Storytelling Apes. Primatology Narratives Past and Future

269 Pages·2015·9.25 MB·English

by  Mary Sanders Pollock

S T O R Y T E L L I N G A P E S
PRIMATOLOGY NARRATIVES PAST AND FUTURE
MAR Y SA NDER S POLLOCK
storytelling apes
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ANIMALIBUS
VVOOLL.. 35
of animals and cultures
Nigel Rothfels and Garry Marvin, General Editors
advisory board:
Steve Baker (University of Central Lancashire)
Susan McHugh (University of New England)
Jules Pretty (University of Essex)
Alan Rauch (University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
Books in the Animalibus series share a fascination with the status and
the role of animals in human life. Crossing the humanities and the
social sciences to include work in history, anthropology, social and
cultural geography, environmental studies, and literary and art criticism,
these books ask what thinking about nonhuman animals can teach us
about human cultures, about what it means to be human, and about
how that meaning might shift across times and places.
other titles in the series:
Rachel Poliquin,
Th e Breathless Zoo:
Taxidermy and the Cultures of Longing
Joan B. Landes, Paula Young Lee, and Paul Youngquist, eds.,
Gorgeous Beasts:
Animal Bodies in Historical Perspective
Liv Emma Th orsen, Karen A. Rader, and Adam Dodd, eds.,
Animals on Display:
Th e Creaturely in Museums, Zoos, and Natural History
Ann-Janine Morey,
Picturing Dogs, Seeing Ourselves:
Vintage American Photographs
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primatology narratives past and future
Mary Sanders Pollock
The Pennsylvania State University Press
University Park, Pennsylvania
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pollock, Mary Sanders, 1948– , author.
Storytelling apes : primatology narratives past and future /
Mary Sanders Pollock.
pages cm — (Animalibus)
Summary: “A literary analysis of the popular genre of the
informal primatology fi eld narrative. Explores the works of
Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Robert Sapolsky, and others in
the contexts of scientifi c, literary, and conservation
discourses”—Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-271-06630-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Primatology—Authorship.
2. Primatology—Fieldwork.
3. Creative nonfi ction—History and criticism.
I. Title. II. Series: Animalibus.
ql737.p9p643 2015
599.8—dc23
2014043060
Copyright © 2015 Th e Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by Th e Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802–1003
Th e Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the
Association of American University Presses.
It is the policy of Th e Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper.
Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Material, ansi z39.48–1992.
Th is book is printed on paper that contains
30 post-consumer waste.
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for my brothers,
John, Tom, and Jim,
and
in memory of
Ann Elizabeth Burlin
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contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
one
First Contacts 17
two
Th e Primatology Romance 55
three
Tragedy of the Field 89
four
Morphology of the Tale 119
five
Primate Characters 155
six
Primatology and the Carnival World 189
Conclusion 213
Notes 235
Bibliography 245
Index 251
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acknowledgments
Like most other primates, we humans form social groups for
safety, comfort, and fun. Th is book is the result of such a
grouping—a “fi ssion-fusion” group of friends and fellows.
Without them, you would not be reading these stories.
After a campus visit by Jane Goodall, the late president of
Stetson University, H. Douglas Lee, urged me to focus my
animal studies research on primates. Soon after, I participated
in a workshop at the National Humanities Center—and
came away confi dent that I could do that. I am grateful to
everyone at the NHC. I could not have continued without
the help, conversations, and tolerance of my friends in the
American Society of Primatologists, especially Evan Zucker
and Karen Bales. At Stetson University, Dean Grady Bal-
lenger and the many members of the Professional Develop-
ment Committee over the years have generously supported
this project with grant funding and sabbatical leave.
For reading and responding when I asked, I am deeply
grateful to my department chairs Tom Farrell and John Pear-
son and to my colleagues Terry Farrell and Emily Mieras.
Librarians Cathy Ervin and Susan Derryberry provided
material support, Terry Grieb provided technical support,
and Cathy Burke’s help was essential in preparing this book
for publication. Michelle Bezanson has contributed the won-
derful line drawings at the beginning of each chapter; as well
as anyone possibly could, she understands the borderland
where art and science meet.
Without the support of Catherine Rainwater, Carrie
Rohman, Karla Armbruster, and Sarah McFarland, I might
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