Primater emellan. En läsning av Henry Drummonds berättelse ’’Apan som ingen kunde döda’’
(2013) In Barnboken. Tidskrift för barnlitteraturforskning- Abstract
- In children’s literature nonhuman primates are often represented either as ferocious beasts or as curios and charmful vicarious children. In this article I demonstrate how these different constructions interestingly coexist in the popular story ‘‘The monkey that would not kill’’, written by the Scottish evangelist and professor of the natural sciences Henry Drummond in 1891. My study anchors the figuration of the monstrous ape historically in a Christian discourse and the figuration of the childlike ape in a zoological discourse, and link them to the literary genres of horror and comedy, respectively. Both of the figurations are anthropocentric in their reductive ways of representing the ape as strange enemy or subordinate ‘‘friend’’: they... (More)
- In children’s literature nonhuman primates are often represented either as ferocious beasts or as curios and charmful vicarious children. In this article I demonstrate how these different constructions interestingly coexist in the popular story ‘‘The monkey that would not kill’’, written by the Scottish evangelist and professor of the natural sciences Henry Drummond in 1891. My study anchors the figuration of the monstrous ape historically in a Christian discourse and the figuration of the childlike ape in a zoological discourse, and link them to the literary genres of horror and comedy, respectively. Both of the figurations are anthropocentric in their reductive ways of representing the ape as strange enemy or subordinate ‘‘friend’’: they confirm the hierarchic dualism between man and ape. My reading also points out the excessive passion that characterizes the meeting between the species in the story, as a kind of leakage from the dualism. In light of Giorgio Agamben’s concept of the ‘‘anthropological machine’’, I conclude the article reflecting on the human shepherd’s energetic attempts to kill the
animal not only as an act of domination, but also as bearing witness to
the obsession with ‘‘experimenting’’ with other primates, in order to
consolidate a human species identity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3972797
- author
- Björck, Amelie LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Human-animal studies, apes, children’s literature, stranger fetischism, animal ethics, Henry Drummond, carnophallogocentrism
- in
- Barnboken. Tidskrift för barnlitteraturforskning
- publisher
- Svenska Barnboksinstitutet
- ISSN
- 2000-4389
- project
- Nosce te ipsum. On literary engagements between apes and humans in literature after Darwin.
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 7cced6d9-030e-4581-a235-3f23a4ef37f0 (old id 3972797)
- alternative location
- http://www.barnboken.net/index.php/clr/search/authors/view?firstName=Amelie&middleName=&lastName=Bj%C3%B6rck&affiliation=&country=SE
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 15:03:50
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 20:32:50
@article{7cced6d9-030e-4581-a235-3f23a4ef37f0,
abstract = {{In children’s literature nonhuman primates are often represented either as ferocious beasts or as curios and charmful vicarious children. In this article I demonstrate how these different constructions interestingly coexist in the popular story ‘‘The monkey that would not kill’’, written by the Scottish evangelist and professor of the natural sciences Henry Drummond in 1891. My study anchors the figuration of the monstrous ape historically in a Christian discourse and the figuration of the childlike ape in a zoological discourse, and link them to the literary genres of horror and comedy, respectively. Both of the figurations are anthropocentric in their reductive ways of representing the ape as strange enemy or subordinate ‘‘friend’’: they confirm the hierarchic dualism between man and ape. My reading also points out the excessive passion that characterizes the meeting between the species in the story, as a kind of leakage from the dualism. In light of Giorgio Agamben’s concept of the ‘‘anthropological machine’’, I conclude the article reflecting on the human shepherd’s energetic attempts to kill the<br/><br>
animal not only as an act of domination, but also as bearing witness to<br/><br>
the obsession with ‘‘experimenting’’ with other primates, in order to<br/><br>
consolidate a human species identity.}},
author = {{Björck, Amelie}},
issn = {{2000-4389}},
keywords = {{Human-animal studies; apes; children’s literature; stranger fetischism; animal ethics; Henry Drummond; carnophallogocentrism}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Svenska Barnboksinstitutet}},
series = {{Barnboken. Tidskrift för barnlitteraturforskning}},
title = {{Primater emellan. En läsning av Henry Drummonds berättelse ’’Apan som ingen kunde döda’’}},
url = {{http://www.barnboken.net/index.php/clr/search/authors/view?firstName=Amelie&middleName=&lastName=Bj%C3%B6rck&affiliation=&country=SE}},
year = {{2013}},
}