United States
£ GBP
International in range and chronological in organisation, A Fairytale in Question aims to grasp the maincurrents of thought about interactions with the wolf in modern history. It focuses on perceptions, interactions and dependencies, and includes cultural and social analyses as well as biological aspects. Wolves have been feared and admired, hunted and cared for. At the same historical moment, different cultural and social groups have upheld widely diverging ideas about the wolf. Fundamental dichotomies in modern history, between nature and culture, wilderness and civilisation and danger and security, have been portrayed in terms of wolf–human relationships. The wolf has been part of aesthetic, economic, political, psychological and cultural reasoning albeit it is nowadays mainly addressed as an object of wildlife management. There has been a major shift in perception from dangerous predator to endangered species, but the big bad fairytale wolf remains a cultural icon.
1. Julien Alleau and John D.C. Linnell. The Story of a Man-eating Beast in Dauphiné (1746–1756).
2. Alexander Kling. Wartime, Wolftime. Material-semiotic Knots in the Chronicles of the Thirty Years’ War.
3. Roger Bergström, Karin Dirke, and Kjell Danell. The Wolf War in Sweden during the 18th Century – Strategies, Measures and Leaders.
4. Martin Rheinheimer. The Belief in Werewolves and the Extermination of Real Wolves in Schleswig-Holstein.
5. Linda Kalof. The Shifting Iconography of Wolves over the Twentieth Century.
6. Lydia A. Dixon. Alaska Wild? Wolves in America’s Last Frontier.
7. José María Fernández-García. Historical Decline (and Persistence) of the Grey Wolf Canis lupus in Spain.
8. Patrick Masius and Jana Sprenger. Reconstructing the Extermination of Wolves in Germany. Case Studies from Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinat.
9. Karin Dirke. Where is the Big Bad Wolf? Notes and Narratives on Wolves in Swedish Newspapers during the 18th and 19th Centuries.
10. Steve Rodriguez. British Programmes for the Extermination of the Indian Wolf, c. 1870–1915.
11. Karen Jones. Writing the Wolf: Canine Tales and North American Environmental-Literary Tradition.
12. Jessica Bell. Hierarchy, Intrusion and the Anthropomorphism of Nature: Hunter and Rancher Discourse on North American Wolves.
13. Adam Pérou Hermans. ‘If You Wander in Winter, They Will Eat You’: Local Knowledge, Wolves and Justice in Central Asia.
14. Robert W. Mysłajek and Sabina Nowak. Not an Easy Road to Success: The History of Exploitation and Restoration of the Wolf Population in Poland after World War Two.
Patrick Masius is a Post-doc at Goettingen University. His research focuses on natural hazards and dangerous animals. In 2010, he received his PhD at Goettingen University with a historical study on politics of natural disasters in the German Empire. Previously, he studied Geography and Social Anthropology at the Universities of Bayreuth and Brighton.
Jana Sprenger is a Post-doc at Goettingen University, Germany. She researches the persecution and extirpation of wolves in early modern and modern Germany. In 2011, she received her Ph.D. at Goettingen University with a study about the perception, damage and control of insect pests in forestry and agriculture in Prussian Brandenburg. Previously, she studied Biology, focusing on biodiversity, at Kassel University.
