Louis Macneice’s Zoo as a Personal Menagerie

Authors

  • Teresa Bruś

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18485/bells.2011.3.11

Keywords:

parable, experience, gaze, personal history, collection

Abstract

This paper approaches the problem of writing and re-configuring personal history in the presence of animals by a modern subject who in the politically charged climate of the 1930s, as a result of developing an intimate relationship with the London Zoo, modifies his attitude towards life. The paper takes a specific interest in the London Zoo as a parable of history. I argue that Zoo is a hybrid cryptoautobiography which drives towards a didactic ending encouraging the reader to turn to animals, to hear the disconcerting voice: ”Le Zoo, c’est moi”.

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Published

2011-11-13

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2011): BELLS - volume 3

Section

LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Teresa Bruś

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How to Cite

Louis Macneice’s Zoo as a Personal Menagerie. (2011). Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies, 3(1), 187-200. https://doi.org/10.18485/bells.2011.3.11