Representing animals : normalizing nonhuman/human relationships

Abstract

This thesis is a response to the call for the development of a critical theory of nonhuman animals in fiction and the challenge of creating new habits of mind that make it possible to view the singular exploitable 'animal' as individuals in their own right. A Critical Discourse Analysis approach that includes aspects of narrative theory will be used to examine contemporary children's literature, the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling, to demonstrate how narrative and grammar work to render cultural practices associated with nonhuman animals as natural. These naturalized representations of cultural practices interpolate children into relationships with nonhuman animals that perpetuate oppression and exploitation. Given that the recognition of a link between representation and cultural practice is an essential starting point for change, the aim of the thesis is to demonstrate analytical methods that are capable of actively reading the presence of nonhuman animals into literary texts. These analytical methods are not meant to be reductive, imposing limits on how any text 'should' be read. Indeed, the methodology has been chosen precisely because of its ability not only to reveal naturalized/embedded discourses, particularly those currently active within contemporary texts, but also its capacity to create spaces in which to consider how these discourses relate to social practices beyond the text. This then allows for an informed evaluation of these discourses alongside the historical and social contexts that produce them. The thesis demonstrates how a pro-nonhuman animal perspective in literature is capable of contributing to an awareness of the discourses that work to construct and maintain our current, too often oppressive, relationships with nonhuman animals. Such an approach leads to the potential for a positive change in these relationships.

Date of Award	2012
Original language	English