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Written and spoken words : representations of animals and intimacy
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Charles, Nickie (2017) Written and spoken words : representations of animals and intimacy. Sociological Review, 65 (1). pp. 117-133. doi:10.1111/1467-954X.12376 ISSN 0038-0261.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-954X.12376
Abstract
In this paper I explore the differences in the ways people write and talk about their relationships with animals, focussing on those they regard as kin and with whom they live. I draw on responses to the Animals and Humans Mass-Observation directive, which was sent out in the summer of 2009, and 21 in-depth interviews with people who share their domestic space with animals. I suggest that writing about relationships with animals produces a particularly intimate representation which is almost confessional, while talking to another person about similar relationships renders the intimacy less obvious and represents human-animal relations in a different way. I argue that this is because the written accounts are composed with a particular audience in mind, the information divulged is not mediated by another human being and, as a result, normative constraints are less pervasive. Interview data, in contrast, are co-constructed in conversation with another person, there is the possibility of judgment during the course of the interview and normative expectations shape the discursive representation of human-animal intimacy. I reflect on the methodological implications of these findings for developing an understanding of intimacy across the species barrier.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology Q Science > QL Zoology S Agriculture > SF Animal culture |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology > Centre for the Study of Women and Gender | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Human-animal relationships, Animals -- Social aspects, Pet owners -- History, Intimacy (Psychology), Emotions -- Sociological aspects | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Sociological Review | ||||||||
Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||||||
ISSN: | 0038-0261 | ||||||||
Official Date: | 1 January 2017 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 65 | ||||||||
Number: | 1 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 117-133 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1111/1467-954X.12376 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | Charles, N. (2017). Written and spoken words: representations of animals and intimacy. The Sociological Review, 65(1), 117–133. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-954X.12376 Copyright © 2018 The Author. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. Additionally, please provide a link to the appropriate DOI for the published version of the Contribution on the SAGE Journals website (http://journals.sagepub.com). | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Copyright Holders: | Nickie Charles | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 17 June 2019 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 20 June 2019 | ||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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