Kristoffer's Menagerie

This blog is a collection or archive of my thoughts and progress on my PhD. My research looks at animals as objects in eighteenth-century Britain. I hope this blog helps me keep track of my thoughts and records my descent into insanity as I write-up my thesis this year.

I have become interested in animal rights and veganism so my thoughts on these will appear from time to time. Recipes too, well only those that don't contain tofu or seitan.

reading

I’m currently reading an interesting little article on lapdogs as objects, slaves, and counter-sensibility in the eighteenth-century. It talks about the links between abolition and animal sympathy. Ellis concludes that although early anti-cruelty legislation sought to use the language of abolition the impact of this language was minimal since “animals remained things…even if they should be treated with the kindness and compassion known as human”.

Markman Ellis “Suffering Things: Lapdogs, Slaves, and Counter-Sensibility” in The Secret Life of Things: Animals, Objects, and It-Narratives in Eighteenth-Century England Bucknell University Press: Lewisburg pp. 92-116