Abstrakt: | The article discusses the issue of living and thinking with pets. The author analyzes examples of popular
literature, particularly books addressed to families and women, in order to seek for animal agency
in the plot. The thesis is based on an assumption about the special bond between pets and female
characters in such novels. Verifying the theory of Yi-Fu Tuan from his book Dominance and Affection.
Making of Pets, the article questions pets as an effect of the human tendency to domination over
nature and taking comfort in a coherent view of animals. Pets, according to Tuan’s theory, ought
to be reflections of human desires and needs. The domination in its roots is male, but its repressive
demands involve pets as well as women. This is the premise whereby the special relation between
pets and female owners has evolved. That is the reason why it is important to examine the meaning
of human-animal relations by considering gender. The space where the bond between women
and their pets starts and develops is also significant. The home is the third main character of each
novel, and maintains an actually dynamic relation with others. |