S07E04 | Sagacious Canine Companions: Nineteenth-Century Newfies in Fact and Fiction

C19: America in the 19th Century

In this episode, Kassie Jo Baron (University of Tennessee at Martin) and Karah M. Mitchell (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) investigate the popularity and representation of “sagacious” Newfoundland dogs in nineteenth-century American literature. The episode begins with an overview of animal studies as a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between animals, history, and literature. Keeping this framework in mind, Kassie and Karah investigate how and why Newfoundlands, or “Newfies,” became so ubiquitous across the nineteenth-century United States. The Newfoundland’s association with loyalty, water rescue, and maritime industry means it’s no surprise that they appeared in the public and private writings of Lewis and Clark, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, and Emily Dickinson. This episode ultimately theorizes the conditions that led to the rise and fall of Newfoundlands’ popularity in the nineteenth century–what they represented and how they were viewed–and their impact on literary production. Post-production support by Ryan Charlton (Georgia State University). Transcript available at bit.ly/S07E04Transcript.