Approaching the animot: Human-animal representations, limits and relationships in Philippine Children s literature

• Main Author: Celestino, Chryssa Shana B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2013
• Subjects: Comparative Literature
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/2556
• Institution: De La Salle University

It has been observed that the three main functions of animals in Philippine children's literature - helping the child cope with difficult situations, develop a unique sense of self and be reminded of proper animal treatment-do not lead the reader to a proper insight on the animal. This study problematizes the genre's reductive, marginalizing approach to animals and argues that anthropocentrism is the major force that influences the way some of the genre's narratives depict the human/animal binary. Jacques Derrida's notions of the animal and concept of limitrophy serve as this thesis' guiding framework. The study ends with the insight that Philippine children's literature is not wholly reliable in educating the young about animality and the suggestion that the rewriting of children's animal narratives is urgent and crucial to animal de-marginalization in the local context.