From Empathy to Ethical Reflection: Polish Children’s and Young Adult Literature (19th–21st Century) in a Cultural Animal Studies Perspective – Selected Problems

Ewelina Rąbkowska

doi:10.32798/dlk.627

Abstract

The goal of this article is to analyse the changes in the depiction of animal themes in Polish children’s and young adult literature in the context of cultural animal studies (CAS). The focus is mainly on Polish prose created in the 21st century, but older texts, starting from the 19th century, are discussed with the use of animal studies tools too. The starting point of the article is the assumption that empathy towards animals, inscribed in the majority of works for children and young people, may become the basis for further ethical reflection. The author analyses texts at the centre of which are such aspects of the human-animal relation as hunting, animal treatment and protection (e.g., veterinary clinics, sanctuaries, reserves), using animals for work (mines, army), as well as ethical aspects related to meat-eating.

Highlights

P eter Singer (2002) argues that we should provide young readers with “picture books and stories that encourage respect for animals as independent beings, and not as cute little objects that exist only for our amusement and table” (p. 215)
Ethical issues related to the attitude towards animals are presented by literary fiction for children and young adults in Poland by depicting the most basic community of fate, emotions, and feelings between people and animals
Depicting ways to care for animal welfare or showing aspects of vet care in modern societies is closely linked to attempts to describe reality from a non-human perspective

Summary

Introduction

P eter Singer (2002) argues that we should provide young readers with “picture books and stories that encourage respect for animals as independent beings, and not as cute little objects that exist only for our amusement and table” (p. 215). In opposition to Singer’s, does not exclude children’s and young adult literature, but makes it more valuable since the field of shaping empathy, or a sense of community with animals, remains open even in older books that were inspired by the traditional way of looking at non-human beings and their rights This is because the modern construct of the child includes closeness to nature, and the child as a recipient of literature in Poland (as well as in Europe) from the beginning is shaped as empathetic towards the animal world. Popular Swedish books about Mamma Moo (e.g., Wieslander, 2003/2005) would be for Singer an unacceptable lie to children and a hiding of the inconvenient truth about the real situation of cows, and for Diamond – as I can conclude – the value of this fiction would be related to the concept of anthropomorphisation, which depicts a cow ‘like a human,’ and it can evoke empathy towards the protagonist This attitude may constitute an argument in the discussion on animal rights. In the parts of this article, I will analyse the way in which the images of the following issues in Polish children’s and young adult texts have changed over the years: hunting, eating animal products, animal work, and the treatment of animals

In Desert and Wilderness

In Białowieża

Other Aspects of Ethical Attitudes Towards Animals

Animal Welfare

Findings

Conclusions