TY - JOUR AU - Grandi, Roberta PY - 2021/12/21 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - “Anyway, What’s a Doe More or Less?” Androcentrism in Watership Down (1972) and Tales from Watership Down (1996) by Richard Adams JF - Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies JA - Belgrade BELLS VL - 13 IS - 1 SE - LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES DO - 10.18485/bells.2021.13.8 UR - https://belgrade-bells.fil.bg.ac.rs/index.php/belgrade-bells/article/view/bells-2021-13-8 SP - 187-205 AB - <p>When Adams’s <em>Watership Down</em> reached the US market, it came under strong criticism for “its anti-feminist bias” (Resh Thomas 1974: 311). Several years later, Le Guin reiterated the censure of its “egregious sexism” (2009: 82), taxing the novel with falsifying animal behaviour. However, through the comparison of Lockley’s <em>The Private Life of the Rabbit</em> (1964) and Adams’ text, it is possible to prove that the latter’s representation of rabbits’ society is actually strongly indebted to his source text for its blatant androcentrism. The sequel, <em>Tales from Watership Down</em>, published in 1996, ostensibly tries to give the does more “floodlight” (Adams in Monaghan 2011: 14) and make amends for some of the accusations received. However, as the paper highlights, while the novel undeniably conveys a strong ecological message, its point of view remains strenuously patriarchal.</p> ER -