Authors of works about animals and nature

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The animalistic theme is rightfully considered eternal. Its elements can be found both in folklore and in works of classical and modern literature. Alexander Kuprin, Jack London, Gerald Durrell - these are the authors who wrote about animals (the list is far from complete). Despite the fact that the number of animalistic works of these writers is different, and the depth of their talent is not the same, they all created capacious and memorable images of "our smaller brothers" that attract readers to this day.

Classification

Sometimes it's hard to tell who wrote about animals. The framework of the animalistic genre is so flexible and indefinite that, if desired, one can include both the fairy tale about Kolobok and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. That is why literary critics developed a detailed classification of all works about animals:

• "Classic" animalism, representing the animal world as self-sufficient, autonomous from man. A striking example is the stories of Seton-Thompson.
• Comparative anthropology: An animal is compared to a human,who understands that he has a lot to learn from the "smaller brothers". An example of such a comparison is “The Song of the Falcon” by Maxim Gorky.
• Animalism with a touch of sentimentalism, when in a bestiary image one can see the acquisition of something long lost, something that causes a feeling of nostalgia.
• Fables and literary tales with animals as main characters, etc.

The term "natural literature" is also used in parallel, but its thematic range is somewhat wider than that of animalistic works, and includes stories and stories about plants.

Ernest Seton-Thompson

Among those who wrote stories about animals, perhaps the most famous is the Canadian writer Seton-Thompson. Although he did not always live in Canada: he moved to this part of North America with his parents, being a 6-year-old boy. From childhood, he was accustomed to nature and the prairies more than to the company of people. This means that there is nothing strange in the fact that the heroes of his first work were by no means representatives of the human race, but… birds.

In his lifetime, Seton-Thompson produced several thousand non-fiction articles and books of value to animal science. Although fans of the artistic word know him better as the author of fascinating stories that open the world of nature from an unexpected side (“Lobo”, “Mustang Pacer”, etc.). Seton-Thompson is known for his paintings, as well as the creation of the "Woodcraft Society", which would become the prototype of modern Boy Scouts.organizations. This idea of Seton-Thompson was prompted by a long study of the culture of the Indians, originating from the early years of the writer.

My family and other animals

Sometimes, the authors of works about animals were forced to temporarily abandon their passion - zoology - and turn to literature due to material reasons. This is what happened to Gerald Durrell. Since childhood, he raved about animals and everything connected with them. At the age of 14, the boy got a job at the Aquarium store, and after the Second World War, he tried himself at the Whipsnade Zoo as a "boy on pets." In 1947, Gerald receives his share of his father's inheritance, which he successfully spends on expeditions. Left without money and work, Darrell, on the advice of his brother, a famous novelist, tries his hand at writing. And very well, I must say. This was especially true of the first part of the Greek trilogy "My family and other animals." The book has been published more than 30 times in England alone!

Animal theme of classical Russian literature

Unlike the writers discussed above, the Russian-speaking authors of works about animals turned to the animal theme as if in passing, casually. At the same time, such experiments are very successful. So, Alexander Kuprin, following the example of Tolstoy's "Kholstomer", created the story "Emerald". Its main character is a stallion, whose image is not devoid of psychologism: the Emerald is even able to dream.

Among those authors who wrote stories aboutanimals in the Soviet era, one can single out Mikhail Prishvin, Konstantin Paustovsky, Viktor Astafiev. The work of the latter is associated with the ideological and stylistic direction of "village prose", which also concerned environmental problems, comprehended the place of man in the world around him, in the Cosmos.

Modern animal writers

The literary process in Russia in recent decades has been accompanied by glasnost, the lifting of censorship bans. This could not but affect animalistic literature. Modern authors of works about animals (for example, L. Petrushevskaya) use bestiary images not only as a means of allegory, creating an allegory, referring to socio-historical realities, but also as ordinary acting characters, devoid of any resemblance to humans.