16916

Humans and Animals A Complex Relationship in Literature (and Film)

Susanne Scharnowski

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Topic: Anthropologists have established that humans have hunted, killed, and eaten other mammals for more than 2 million years. Some of the oldest existing cave paintings show animals; animals play crucial roles in myths and legends of ancient cultures. For thousands of years, humans have reared mammals and birds for food and utilised the physical strength of horses and oxen for work. Some animals are bred and kept as pets, put on display in zoos and trained as circus attractions. Other animals are regarded as pests or predators which must be controlled or extinguished. Older cultures believed in an animal-human continuum; modern Western civilisations, however, were convinced that humans should control nature; so, for them, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, with its revelation that humans have evolved from apes, came as a shock. In short: Human history is inconceivable without (other) animals. And although animals have played a role in science for a long time, cultural animal studies, are a relatively new phenomenon. This course will serve as an introduction to this field. Program: We will look at some of the most relevant ways in which humans relate to animals and examine animals as prey, as livestock, as food, as predators, as pests; humans as animals, and finally: humans being eaten by an animal. We will study academic as well as fictional and non-fictional texts from the 19th and 20th centuries (most of them written by British, Canadian or US-American authors, one – a text by Franz Kafka – originally written in German and translated into English); additionally, we will discuss and analyse Werner Herzog’s American documentary film Grizzly Man (which students can watch as stream on various platforms). Is this the right course for you? The course is open to students from all fields, from the sciences as well as from the humanities. However, you should be able to read English texts at a fairly high level, be prepared to study a wide variety of theoretical as well as literary texts and be interested in the topic as well as in in-depth analysis. Workload and Assessment: To obtain 5 ECTS credits, you will have to study and engage with the course materials (an average of 15-20 pages of academic and/ or literary texts per week), pass a mid-term test before Christmas and sit a written exam at the end of the semester. If you want to participate, you must attend the first, at the latest the second session. In general, students must attend at least 85% of the classes (14 out of 16). Some of the materials will be available in digital form on Blackboard; additionally, students have to purchase the reader (a collection of photocopied texts in printed form) from the copy shop at Königin-Luise-Str. 39, near U-Bahnhof Dahlem Dorf. close

16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Tue, 16:00 - 18:00 16 Class schedule

Tue, 2024-10-15 16:00 - 18:00

Lecturers:
Dr. Susanne Scharnowski