds are dictability. He learned flexible habits from the
relaxed. The researcher leaves a carcass in a ravens that would permit him to celebrate and
place, and leads a subordinate female there. to take account of the flexibility and the achieve-
She does not eat, and stays close to the meat, ment of their habits. Heinrich became their
dancing a little dance of hesitation. That expert and their reliable spokesperson: he
evening, she joins the nest. The next day, they gained the status of being authorized by them
are all there … and she eats with them. A first to speak in their name. He became the compe-
explanation can be confirmed: the carcass, like tent expert through whom they acquired their
any new object, could be dangerous; the fact competences. He could now convince and
of eating, since vigilance for predators is dimin- interest his colleagues, in terms that count for
ished, adds to the danger. The presence of them: he could test each hypothesis. He can
fellow ravens can constitute excellent speak in the name of the ravens, enroll other
protection. researchers to pose other questions, offer them
But the danger of a carcass that would mira- new occasions. He could also bear witness for
culously revive is not the only cause; if not, them.
then how to explain that sometimes a more When in Germany, in the mid-1990s, fifty
raucous recruitment continues after the corpse ravens invaded the idyllic Swabian Alps
has been shown clearly to be dead? Possible pre- region, near the town of Balinger, the worst
dators no longer constitute a sufficient reason: accusations were made against them. Farmers
there are circumstances showing that it is not suspected them of attacking their livestock. A
the only possible motive. The difference in be- shepherd described them as a troop of disci-
havior between the ravens who move in pairs plined soldiers who would launch at their
and those who are in a group adds another victims, at the signal of their commander, to
version to the motive. For once they are ident- kill them. The newspapers immediately seized
ified; these ravens who eat as a pair and who on the affair. “Nature turned to horror,” ran
keep others at a distance are shown not only to one headline. The accounts recorded seemed
form a couple but the proprietary couple of the to come straight out of a Hitchcock film.
territory where the food is found. The reason Hunters joined in to support both the poor
for recruitment becomes clear, in this last situ- farmers and the threatened animals. All the
ation, and permits understanding why ravens observations aligned: the ravens were very
present such indecisive behaviors around food: often near or in the fields where the cows and
when a territory is occupied by a couple, they sheep gave birth to their young. And these
will chase off all those who approach. Except newborn lambs and calves were found with
if they are too numerous. If some juvenile vaga- mutilated eyes or tongues.
bonds find a carcass and the territorial couple is All the groups present testified against the
far away, they will eat silently so as not to attract ravens: their killing would be necessary. Hein-
attention. If, on the contrary, the couple is close, rich came to the defense of their cause. A new
they will call, and wait to be part of a sufficiently investigation commenced, with a real crime
large number to eat in safety. And if they do not and real guilty parties this time. The motives
come, they will not eat. are, on the other hand, much more hetero-
The achievement that recruitment represents geneous, most of them not being those of the
for the ravens now conveys an achievement for ravens: the farmers claimed compensation
Heinrich: he succeeded in recruiting the from the government; the hunters demanded
ravens around his problem, which he could that the law that had protected the ravens
not elucidate without their help; he succeeded since their quasi-extinction be lifted with the
in being sufficiently recruited himself to goal of preserving other species of birds; poli-
invent pertinent ways of addressing them. The ticians, anticipating heavy payments, did not
ravens taught him the taste for differences: the hesitate to jump on the bandwagon, and the

