In the 'Notes and Sketches' section of Dialectic of Enlightenment, Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer discuss the relationship of 'Man and Beast'. In European history, so they claim, the very idea of man has been defined by his ontological difference from animals: their 'lack of reason' proves our humanity (DE, 203). Such lack of reason is quintessentially understood as a lack of words and concepts. If animals are defined by their speechlessness, becoming human is at heart a process of language acquisition. If becoming human means overcoming speechlessness, the loss of speech defines the ever-looming menace of regression to animality. Both metamorphoses have been the subjects of many myths and fairy tales. From Ovid to Kafka, the speaking animal is a recurring literary figure. Just as Dialectic of Enlightenment incorporates interpretations of such mythical stories, speaking animals appear time and again in early Critical Theory, especially in the works of Adorno....