Animals in literature, live-fire satire

Le Regard Libre N° 84 - Quentin Perissinotto

Man and the animal« dossier»

Throughout literary history, we come across a large and happy menagerie. From La Fontaine's Fables to George Orwell's Animal Farm, via a wide swath of fantasy, the reader finds himself immersed in a world of feathers, fur and hooked paws. The aim of this article is not to draw up a complete panorama of the cohabitation between men and animals in literature - such an undertaking would be too tedious and illusory, given the diversity that would elude synthesis - but rather to see, through an emblematic work, what face is revealed when men and animals gaze at each other.

If there's one story that marked a turning point in our imaginary animal world, it's the Roman de Renart! It single-handedly brought about a change in everyday language.