Animating Capture

A Microhistory of Elephant Mobility

Bibliographic Data

ID3924516
AuthorsMarianna Szczygielska (0000-0001-9648-7113, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume40
Pages19-39
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueOsiris (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0369-7827 • E-ISSN: 1933-8287
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/735516
OpenAlexW4411229608
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited27

While zoos are typically defined as spaces of confinement, this article explores how mobility infrastructures sustained animal captivity at the turn of the twentieth century. Building on the animal biography method, I focus on the life story of one particular Asian elephant as a microhistory of animal mobility under captivity. Tracing the trajectories of trade and exchange in animals highlights the role of circuses in both mobilizing the affective registers of animal performance and supplying zoos with specimens. This article emphasizes the tension between mobility and constraint in the circulation of knowledge about elephants, as well as the role of affect in making individual animals visible through history

Anthropological Studies and Insights · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Philosophy