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    In the canine archives of sex: Radclyffe Hall, Una Troubridge and their dogs

    Bauer, Heike (2022) In the canine archives of sex: Radclyffe Hall, Una Troubridge and their dogs. Gender and History , ISSN 0953-5233.

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    Abstract

    How does attention to dogs open up understanding of the queer, and more specifically, the Sapphic past? And what can modern Sapphic dog culture in turn tell us about the racialized formation of the ‘special bond’ between humans and their dogs? This article examines the forgotten enmeshments of Sapphic and pedigree dog cultures in early twentieth-century England. It takes as its case study one of the best-known couples of Sapphic modernity, Radclyffe Hall and Una Troubridge, and their dachshunds, Wotan and Thorgils. Bringing into dialogue scholarship on the history of sexuality and animal history it traces the historical footprint of these dogs and the people around them. I argue that what I call the ‘canine archive of sex’ – a broad range of documents including show catalogues, newspaper reports, fiction and scientific writings – offers new insights into Hall’s and Troubridge’s own lives and the wider circle of unmarried women involved in dog shows, alone and as couples. If centring historical dogs thus aids the recovery of historically marginalized lives, it furthermore reveals that modern pedigree culture, and the related championing of canine breeds, were circumscribed by class and racial thinking in a way that shaped understanding of the human-canine relationship.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): queer history, animal history, Sappic modernism, dogs
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
    Depositing User: Heike Bauer
    Date Deposited: 21 Jun 2022 13:34
    Last Modified: 19 Jul 2024 00:10
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/48472

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