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Over the past two decades, the emerging discipline of Human-Animal Studies (HAS) has significantly increased scholarly interest in understanding the symbolic representations of animals in Early Modern Spanish zoological treatises and literature. HAS is dedicated to examining the roles animals play in sociocultural settings, their interactions with humans, and the meanings we attribute to these relationships. Traditionally, scholars have approached these representations predominantly from symbolic and metaphorical perspectives, as the humanists, poets, and playwrights of that era often depicted animals as mirrors of human virtues and vices. However, little has been written on how they were perceived in their natural environment, reflecting human politics and the ethics of animal treatment. My dissertation focuses on the early modern literary representations of the whale in Spanish literature, taking into account how it was understood and conceptualized in zoological treatises and the visual arts. I analyze how the whale was translated from its mythical and biological understanding to metaphors for sociocultural anxieties, as well as in debates on the ethical and legal aspects that were taking place at the time. This dissertation argues that Early Modern theatrical representations of the whale not only worked as metaphors for sociocultural and moral anxieties but also evoked concerns about the animal world. The mythical, Biblical, and biological understanding of the whale was captured onstage by playwrights such as Luis Quiñones de Benavente, Francisco A. de Monteser, and Tirso de Molina, who in their plays tackled a wide range of pressing issues. Some of these questions were tied to centuries-old practices, such as the grotesque spectacle of animal trials, and the cruelty associated with whale hunting, to name a few, while others touched upon contemporary issues, such as critiques on the use of farthingales by mujeres emballenadas, or the carriage as a whale in Baroque Madrid.
Recent scholarship focusing on the faunistic worldview and the study of the Anthropocene has proposed to avoid reductionist approaches in studies centered on literary fauna, which often exclusively examine their symbolic nature. These suggestions include not only evaluating the motives for the allegorical use of animals but also determining if authors present a representation congruent with zoological reality, as well as studying the interaction between humans and animals depicted in literary texts. Thus, the third and fourth chapters will show that the view of the time, although it deemed animals as inferior beings created by divinity for human service and use, began to recognize complex cognitive traits and physical characteristics in them. I analyze what I call an “early ecocritical perspective,” a view shared by a minority of writers and philosophers who began to recognize other animals’ sensory abilities and increasingly complex characteristics, which motivated a reconsideration of interactions and attitudes toward them. This recognition led some thinkers and authors to reconsider their interactions and attitudes. For example, acknowledging their capacity to feel pleasure and pain could lead them to sympathetic considerations about the harmful repercussions of anthropogenic activities on the animal world. To show specific literary ecological interventions, the fourth chapter examines the use of humor to express ecological concerns regarding the practices of animal criminal trials and whale hunting in La ballena by Francisco de Monteser.
In addition to historical and literary analyses, this thesis incorporates contemporary thought on animal ethics to underscore the significance of Early Modern zoological knowledge, which began to acknowledge the sensitivity of animals and the impact of human interactions on their lives. Since the 20th century, Peter Singer's utilitarian view of speciesism in Animal Liberation: The Definitive Classic of the Animal Movement (1975) has challenged the notion that humans possess unique qualities granting them superior status over animals. Since then contemporary research, including neurological studies, has provided anatomical evidence that animals possess nervous systems strikingly similar to our own. This similarity indicates that their reactions to pain, fear, anxiety, and stress are notably akin to human responses when faced with threats or danger. Recognizing early notions of pain is crucial, as the acknowledgment that what was once considered an inferior “other” possesses the ability to feel pain and suffering could have influenced early thinkers to reconsider the effects of human-animal interactions. By bridging historical perspectives with contemporary animal ethics, my research aims to highlight the enduring relevance of Early Modern views on animal cognition and sensitivity, ultimately enriching our understanding of both past and present ethical considerations regarding human-animal relationships.