"The Cat and the Human Imagination" is a fascinating historical
survey of the changing cultural attitudes towards cats and the
myriad ways that they have been depicted in literature and art.
Feline images have permeated civilization since the time of the
ancient Egyptians, and during this time the status of the cat has
changed dramatically. The book examines the changing images--
fertility goddess, sly little predator, agent of Satan, avenging
witness, aristocrat, friend, spirit of the home, bloodthirsty
killer, seductive female--and relates them to the contexts in which
they arose. It also analyzes how human attitudes towards cats seem
to have evolved in parallel with attitudes towards animals, towards
authority, and towards gender.
Western literature and visual art have reflected this change,
developing from bare sketches to richly varied expressions of
feline personality and human interaction with cats. Katharine M.
Rogers seeks out the cats who make appearances in an impressive
range of literary and artistic works, providing the first critical
look at the symbolic functioning of cat characters in Poe's "The
Black Cat," Dickens's "Bleak House," and Zola's "Therese Raquin,"
among other literary works. The historical and artistic range
covered is impressive, creating a rich compendium that is the ideal
book for the cat lover seeking a refreshingly substantial and
scholarly work about this fascinating animal.
"This book is a classic-- something every cat-loving intellectual
will have to own. (No one, of course, ever really owns a cat--but
everyone should own this book.) It's the kind of book you want to
quote from at the vet's, or cocktail parties, or whenever you get
the urge toconvert a dog lover to the true faith." --Emily Toth,
Louisiana State University
Katharine M. Rogers is Professor Emerita of English, City
University of New York. Her previous books include "Feminism in
Eighteenth-Century England" and "Frances Burney: The World of
"Female Difficulties.""
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