Writing the Animal
Date of Award
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Dimino, Andrea
Keywords
Literature, Animal Studies, Feminism
Area of Concentration
English
Abstract
In this thesis, I demonstrate the ways in which contemporary American fiction by women uses the animal as both a literal figure and a concept. Focusing on Amy Hempel, Alice Walker, and Octavia Butler, I examine how they link their portrayal of animals to the historical, current, and potential experiences of women: these writers depict cultures whose ideologies, social expectations, ethics, and hierarchies of value prove sexist and "speciesist." First I describe historical trends in the ways that representations of animals�and animality have been used in relation to women, often to justify oppression. The advent of evolutionary discourse in the nineteenth century set in motion a series of conceptual changes, from the women�s and animal rights movements of the early to mid-twentieth century to developments within the past three decades. In particular, I draw from the emergent approach of combined feminist and animal studies to analyze�how the portrayals of animals, animality, and gender intersect in three very different works, Hempel�s�Collected Stories,�Walker�s�The Temple of My Familiar,�and Butler�sClay�s Ark [give years of publication for all].�By implicitly or explicitly linking sexism and speciesism, this approach reveals, revises, and even offers alternatives to cultural structures of oppression.
Recommended Citation
Miller, Ericka, "Writing the Animal" (2011). Theses & ETDs. 4418.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/4418
Rights
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