Spanish Thinking about Animals

The thirteen original transdisciplinary essays by literary scholars, historians, philosophers, social scientists, and artists in this groundbreaking book are a significant marker in the Spanish “animal turn.” They clearly show that the simplistic stereotype that Spaniards are inherently and traditionally cruel to nonhuman animals is decidedly false. Spanish Thinkingabout Animals is a much needed game changer, and I hope it receives a broad global readership. — Marc Bekoff, coauthor of The Animals’ Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age
“Spaniards are cruel to animals,” George Orwell wrote, turning the national fondness for bullfighting into an all-too-easy stereotype. Brilliantly edited by Margarita Carretero-González, Spanish Thinking about Animals prompts us to think beyond this cliché. In thirteen original and intense essays, literary scholars, historians, philosophers, artists, and social scientists reveal the world of cultural complexity, creative responses, political alternatives, and variously articulated forms of activism that nourish the Spanish “animal turn.” — Serenella Iovino, Professor of Italian Studies and Environmental Humanities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and author of Ecocriticism and Italy: Ecology, Resistance, and Liberation
The essays collected in Spanish Thinking about Animals challenge us to move beyond the stereotypical idea of a bullfighting nation and to appreciate the nuances and intricacies of the recent animal turn in Spain. An illuminating and groundbreaking book. — Alexa Weik von Mossner, Associate Professor of American Studies, University of Klagenfurt, and author of Affective Ecologies: Empathy, Emotion, and Environmental Narrative
The essays in Spanish Thinking about Animals offer explorations by Spanish scholars working to examine and interrogate the ways that nonhuman animals have been represented in Spanish literature and culture. Collectively, these readings challenge the narratives of dominion and cruelty that underscore the Anthropocene, asking that we recognize that our interference in the nonhuman world does not constitute our control over it. This is a collection that is important and groundbreaking, filled with urgency but also with hope, offering us interventions and new perspectives in a time of ecological crisis. — Laura Wright, Professor of English at Western Carolina University, and author of The Vegan Studies Project: Food, Animals, and Gender in the Age of Terror