Colonizing Animals

by Jonathan Saha

Animals were vital to the British colonization of Myanmar. In this pathbreaking history of British imperialism in Myanmar from the early nineteenth century to 1942, Jonathan Saha argues that animals were impacted and transformed by colonial subjugation. By examining the writings of Burmese nationalists and the experiences of subaltern groups, he also shows how animals were mobilized by Burmese anticolonial activists in opposition to imperial rule. In demonstrating how animals - such as elephants, crocodiles, and rats - were important actors never fully under the control of humans, Saha uncovers a history of how British colonialism transformed ecologies and fostered new relationships with animals in Myanmar. Colonizing Animals introduces the reader to an innovative historical methodology for exploring interspecies relationships in the imperial past, using innovative concepts for studying interspecies empires that draw on postcolonial theory and critical animal studies.

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2021

Reviews

[mantareads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stunning, important book! I learned so many new ways to think of animals in history. The idea that animals also helped to co-produce empire, and that empire could thus be imagined as an interspecies entanglement, made me go wow! Many parts of this book made me go wow! in illuminated wonder, even leaving aside the glimpses of the various animals that appeared in the histories of colonial Burma.

A seminal book for thinking about animals in colonial Southeast Asia, which also grapples with and situates itself (in admirably accessible prose) within postcolonial scholarship. The conclusion felt a little too theoretical and diffuse for me, but that's probably more due to my unfamiliarity with the discursive trends Saha addresses. I enjoyed this book very much and learned a lot from it.