‘An alligator got betty’ : Dangerous animals as historical agents
Journal article
Maglen, Krista. (2018). ‘An alligator got betty’ : Dangerous animals as historical agents. Environment and History. 24(2), pp. 187-207. https://doi.org/10.3197/096734018X15137949591945
Authors | Maglen, Krista |
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Abstract | In 1932 four year old Betty Doherty was taken from the grasp of her older brother by a fourteen-foot crocodile in Far North Queensland. Through an examination of historical sources as well as the work of psychologists, cognitive scientists and zoologists, this paper explores the role ascribed to the crocodile as well as other 'dangerous' animals that have bitten, stung or consumed settlers across Australia, and asks whether and how they might 'act' or be given voices within our reading and understanding of the past. Animal historians have begun to ask questions about historical agency through analyses of domesticated or working animals, and interactions between people and wild mammals. Insects, fish and reptiles, however, remain anonymous and non-specific, disappearing back beneath the waves or into the dark holes from which they emerged, and yet they were often agents of great change in the human lives they encountered. This paper asks whether historical agency and intent can be found in these less sympathetic and less 'knowable' creatures, and examines how historians might conceive of watery predators or venomous creatures that disappeared from sight or perhaps were never seen at all. |
Keywords | animals; Australia; agency; predators; punishment; venom |
Year | 2018 |
Journal | Environment and History |
Journal citation | 24 (2), pp. 187-207 |
Publisher | The White Horse Press |
ISSN | 0967-3407 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3197/096734018X15137949591945 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85045054818 |
Page range | 187-207 |
Funder | Indiana University |
Publisher's version | License All rights reserved File Access Level Controlled |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 05 Jan 2018 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 24 Jul 2023 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8z601/-an-alligator-got-betty-dangerous-animals-as-historical-agents
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