Australasian Animal Studies Association

Mewes, Alannah

PhD Candidate

University of the Sunshine Coast

Alannah Mewes
Research interests / activities

My PhD thesis is on the representation of horses and their agency in eco feminist YA horse fiction – to simplify, addressing the unrealistic expectations girls have of real horses because of the pony stories they grew up reading. I also wrote my honours thesis on the representation of circus elephants in narrative and what fiction means for their captivity. Overall, I’m very interested in the ways in which any/all animals are represented in narratives and what it means for our relationships with them in reality and/or outside of storytelling. And how to tell stories in ways that attempt to understand animals and their agency/persons more profoundly.