Pet Projects: Animal Fiction and Taxidermy in the Nineteenth-Century Archive

In Pet Projects, Elizabeth Young joins an analysis of the representation of animals in nineteenth—century fiction, taxidermy, and the visual arts with a first—person reflection on her own scholarly journey. Centering on Margaret Marshall Saunders, a Canadian woman writer once famous for her animal novels, and incorporating Young’s own experience of a beloved animal’s illness, this study highlights the personal and intellectual stakes of a “pet project” of cultural criticism.

Young assembles ...