Maurice Saß - Böcker

This volume examines the cultural history of European and North American hunting from the Middle Ages to the present day from the perspective of gender as well as animal studies. It demonstrates that the hunting and killing of animals was (and still is) a highly codified activity that creates, reinforces, and sometimes undermines a variety of differences. This construction and deconstruction of difference applies not only to the relationship between “humanity” and “animality” but also to the relationships between human agents with respect to their gender. By applying a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach, this collection dissects the many ways in which hunting—often classified as a “typically male”’ activity—participates, on the one hand, in the naturalization of gender differences and related binary asymmetries but, on the other, can sometimes open up a space in which gender boundaries become unsettled and blurred. More than any other activity, the practice of hunting—which is controversial at least in terms of animal ethics—seems to lend itself to the negotiation of both what is perceived as human and what as animal and what is seen as masculine and what as feminine.

The natural genesis of stone is particularly suitable as a production paradigm of mimicking art; examples are rock and coral formations, or the veins in marble, that are an expression of the forces of natural creation. Art materials bridge the chasm between idea and execution and impact on the working process; shaping the material reveals levels of meaning in the piece and, likewise, the specific form of the material offers opportunities for generating meaning. Imitating natural materials is much more than a replacement of the material or a demonstration of one’s own artistic skills. The contributions in this book take a close look at the imitation of natural stone as artistic potential to express the interplay between natural and artificial material qualities.

Technische Innovationen der Fotografie erlaubten Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts, Wildtiere nicht mehr nur als Kadaver und Beute oder in Studio und Gehege abzulichten, sondern ihnen in ihrem natürlichen Habitat nachzuspüren. Die frühe Wildtierfotografie bediente damit ein populäres Interesse an der als lokal, national oder kolonial geschätzten Fauna, lieferte wichtige Beiträge zur zoologischen Forschung und verstand sich häufig als Vorkämpfer des Naturschutzes. Ganz neu stellte sich damit aber auch die Frage, wie man Tiere richtig fotografiert: technisch, ästhetisch, ethisch. ​Der Band beantwortet diese Fragen in historischer Perspektive und erschließt damit das Forschungsfeld der Wildtierfotografie.