Literature and Animal Studies

Offering an introduction to an exciting new direction in the study of literature, this book explores the literary animal in the context of the emerging field of Animal Studies. In the past two decades, the study of the relations between human and non-human animals has become a vibrant field of interdisciplinary inquiry within the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Providing a history of literature’s place in the modern conceptualization of our treatment of animals, Ortiz-Robles shows how literature and literary studies offer a unique set of practices for addressing debates such as animal rights and the ethical treatment of animals, the history of zoos, and the cultural representation of human-animal interactions in both traditional and new media. Literary studies reflects upon and engages the field of Animal Studies by providing the historical, conceptual, and critical tools needed to re-imagine human-animal relations in the broader context of environmental degradation, bioengineering, population dynamics, and biopolitics.

Literature and Animal Studies participates in and extends current knowledge concerning the philosophical status of the animal, the relation between human and animal rights, the biological bases of social organization, and ecocriticism. Ortiz-Robles provides a critical and historical overview of animals in literature, giving students and experts an essential guide for considering new debates and directions in literary and animal studies. Further, the book offers critical tools for students such as a detailed introduction, a glossary of terms, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Mario Ortiz-Robles is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, US.