Canis Africanis: A Dog History of Southern Africa (Human-Animal Studies)

The Role Of The Dog In Human Society Is The Connecting Thread That Binds The Essays In Canis Africanis, Each Revealing A Different Part Of The Complex Social History Of Southern Africa. The Essays Range Widely From Concerns Over Disease, Bestiality, And Social Degradation Through Gambling On Dogs To Anxieties Over Social Status Reflected Through Breed Classifications, And Social Rebellion Through Resisting The Dog Tax Imposed By Colonial Authorities. With Its Focus On Dogs In Human History, This Project Is Part Of What Has Been Termed The 'animal Turn' In The Social Sciences, Which Investigates The Spaces Which Animals Inhabit In Human Society And The Way In Which Animal And Human Lives Interconnect, Demonstrating How Different Human Groups Construct A Range Of Identities For Themselves (and For Others) In Terms Of Animals. So Instead Of Conceiving Of Animals As Merely Constituents Of Ecological Or Agricultural Systems, They Can Be Comprehended Through Their Role In Human Cultures. Canis Familiaris: A Dog History Of Southern Africa / Lance Van Sittert And Sandra Swart -- Africanus: The Pre-colonial Dog Of Africa / Tim Maggs And Judith Sealy -- A Short Paper About A Dog / Susie Newton-king -- What The Dogs Knew: Intelligence And Morality In The Cape Colony / Elizabeth Green Musselman -- Dogs And The Public Sphere: The Ordering Of Social Space In Early Nineteenth-century Cape Town / Kirsten Mckenzie -- Class And Canicide In Little Bess: The 1893 Port Elizabeth Rabies Epidemic / Lance Van Sittert -- Dogs, Poison And The Meaning Of Colonial Intervention In The Transkei, South Africa / Jacob Tropp -- Fido: Dog Tales Of Colonialism In Namibia / Robert J. Gordon -- Police Dogs And State Rationality In Early Twentieth-century South Africa / Keith Shear -- 'gone To The Dogs': The Cultural Politics Of Gambling - The Rise And Fall Of British Greyhound Racing On The Witwatersrand, 1932-1949/ Albert Grundlingh -- Social Subjects: Representation Of Dogs In South African Fiction In English / Wendy Woodward -- The Canine Metaphor In The Visual Arts / Meredith Palumbo -- Dogs And Dogma: A Discussion Of The Socio-political Construction Of Southern African Dog 'breeds' As A Window Onto Social History / Sandra Swart -- Index. Edited By Lance Van Sittert And Sandra Swart. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents ......Page 8 List of Illustrations......Page 10 Notes on Contributors......Page 12 Canis Familiaris: A Dog History of Southern Africa (Lance van Sittert and Sandra Swart)......Page 14 Africanis: The Pre-Colonial Dog of Africa (Tim Maggs and Judith Sealy)......Page 48 A Short Paper about a Dog (Susie Newton-King)......Page 66 What the Dogs Knew: Intelligence and Morality in the Cape Colony (Elizabeth Green Musselman)......Page 90 Dogs and the Public Sphere: The Ordering of Social Space in Early Nineteenth-Century Cape Town (Kirsten McKenzie)......Page 104 Class and Canicide in Little Bess: The 1893 Port Elizabeth Rabies Epidemic (Lance van Sittert)......Page 124 Dogs, Poison and the Meaning of Colonial Intervention in the Transkei, South Africa (Jacob Tropp)......Page 158 Fido: Dog Tales of Colonialism in Namibia (Robert J. Gordon)......Page 186 Police Dogs and State Rationality in Early Twentieth-Century South Africa (Keith Shear)......Page 206 'Gone to the Dogs': The Cultural Politics of Gambling— The Rise and Fall of British Greyhound Racing on the Witwatersrand, 1932–1949 (Albert Grundlingh)......Page 230 Social Subjects: Representations of Dogs in South African Fiction in English (Wendy Woodward)......Page 248 The Canine Metaphor in the Visual Arts (Meredith Palumbo)......Page 276 Dogs and Dogma: A Discussion of the Socio-Political Construction of Southern African Dog 'Breeds' as a Window onto Social History (Sandra Swart)......Page 280 Index......Page 302 This suite of essays is a first for historical writing about southern Africa: they recover an animal's ubiquitous, yet hidden presence in human history. The authors have used the dog as a way “to think about human society”. The dog is the connecting thread binding these essays, which each reveals a different part of the complex social history of southern Africa.The essays range widely from concerns over disease, bestiality, and social degradation through greyhound gambling, to anxieties over social status reflected through breed classifications, to social rebellion through resistance to the dog tax imposed by colonial authorities. With its focus on dogs in human history, this project is part of what has been termed the ‘animal turn'in the social sciences, which investigates the spaces which animals inhabit in human society and the way in which animal and human lives interconnect. This suite of essays is a first for historical writing about southern they recover an animal's ubiquitous, yet hidden presence in human history. The authors have used the dog as a way "to think about human society." The dog is the connecting thread binding these essays, which each reveals a different part of the complex social history of southern Africa. The essays range widely from concerns over disease, bestiality, and social degradation through greyhound gambling, to anxieties over social status reflected through breed classifications, to social rebellion through resistance to the dog tax imposed by colonial authorities. With its focus on dogs in human history, this project is part of what has been termed the 'animal turn' in the social sciences, which investigates the spaces which animals inhabit in human society and the way in which animal and human lives interconnect.