The Metaphor of Becoming-Pig: Bloodied Swine, Visceral Sacrifice, and Ritualistic Gore in Trash Horror and Exploitation Cinema

In the intricate tapestry of world art, the pig emerges not merely as a domesticated animal but as a profound symbol laden with connotations of excess, abjection, and transformation. From the visceral depictions in contemporary performance art to the subtle allegories in classical painting and cinema, the pig—particularly in its red and bloodied manifestations—serves as a conduit for exploring human-animal boundaries, erotic undercurrents, and philosophical becomings. This essay delves into the motif of red and bloody pigs across various artistic mediums, interpreting it through the lens of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's schizoanalysis, where the concept of "becoming-pig" parallels their notions of becoming-man, becoming-woman, and becoming-animal. Drawing on poststructuralist frameworks, psychoanalytic theories, and cultural studies of eroticism, we examine how this metaphor intersects with BDSM practices, evoking themes of dehumanization, multiplicity, and absurd theatricality. The pig, in its bloodied form, embodies a site of resistance against molar identities, inviting a deterritorialization of the human subject that resonates with the Theater of the Absurd's existential voids and the erotic transgressions articulated by thinkers like Georges Bataille and Michel Foucault. Through a synthesis of artistic examples and theoretical citations, this analysis posits the becoming-pig as a radical reconfiguration of desire, where the animal's corporeality disrupts anthropocentric hierarchies and unveils the libidinal economies underpinning cultural representations.