Rat / Jonathan Burt.

  • Burt, Jonathan.
Date:
2006
  • Books

About this work

Description

"Rat traces the history of the rat-human relationship from the first archaeological finds to the genetically engineered rat of today, describing its role in the arts and sciences, religion and myth, folklore and society, medicine and psychoanalysis. The rat is to be found at the heart of human preoccupations with hygiene, intelligence, sexuality and appetite, and exists as a perverse totem for the worst excesses of human behaviour. This highly adaptable, fertile and intelligent creature is almost universally loathed, yet there are cultures in which it is revered, even deified. In Rat, Jonathan Burt provides a fascinating account of this animal in history, myth and culture."--BOOK JACKET.

Publication/Creation

London : Reaktion Books, 2006.

Physical description

189 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits, facsimiles ; 19 cm.

Contributors

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes web resources (p. 182).

Contents

Introduction -- Natural history -- Natural historians and the rat -- Rat representations -- The 'hero of science' -- Plague and pollution -- Pets, vermin, food -- Timeline -- Appendix: a legend of the Inquisition.

Type/Technique

Languages

Where to find it

  • LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores
    M14911

Permanent link

Identifiers

ISBN

  • 1861892241
  • 9781861892249