Watching Wildlife
by
Cynthia Chris
| darkduck, 2 days ago |
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Watching Wildlife
By Cynthia Chris
- Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
- Number Of Pages: 320
- Publication Date: 2006-03-14
- ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0816645477
- ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780816645473
- Binding: Paperback
Book Description:
Youand me baby ain't nothin' but mammals So let's do it like they do onthe Discovery Channel. —Bloodhound Gang It has never been easier forAmericans to observe wild and exotic animals from the comfort andsafety of their couches. Several cable channels—Animal Planet, theDiscovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel—providearound-the-clock wildlife programming while the traditional networksregularly broadcast animal documentaries, late-night appearances byzoologists and their animal charges, and sensationalistic specialsabout animals attacking hapless humans. Though the ubiquity of animalson television is new, the genre of the wildlife documentary is as oldas cinema itself. In Watching Wildlife, Cynthia Chris traces thehistory of the wildlife genre from its origins in precinematic,colonial visual culture to its contemporary status as flagshipprogramming on global television and explores evolving beliefs about,and attitudes toward, animal subjects. Nature programming and films areconsistently presented as real and unmediated reflections of nature.But in Chris's analysis of specific shows (Mutual of Omaha's WildKingdom and cable television's Crocodile Hunter) and film andtelevision history (the colonial cinema, the launch of Animal Planet),she points out how—particularly in the genre's preoccupation withmating and the favoritism bestowed on certain species—documentaryimages of animals are and always have been about prevailing ideologiesabout human gender, sexuality, and race. Ultimately, Chris's sweepingand cogent account of the wildlife documentary incorporates thisfrequently overlooked genre into broader debates about mediaglobalization, human-animal relations, and popular scientificdiscourse. Cynthia Chris is assistant professor of media culture at theCity University of New York's College of Staten Island.
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