Empire and Extinction: The Dinosaur as a Metaphor for Dominance in Prehistoric Nature
1997; The MIT Press; Volume: 30; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/1576441
ISSN1530-9282
Autores Tópico(s)Animal Law and Welfare
ResumoContemporary paleontologists, newscasters and filmmakers routinely portray dinosaurs as tyrants of prehistoric nature who created an empire that lasted for 150 million These commentators follow a well-established literary and iconographic tradition that uses the language of empire and autocratic rule to describe the dominance of these carnivores over the rest of the natural world. The author analyzes the development of this paradigm of dominance from its inception to its latest articulations. In the author's opinion, the savage view of prehistoric nature has its roots in the philosophy of the Social Darwinists and their dreams of imperial rule over the non-Western societies they considered racially inferior. The paradigm of dominance today legitimizes violence and conquest under the guise of a scientific view of the savagery of prehistoric nature. civilization that still sees itself as a superior species apart from nature, an Atlantis arising out of the murky depths of an ocean of primitive life forms. In the opening sequence of the recent television series Dinosaur! narrator Walter Cronkite frames the history of these predatory creatures with the disarming familiarity of a bedtime story, explaining to his young companion, I'm going to tell you a story about a time when the world was ruled by monster creatures. They were the most spectacular, terrifying and successful life forms ever, and they ruled the planet for 150 million years. While the snarling jaws and teeth of a cinematic Tyrannosaurus rex flash menacingly across the screen, the anchorman glides smoothly into a news capsule from the pr historic world: One hundred and fifty million years ago, Paul Semonin (historian, graphic artist), 2960 Charnelton Street, Eugene, OR 97405, U.S.A. Fig. 1. Robert Bakker's famous drawing of the alert, dynamic Deinonychus. (Courtesy the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University) In drawings such as this one, Bakker depicted the smaller dinosaurs as sleek, warm-blooded creatures who were closer to mammals and birds than modern reptiles in their levels of activity. Deinonychus was a close cousin of the menacing Velociraptor, who emerged as a new icon of terror in the film Jurassic Park. .. .-.-8.. . .. . :.6. -.... . -1~~~~~~~~~~''--_??. .-??51?LL?I???~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEONARDO, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 171-182, 1997 171 16 -1 .-. ,. .... 'I .
Referência(s)