ISBN10: 157233472X, ISBN13: 9781572334724, [publisher: University of Tennessee Press, Chicago] Hardcover Hardcover. From the first woolly mammoths painted in exquisite detail on Paleolithic cave walls to contemporary depictions of anthropomorphized mice as heroes of animated films and fiction, animals have played crucial roles in human cultures around the world. In What Are the Animals to Us? scholars from a wide variety of academic disciplines explore the diverse meanings of animals in science, religion, folklore, literature, and art.The contributors focus especially on analyzing cultural products about animals. The chapters in the first section of the book, From Totems to Tales, interpret folklore of cats, foxes, snakes, and frogs in various cultures, while the chapters in thesection on Real Toads in Imaginary Gardens concern themselves with literary and historical representations of reindeer, wild birds, tigers, and other animals. The chapters in Holy Dogs and Scared Bunnies consider the roles of animals in art and religion. In the section on Ethics, Ethology, and Konrad Lorenz, the contributors evaluate the legacy of this cofounder of the science of animal behavior in the light of recent revelations about Lorenzs National Socialist past. Finally, an extensive afterword offers theoretical and practical ways in which readers might better understand animal others in their own right, and discusses the ethical implications of such an understanding.Accessible and ...
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