Theses and Dissertations
Issuing Body
Mississippi State University
Advisor
Messer, Peter C.
Committee Member
Hersey, Mark D.
Committee Member
Giesen, James C.
Committee Member
Hui, Alexandra E.
Date of Degree
5-1-2020
Document Type
Dissertation - Open Access
Major
History
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Department of History
Abstract
Humans form lasting and unique relationships with the natural world and, by extension, the organisms and animals who have for millennia carved out niche environments. Scholars and general observers agree—at least in principle—that human beings have actively shaped (for better and for worse) the habitats, behaviors, and population of the Earth’s creatures. In turn, those spaces and animals have influenced not only how humans think of the natural world, but also of humanity itself. Animals, in other words, help humans understand themselves.1 This dissertation is a history of the American Alligator. A study of human interactions with alligators can reveal not only how humans viewed the animal, but also how they created, recreated, and utilized those representations to meet their own ends. Much of what humans attached to alligators—either positive, negative, or oscillating between—were the results of an internal process of dialogue, culture, and human psychology. In simpler terms, this research investigates how human beings understand themselves and how a particular species fits within human understandings of the “natural” world.
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/11668/16656
Recommended Citation
Drake, Nathan, ""Swamp Thing: Alligators, Symbolism, and the Meaning of Animals in the American South" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 7.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/7