British and North-American literature about animalS: History and traditions

Abstract

This research studies the functioning of animal images in literature from the middle of the XIXth to the early XXIst century. Literature about animals is an integral part of literary process in Great Britain and North America. Authors analyze different genre formsin search of common and different in diachronic approach. Authors create a certain timeline of development of literature about animals.The starting point is the golden age of British fairy tale, during this period numerous fairy tales about animals appeared. Then authors turn to the creativity of Jack London and Ernest Thompson Seton with their impressive animal images. The next stage of development of literature about animals is connected with the rise of non-fiction genres in the second half of the XXth century. Analyzing different genre forms authors of the research come to the conclusion that animals often become the center of narration and are characterized in the same way as human personalities. Through the animal images the authors show different conflicts, common for the literature of the XIXth-XXth century. Animal characters serve to attract reader's attention to different social and environmental problems.