Human–Canine Bond in Ida Fink’s Works Cover Image

Relacja człowiek – pies w opowiadaniach Idy Fink
Human–Canine Bond in Ida Fink’s Works

Author(s): Bartłomiej Krupa
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Philology, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Shoah; Holocaust; animal studies; dogs; Polish prose; testimony

Summary/Abstract: This paper is devoted to the role human–canine bonding serves in Ida Fink’s works. The introduction describes the conversation between the author of this article and the sister of the writer who, suddenly, recalled a dog killed by Nazi Germans during wartime. This account is followed by the category of mourning animals and the emphasis on the particular sensitivity to the harm of all beings, despite species, that the survivors show. The first part of this paper is an analysis of Ida Fink’s short story, Czing, which focuses on the aforementioned dog. Moreover, it tackles the stereotype of “a spinster and her animal,” and the simultaneous births of racism and cynology. In the second part, Czarna bestia, a short story on the communication between a dog and a human being is discussed. Finally, the paper indicates possible dangers that Ida Fink has successfully evaded; particularly, it covers the tasteless, distorted accounts on how the Jews attempting to avoid the Shoah have been saved by the wolfs (Holstein and Defonseca).

  • Issue Year: 2017
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 139-160
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Polish
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