The number of ways in which humans interact with animals is almost
incalculable. From beloved household pets to the steak on our dinner
tables, the fur in our closets to the Babar books on our shelves,
taxidermy exhibits to local zoos, humans have complex, deep, and
dependent relationships with the animals in our ecosystems. In
Displaying Death and Animating Life, Jane C. Desmond puts those
human-animal relationships under a multidisciplinary lens, focusing on
the less obvious, and revealing the individualities and subjectivities
of the real animals in our everyday lives.
Desmond, a pioneer in the field of animal studies, builds the book on a
number of case studies. She conducts research on-site at major museums,
taxidermy conventions, pet cemeteries, and even at a professional
conference for writers of obituaries. She goes behind the scenes at
zoos, wildlife clinics, and meetings of pet cemetery professionals. We
journey with her as she meets Kanzi, the bonobo artist, and a host of
other animal-artists--all of whom are preparing their artwork for
auction. Throughout, Desmond moves from a consideration of the visual
display of unindividuated animals, to mourning for known animals, and
finally to the marketing of artwork by individual animals. The first
book in the new Animal Lives series, Displaying Death and Animating
Life is a landmark study, bridging disciplines and reaching across
divisions from the humanities and social sciences to chart new
territories of investigation.
