Ethical entanglements: human-animal relationships in modern and contemporary Spain

My project explores three central questions. First, how do analyses of human-animal relationships throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century Spanish literature suggest more inclusive visions of multispecies community? Second, what can these representations of animal protagonists tell us about the ways in which authors might resist hegemonic practices of socially-sanctioned violence toward both humans and non-humans? Finally, more broadly speaking, how might the consideration of a non-Anglophone cultural context such as Spain’s inform current work in literary ecofeminism, ecocriticism, and the environmental humanities? To answer these questions, my analyses draw on theories primarily from animal studies and ecofeminist philosophy. Any ecofeminist approach recognizes all forms of marginalization and systemic violence as inextricably entangled. My analysis adopts ecofeminist Josephine Donovan’s theory that practicing literary analysis through an ethic of care can inspire a cultural change in attitude that discourages domination and promotes responsibility and respect for humans and nonhumans alike. I follow Spanish ecofeminist philosopher Alicia H. Puleo’s adaptation of this idea in the Spanish context in forming my analyses. Because much ecofeminist theory and animal studies analytical work focuses primarily on Anglophone contexts, my project seeks to expand the scope of these analytical frames as a secondary goal. I analyze novels, short stories, and fables published throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in Spain to explore these questions. Chapter II analyzes themes of anthropomorphism, zoomorphism, metaphoric cannibalism, and gluttony in early twentieth century works by Miguel de Unamuno and Emilia Pardo Bazán. Chapter III examines forced silence and self-censorship as a form of violent repression seen in Franco-era children’s literature by Carmen Laforet, Mercè Rodoreda, and Ana María Matute. Chapter IV looks at entanglement and exclusion as patriarchal residue in fictional attempts at alternative community building in contemporary works by Isabel Franc and Jesús Carrasco