My last two posts were an analysis of a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, “L’Ours et l’amateur des jardins,” “The Bear and the Gardener.” The corresponding fable by Æsop is entitled “The Bald Man and the Fly,”  but the fable reflects Le Livre des lumières ou La Conduite des roys, fables by Bidpai.

You may remember that I could not find the fable’s Perry Index number. I simply forgot that Aesop’s corresponding fable was entitled “The Bald Man and the Fly.”  Its number in the Perry Index is 525. For such information, Laura Gibbs’ Bestiaria Latina is the site to visit. Æsop and his numerous followers are Laura’s area of specialization.

Animals in Literature: a Project

This post is a progress report. Several years ago, I had to prepare a course on animals in literature during a sabbatical leave I was devoting to my book on Molière. It was too great an effort, so the course ended my career as a university teacher. I fell ill. However, I did prepare and teach the course assigned to me and continued researching the subject.

Yesterday, I realized I had written so many posts on Animals in Literature that they should be collated. I need a table of contents. Moreover, there are gaps to fill. As for the texts, many are on the internet, such as the collections of fables I listed on 2 March 2017. Would that there had been an entry on Beast Literature or Animals in Literature, when I prepared my course.

Pages on Fables and Fairy Tales

I will not remove my pages on various fables and fairy-tales. They will simply be updated each time I write a post on a fable, or myth, or fairy-tale. They are my reading material. The Gutenberg Project, Internet Archives, Wikipedia and various generous organizations have provided the curious with several complete eTexts.

Our starting-point will be a clarification of the concept of anthropomorphism. Animals in literature are human beings in disguise. I have already written a post on this subject, but it has been refurbished.

This post published itself before it was finished. I apologize.

Love to everyone ♥

 

 

© Micheline Walker
3 March 2017
WordPress