Imaginary animals : the monstrous, the wondrous and the human / Boria Sax.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sax, Boria.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Animals--Folklore.

Animals.

Animals, Mythical.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (280 pages) : some color illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion Books, [2013]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

An extraordinary menagerie of fantastical and unreal beasts featuring hundreds of illustrations, from griffins to dog-men, mermaids, dragons, unicorns, and yetis. Fire-breathing dragons, beautiful mermaids, majestic unicorns, terrifying three-headed dogs-these fantastic creatures have long excited our imagination. Medieval authors placed them in the borders of manuscripts as markers of the boundaries of our understanding. Tales from around the world place these beasts in deserts, deep woods, remote islands, ocean depths, and alternate universes-just out of our reach. And in the sections on the apocalypse in the Bible, they proliferate as the end of time approaches, with horses with heads like lions, dragons, and serpents signaling the destruction of the world.   Legends tell us that imaginary animals belong to a primordial time, before everything in the world had names, categories, and conceptual frameworks. In this book, Boria Sax digs into the stories of these fabulous beasts. He shows how, despite their liminal role, imaginary animals like griffins, dog-men, yetis, and more are socially constructed creatures, created through the same complex play of sensuality and imagination as real ones. Tracing the history of imaginary animals from Paleolithic art to their roles in stories such as Harry Potter and even the advent of robotic pets, he reveals that these extraordinary figures help us psychologically-as monsters, they give form to our amorphous fears, while as creatures of wonder, they embody our hopes. Their greatest service, Sax concludes, is to continually challenge our imaginations, directing us beyond the limitations of conventional beliefs and expectations.   Featuring over 230 illustrations of a veritable menagerie of fantastical and unreal beasts, Imaginary Animals is a feast for the eyes and the imagination.

Contents:

Cover

Imaginary Animals

Imprint Page

Contents

1. The True Unicorn

2. Animal Encounters

3. What is an 'Imaginary Animal'?

4. Every Real Animal is Imaginary

5. Every Imaginary Animal is Real

6. Monsters

7. Wonders

8. Creatures of Water

9. Creatures of Fire and Air

10. Creatures of Earth

11. Shape-Shifters

12. Mechanical Animals

Conclusion

References

Further Reading

Acknowledgements

Photo Acknowledgements

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781789145458

1789145457

9781780232133

1780232136

OCLC:

861559585