69
 the enigma of the raven

press saw, with each “crime,” a substantial none of them has posed the question of under-
increase in sales. standing the nature of the bond that ties them
To begin with, Heinrich argued, he’d never to the wolves. Heinrich will seek out those of
heard of ravens attacking livestock: they don’t his colleagues who study wolves in Yellowstone
approach cadavers that are still moving. At a National Park. What is the motive for this sur-
pinch ravens can eat dead lambs just after prising association between ravens and wolves?
birth. But in New England, cows and sheep How does this so-called peaceful cohabitation
give birth to their young in stables, such that between them play a role in their achievement?
the ravens cannot be blamed for all the Are the ravens of Yellowstone different from
animals that die during farrowing. Now, in the Maine ravens owing to the fact that they
this region of Germany, the livestock are left live with wolves? The researchers accept the
outside all year, including during the birthing recruitment and the programs of research are
periods. Heinrich obtained the support of ecolo- launched. The information collected is astonish-
gists, who exerted pressure on the government ing: the Yellowstone ravens conform to the
in favor of requiring autopsies before paying hypotheses that had to be abandoned for the
compensation. The results of these autopsies Maine ravens! The rules that guided the beha-
will be definitive: all the animals attacked by viors and the motives for recruitment in Maine
the ravens were already dead, for other identifi- do not apply in Yellowstone. The presence of
able causes, before the birds stepped in. These the wolves transformed the ravens. While in
deaths were also, beyond that, much more Maine, except in particular circumstances or
numerous among negligent landowners. In the exceptional bravery, ravens are always hesitant
light of proof, the number of crimes suddenly around a carcass and take many precautions;
plummeted in a dramatic manner; the compen- those in Yellowstone, when they are in the pres-
sation, which had become pointless, was sus- ence of wolves, do not demonstrate any timidity
pended and the livestock were better kept. and do not hesitate a second before eating. Not
The ravens had been exonerated; the truce only do they not fear the wolves – who are of an
could once again be respected. The German exemplary patience with the most mischievous
ravens had in their turn succeeded in recruiting ravens who, with bravery, come to bite them
the representative of the American ravens; and on the tail – but when the wolves are there
he was able to recruit ecologists, who in their they are no longer afraid of anything! The
turn mobilized experts and politicians, who wolves allow the ravens to conquer their fear
themselves modified the habits of the owners in the presence of large items of food, such as
of the cows and sheep. the carcasses of large animals; they changed
The recruitment does not stop there. Hein- the constraints that hold sway over the habits
rich will continue to enroll other humans of the ravens.
around his ravens, in drawing this time on par- Better still, it seems that the ravens rely on
ticular talents of these birds: in certain circum- the wolves and seek their company in order to
stances and in certain regions, they can achieve eat. Dan Stahler, the Yellowstone colleague
amazing interspecific recruitments. And inas- recruited for these observations, put this
much as it is a prophecy that serves as a hypothesis to the test: he left deer carcasses
guiding thread for my story, it is the wolf that out in the open in places where he had pre-
I will ask to bear witness to a last version of viously seen ravens join wolves just at the end
this achievement. Isaiah’s bet would certainly of a hunt. When the wolves did not find the
have been less risky if in the place of proposing carcass, then either the ravens did not come,
it to the sheep he had instead addressed it to the or they came, but did not touch it and left
ravens to put the wolf to the test in terms of straight away. Besides, when a raven finds a
peaceful cohabitation.7 carcass that is not open, and therefore inaccess-
Wolf observers, Heinrich remarks, take the ible for it, it calls: in a few minutes the one who
presence of ravens so much for granted that was recruited – the wolf – generally appears and

