Overview

Since the Middle Ages, bearshave mostfrequentlybeen seenas objects. For many centuries, Europeans regarded bears as pests to be eradicated because of the danger theyposedto human beings and livestock, whilst in recent decadestheyhaveincreasingly been seenas victims to be protectedfromhuman violence. When a bear attacks, thecontemporaryresponse is typically to blame human beings' failure,eitherto signal their presence inbears' habitatsor to bear-proof their backyards.Forclimate change activists, thepolar bear has becomeemblematic of the threatposed byhumans to the natural world,even thoughthe polar bear'spopulation has steadily increasedin recenttimes.At two extremes, bears have been objects of predation or pity. Inmedievaltimes, however,bears were not objects but subjectsviewedascreatures of God. They were seen as beingin possession of something analogous to rationality, whichenabledthem to display surprising intelligence: aswarriors endowed withbothstrength and courage to whichhumanscould only aspire; asfierce competitors in bear-baiting spectacles, like prize-fightersengagedin a bloody sport; or aslovers, inclined to abduct women and have children with them. People treated bearsasthey expected to be treatedthemselves, andexpectedthemtobehave ashumanswould;not as passive victims of human action, but as active subjects.

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9781837723751

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Karen Sullivan is the Irma Brandeis Professor of Romance Culture and Literature at Bard College. She is the author of several books on medieval literature and history, many published by the University of Chicago Press.

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