Call for Papers

Pets and Pet-Owner Relationships in Literary Texts of the Long Eighteenth Century

(Edited Collection)

Even though animals had been kept as pets* for more than a thousand years, it was only in the long eighteenth century (1688-1815), that they gained more mainstream appeal in the United Kingdom. It was the time when pets became more prevalent across social classes and pet keeping was on its way to attain “widespread cultural acceptance” and become “a fundamental part of British culture” (Hamlett & Strange 9, 11). Animals, including pets, were highly visible and present in various philosophical discourses, which commented on aspects such as their perceived rightful position in an anthropocentric framework of existence, ‘animal slavery’ and sympathy, when legal pieces to protect animals from unnecessary suffering were yet to be enacted. In literary texts, including children’s literature and non-fiction, pets (and animals more generally) were also becoming more prevalent and served multiple purposes. Despite the fact that pets seldom served as “the primary subjects” (Tague 11, emphasis added) in these texts, their presence still gives some indication as to evolving and changing cultural attitudes (e.g., regarding sentience, exploitation or welfare and protection) and pets’ “complex cultural role[s] […] as commodity, companion, paragon, proxy, and even kin” (Brown 68). A closer look at literary representations of pets can afford us with valuable insights into eighteenth-century social and domestic life, prevalent political and cultural discourses and pet-owner relationships (including their power relations).

This edited collection seeks to explore the depiction of pets (and their owners) in literary texts of the long eighteenth century and invites articles on narrative texts (for readers of all ages), poetic texts, dramatic texts and non-fiction.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Abuse, cruelty and exploitation of pets
• Pets and sympathy/sensibility
• Pets in the eighteenth-century it-narrative
• Pets in animal autobiographies
• Pets as slaves
• Pets and animal consciousness
• Pets and the (blurring boundaries of the) human/animal divide
• Pet-owner relationships (and asymmetrical dependency)

Abstracts of approximately 300 words should be sent to dburkhard@uni-bonn.de by 7 December 2025. Upon acceptance, full articles of up to 7,000 words (including references) will be due by 30 April 2026.

*Please note that the use of the term ‘pet’ is deliberate; while the more recent term ‘companion animal’ is preferred by many in recognition of animals’ individuality and as an expression of mutual respect, it refers to a very modern attitude and understanding of the human-animal bond. Throughout the eighteenth century, pets were often still regarded as property and treated as such – an idea implicit in the term ‘pet’.

References

Brown, Laura. Homeless Dogs and Melancholy Apes: Humans and Other Animals in the Modern Literary Imagination. Cornell University Press, 2010.

Hamlett, Jane, and Julie-Marie Strange. Pet Revolution: Animals and the Making of Modern British Life. Reaktion Books, 2023.

Tague, Ingrid H. Animal Companions: Pets and Social Change in Eighteenth-Century Britain. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2015.