70
 despret

opens the prey for it, from which it immediately Louis Althusser, Giorgio Agamben and many
takes its share of the benefits. But that is not the others. Owing to the technical connotations of
only benefit of this exchange of good conduct for the term, it has often been rendered as “apparatus”
the wolves. It seems that the ravens are much in English, but this presents a major problem since
more alert and vigilant than the wolves. One the French term appareil, much more closely
related to “apparatus,” is used as distinct from dis-
can relatively easily approach a wolf without it
positif by the thinkers mentioned. Owing to the
responding, something which is never the case specificity of the concepts, there is an increasing
for the raven: they sound the alarm at the slight- use of the English term “dispositive” to capture dis-
est noise. Ravens assume with wolves the role positif and the distinctions from appareil. Timothy
that the Viking gods accorded to them; they Armstrong’s earlier translation of Deleuze’s
spy and surveil to the ends of the earth and famous essay on Foucault’s use of the concept
report everything to those who sent them. One uses “social apparatus” to distinguish it from
can hide nothing from them, “the birds serve “apparatus” and to emphasize the social and assem-
the wolves as extra eyes and ears” (Heinrich, bling dimensions. These social and assembling
Mind of the Raven 238). dimensions are particularly important to Despret’s
The prophecy, translated in terms of recruit- use of the concept in the philosophy of science and
ethology. See Gilles Deleuze, “Qu’est-ce qu’un dis-
ment, takes an amazing turn: of course wolves
positif?” in Michel Foucault philosophe (Paris: Seuil,
live with ravens and even eat with them. And, 1989), Giorgio Agamben, Che cos’è un dispositivo?
certainly, the scientists who specialize in (Rome: Nottetempo, 2006), and Jeffrey Bussolini,
wolves now work with those who specialize in “What is a Dispositive?,” Foucault Studies 10
ravens: the recruitment of wolves by the (2010): 85–107. [Translator’s note.]
ravens extends to the recruitment of their
2 Despret refers here to the canonical work in
spokespeople. But who could gene-centered evolutionary theory, namely
have thought, if not no doubt a Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene. [Translator’s
descendant of La Fontaine, that note.]
it is the ravens who protect the
3 Vinciane Despret uses the French expression
wolves and permit them to eat
“faire connaissance” that has a range of meanings
with their eyes closed? that are difficult to capture in English. “Faire con-
naissance” denotes getting acquainted in the
disclosure statement sense of “meeting” or “making someone’s acquain-
tance,” and “getting to know someone,” but it also
No potential conflict of interest was reported by literally means “making knowledge,” and Despret is
the author. drawing on each of these elements here. It is ren-
dered here as “getting to know” which has reson-
ances of meeting, acquaintance, and friendship, but
notes it should also be read with an emphasis on making
and producing, as in “getting to” something via a
Translated from Vinciane Despret, Quand le loup process of inquiry and labor. “Faire connaissance”
habitera avec l’agneau © Editions du Seuil/Les is closely related to her concept of politeness as
Empêcheurs de penser en rond, 2002, 207–34. an integral part of the type of research that she is
describing here, exemplified by Bernd Heinrich’s
1 The French term dispositif has an important
involvement with the ravens. [Translator’s note.]
specificity that has caused difficulties in prior trans-
lation and in capturing the range of meanings that it 4 This story was told by the naturalist Edward Pett
covers (including technical, military, legal, and Thompson in 1851, in Passions of Animals. A
ontological/arrangement dimensions). The term is monkey in Thalassery, from whom some crows
at once an everyday, general term for referring were regularly stealing food from its plate on the
to machines and devices of all kinds (such as ground while the monkey was on the top of a
cameras and pencil sharpeners but also airplanes) climbing pole, once feigned to be sick and laid on
and it is a philosophical concept that has been the ground. When the crows, deceived by its
drawn upon by Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, apparent state of agony, went to take the food

71
 the enigma of the raven

the monkey suddenly jumped, took one of them,

trapped it, and plucked it vigorously.
5 I borrow this definition “of the work of a scien-
tist worthy of the name” from Isabelle Stengers,
Introduction to Nathan, Nous ne sommes pas seuls
au monde.
6 For each of these passages, the emphasis is the
author’s.
7 The Book of Isaiah 11.6 emphasizes interspecific
relationships in its “The wolf will live with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The
calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together,
and a child will lead them.” Holman Christian Stan-
dard Bible (http://biblehub.com/isaiah/11-6.htm).
[Translator’s note.]

bibliography
Chauvin, Rémy, and Bernadette Chauvin. Le Modèle
Animal. Paris: Hachette, 1982. Print.
Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. Oxford:
Oxford UP, 1976. Print.
Detienne, Marcel, and Jean-Pierre Vernant. Cunning
Intelligence in Greek Culture and Society. Trans. Janet
Lloyd. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991. Print.
Detienne, Marcel, and Jean-Pierre Vernant. Les
Ruses de l’intelligence. La Mètis des Grecs. Paris:
Flammarion, 1974. Print.
Heinrich, Bernd. Mind of the Raven. New York:
HarperCollins, 2000. Print.
Heinrich, Bernd. Ravens in Winter. New York:
Vintage, 1991. Print.
Nathan, Tobie. Nous ne sommes pas seuls au monde.
Vinciane Despret
Paris: Les Empêcheurs de penser en rond, 2001.
Print.
Philosophie et Lettres
Université de Liège
Thompson, Edward Pett. Passions of Animals. 4000 Liège
London: Chapman, 1891. Web. Belgium
E-mail: v.despret@ulg.ac.be

Jeffrey Bussolini
Sociology – Anthropology Department
City University of New York
2800 Victory Boulevard
Staten Island, NY 10314
USA
E-mail: jbussolini@mac.com