문학과 지성사

Contemplation: a moment of looking after one’s mind
and asking questions to oneself.

A dog walking a human, a hunter-rabbit scoring game humans, cicadas catching humans in butterfly nets, tigers and dolphins watching humans in the zoo, dogs judges carefully evaluating different breeds of humans at a pageant. In this wonderland, nonhuman animals have the upper hand in their relationships with humans. If you’re worried the illustrated depictions of this world might be upsetting, worry not—drawn in soft, refined lines, the animals in the Illustrated Dictionary are as untroubled and friendly as they are oddly convincing. Everyone is just having a good time! On the other hand, the gloomy, distressed faces of humans convey the stories that we have yet to realize. What would happen if we asked ourselves the questions that spring from these images, where humans and nonhuman animals switch positions? The Illustrated Dictionary of Wonderland discloses the invisible line between humans and nonhuman animals. By simply asking, “Would you trade places with me?”, the Illustrated Dictionary lets us contemplate the double standard we humans have stubbornly overlooked.