Through the Topic of “Minorities”: A Discussion on Empathy and Its Role in Challenging the Desire for Power and Dominance

Empathy not only creates interpersonal bonds, it also fosters human-animal bonds. Animals display behaviors that suggest the possession of some form of empathy, and such behaviors evoke the sense of empathy in humans due to their dynamic relationships with these animals. In literature, animals are often portrayed as under the control of humans. The therianthropic image of a half human-half animal creature and a literate polar bear will be analyzed in this particular exhibition. While these creatures struggle to explore their own identities as they are categorized as the “minority”, their interactions with humans often make humans themselves come to self-reflection. Self-reflection is crucial for understanding the nature and development of empathy. Intricacies between empathy and self-reflection are well discussed in the selected works of “Balin” by Chen Qiufan and Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada.