Literature and animal studies /

Ortiz-Robles (Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison) offers a broad analysis of treatments of animals in literary sources ranging from early myths to present-day works in English and various European languages. Much of the volume is organized around family classifications of animals (e.g., equids, canids, felids), but the book also includes a general discussion of animals as tropes and a chapter on "revolutionary animals." The author provides brief but insightful analyses of selected examples--highlighted by an extended treatment of poems on songbirds, beginning with samples from standard Romantic poets (Clare, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley) but also ranging into work by modernist and contemporary writers. Part of Routledge's "Literature and Contemporary Thought" series, this book could serve as a foundational textbook for courses on animals in literature, especially since Ortiz-Robles includes a helpful glossary and suggestions for further reading. The discussion is informed by recent theory, but the writing is clear and accessible. A welcome and substantial contribution to both literary studies and animal studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Ronald D. Morrison, Morehead State University