Animal Sanctity and Animal Sacrifice

ANIMAL SANCTITY AND ANIMAL SACRIFICE: HOW POST-DARWINIAN FICTION TREATS ANIMAL VICTIMS Marian Scholtmeijer M.A. University of Regina, 1982 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of ENGLISH @ Marian Scholtmeijer 1989 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY June, 1989 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author APPROVAL NAME: Marian Scholt meijer DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy (English) TITLE OF THESIS: Animal Sanctity and Animal Sacrifice: How Post- Darwinian Fiction Treats Animal Victims Examining Committee: Chair: Alan Rudrir m -- '- Jerry/aslove Senior Supervisor Associate Professor of English ' Michael Steig Professor of English ----$fYZ --- Chin anerjee Associate Professor of English -=I w b . - - . -,,,, Basil hlcDer mott Internal External Examiner Associate Professor, I nterclisciplinary Stir dies Simon Fraser University I h/Ialcolm 6iffh Externai Examiner Associate Pritfessor of English University of Washington Date Approved: June 5, 1989 lii) PART IAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay "Animal Sanctity and Animal Sacrifice: How Post-Darwinian Fiction Treats Animal Victims" Author: ,------ - - f / (signature) karian Scholtmeijer (name) (date) ABSTRACT This dissertation analyses animal victims appearing in fiction written since 1859, the year Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. It assumes as a premise that the Darwinian idea of continuity between human and nonhuman animals has altered the fundamental character of cultural conceptions of animals. It assumes, further, that post- Darwinian culture recognizes the need to acknowledge the experiences of animals independent of the usefulness or significance animals have for humankind. Modern culture strives to understand the value life has for the animal itself. That effort is crucial to approaches to animal victims, because culture, which knows animals best in their role as victims, is itself founded upon human domination of nonhuman animals. Social, scientific and technological progress has steadily increased human authority over the natural world; psychically and morally, the civilized person is presumed to have suppressed the beast in himself or herself. Darwinism, however, has upset the anthropocentric bias, and, as a consequence, the animal victim has now become a source of conflict for modern culture. The dissertation explores the ways in which particular stories try to address the reality of the autonomous animal, and notes the kinds of resistance evident in the stories' attempts to derive meaning from the animal victim. It examines the specific challenges the animal victim brings to bear against the conventions of indifference or compassion that reinforce anthropocentrism. The modern treatment of animal victims pushes fiction into boundary situations where conventions collapse and ways of knowing the world are shaken. At the same time the animal victim shapes the narrative world and addresses significant conflicts in modern life. Fiction manifests contemporary discomfort with the animal victim. In this investigation, analysis proceeds primarily upon close reading of the conflicts surrounding animal victims in individual works of fiction. In terms of overall structure, stories are classified according to specific kinds of conflicts embodied in the animal victim. The opening chapter provides an historical background and notes several theoretical complications involved in aggression against animals. The next five chapters deal one-by- one with categories of fiction in which the victimized animal is more and more deeply implicated in diverse cultural dilemmas. The categories are these: animal victims in the wild, animal victims in urban settings, sexual conflict and the animal victim, myth and the animal victim, and animal victims doubly abused by narrative strategies. This study speculates that, with respect to art and its faithfulness to life, modern fiction has realized that animals are not passive recipients of human projection, and that violence against animals is perpetrated upon beings whose reality places a legitimate claim upon cultural attention. The aim of the discussion is to establish that modern fiction is exploring ways in which ethics and art can truly acknowledge animal identity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Researching, planning and writing this dissertation has been a fulfilling experience. Many people have contributed both to the pleasures of the initial explorations and to the merits of the finished work. I owe much to the friendly interest of individuals. First, however, I must thank several administrative associations at Simon Fraser University. I am grateful to the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Arts for providing financial support, and hence some free time, for this study. I have appreciated, also, the liberal climate of critical inquiry established at the English Department. Were it not for the English Department's willingness to foster independent literary research, the idea for this project might have faded away unexamined. Through every phase of this endeavour, people have been more than generous with suggestions and insights. I am indebted to the following people for spotting items in journals and the media, for bringing particular works of fiction to my attention, and for engaging in lively discussions of the cultural issues involved in this research: Vincent Godfrey, Michael Mitchell, Dr. Pamela Black, James B. Rugg, Dr. Herbert Korte, Bev Molson, Dr. Kathy Mezei, and Dr. Alan Rudrum. I appreciate, as well, the time that Dr. Malcolm Griffith and Dr. Basil MacDermott took from their own work to read the dissertation, and the range of the commentary which they brought to bear upon the questions addressed herein. My sincere thanks goes to members of the committee, whose observations and advice have been unfailingly perceptive. I am obliged to Dr. Chin Banerjee for raising thoughtful criticisms of the theoretical assumptions of this analysis. I am grateful to Dr. Michael Steig for his consistent sensitivity to the literary dimension of the work, and for the care he gave to the reading of the manuscript. Dr. Steig also suggested two stories, Tarka the Otter and The Great Auk, by means of which the chapter on animal victims in the wild fell into place in the argument as a whole. Dr. Jerry Zaslove, my supervisor, deserves special credit. His recognition of the complexities of cultural analysis sets a standard worthy of emulation. Dr. Zaslove's guidance struck a fine and rare balance between recommendation of many, diverse leads in cultural theory and acceptance of this inquiry on its own terms. The contribution of my husband, Ted Altar, is of incalculable value. In addition to offering specific criticisms of the ideas that went into this study, Ted has always provided an in-home example of scholarly rigor. The breadth of his knowledge and the conscientiousness with which he pursues intellectual challenges is a continuing source of inspiration. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................... INTRODUCTION .................................................. CHAPTER I. THE ANIMAL VICTIM IN ITS CULTURAL CONTEXT: A BRIEF HISTORY AND SOME THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ...... 11. TALES OF ANIMAL VICTIMS IN THE WILD: LITERATURE ATTEMPTS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ALIEN CHARACTER OF THE ANIMAL ...................................... 111. ANIMAL VICTIMS OF THE URBAN PSYCHE: AGGRESSION AGAINST ANIMALS IN A CONTEXT THAT DOMESTICATES AND DISPOSSESSES HUMAN NATURE ...... IV. ANIMAL VICTIMS AND SEXUALITY: VICTIMIZATION OF ANIMALS OCCASIONED BY THE FAILURE OF NARRATIVE TO ASSIMILATE SEXUAL EXPRESSION ........ V. MYTH, DISILLUSIONMENT AND ANIMAL VICTIMS: MODERN VARIATIONS UPON ANIMAL SACRIFICE .......... VI. THE DOUBLY VICTIMIZED ANIMAL ........................ CONCLUSION .................................................... BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................. 302 vii INTRODUCTION Although this discussion concentrates upon animal victims in modern fiction, it is necessary first to supply some brief preliminary remarks suggesting the magnitude of the conflicts that have come to surround animals in modern culture as a whole. The primary factor in the shift of historical concern towards animals is Charles Darwin's timely exposition of the theoretical conditions whereby the human species is shown to be intimately inter-connected with other animal species. Ultimately, Darwinism has shaken faith in human supremacy. Nonhuman animals are no longer negligible among cultural interests. Ethics is one domain in which Darwinism has worked its effect. The loose ethical values that hovered precariously over animals in pre-Darwinian

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