The Cultural Lives of Greyhounds

This book aims to enhance our intellectual understanding of the relationship between human beings and domestic animals, with a focus on a specific breed of dog: the greyhound. It combines literary criticism, cultural history and the rapidly expanding field of animal studies by tracing the creative representation of the greyhound, from the earliest references in classical myth to multiple appearances in contemporary literature, performance and the fine arts. Each representation—whether of hunter or racer, of pet or predator—is treated not simply as a stage in some inevitable humanitarian progression but as part of a series of co-evolutionary exchanges between humans and their canine collaborators that together constitute a shared history. John Stokes is Emeritus Professor of Modern British Literature in the Department of English at King's College London, UK. His many publications include In the Nineties (1990), Oscar Wilde: Myths, Miracles and Imitations (1996) and The French Actress and her English Audience (2005), as well as many academic articles and reviews. He also co-edited The Cambridge Companion to the Actress (2007), two volumes of journalism for The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (2013) and is a regular theatre critic for the Times Literary Supplement.