Reviewed by:

• Transoceanic Animals as Spectacle in Early Modern Spain by John Beusterien
• Emily Kuffner

THIS BOOK HIGHLIGHTS the fundamental role nonhuman animals played in the culture of early modern Spain and its empire by tracing the stories of five early modern animals transported to Spain and used as spectacles. John Beusterien approaches his subject through biogeographies: animal biographies that take into account the habitat and cultural milieu of a particular animal, examining how that animal influenced culture and was influenced by it. Beusterien's methodology weaves together compelling storytelling with animal studies, cultural studies, performance studies, and empire studies; likewise, he draws from a broad range of sources including historical documents, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art. Beusterien has two overarching goals in his study. The first is to elucidate some of the valuable contributions made by Spanish collectors and authors to the foundations of natural science, thereby adding to the reevaluation of Spain's role in the development of scientific thinking in early modern Europe undertaken by scholars such as José Pardo Tomás, John Slater, and Juan Pimentel. Second, the author seeks to grant subjectivity to anonymous animals traded as pawns through imperial gift-giving via strategies such as inventing names for them.

Transoceanic Animals consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, and two appendices. The introduction, "Armored Beasts and the Elephant in the Room," describes the central place of animal spectacles in early modern Spanish culture. Beusterien argues that the category of the exotic animal emerges in the sixteenth century as European monarchies sought to consolidate their global identities in opposition to a fetishized East and the expanding colonies in the Americas. He situates his analysis within animal studies and approaches to the Anthropocene that seek to decenter the human. Beusterien argues that early modern animal spectacles served as a precursor to the modern Anthropocene's unsustainable approach to the natural environment, arguing for a more ethical attention to nonhuman animals in the past as well as the present.

Chapter 1, "Hawa'i the Elephant and Abada the Rhinoceros," traces the life of these two gifts from the Mughal emperor Akbar to Philip II. After harrowing transoceanic journeys, both were displayed initially in El Escorial [End Page 383] and then in the Antón Martín hospital in Madrid. An entrance fee charged to see the animals created income for charitable services to the poor. Beusterien highlights the intimate connections between hospitals and the emergence of the commercial theater since dramatic works were performed in hospital courtyards before the construction of permanent theaters (corrales de comedias). Once drama moved to permanent playhouses, hospitals continued to receive funds from the proceeds of theatrical productions. In recounting the history of these animals, Beusterien illustrates the frequently cruel treatment of captive animals in the period. In the case of the the elephant, Philip II regifted it to the king of France who, displeased with the cost of keeping the animal, passed it on to the English court where the elephant died at the young age of thirteen (in contrast to the average lifespan of forty years of captive elephants). The rhino received arguably worse treatment; after she made several attacks on humans, her eyes and horn were removed, leaving her to live as a miserable captive who also died young. Beusterien connects these animals' individual lives to the construction of Philip II's imperial persona as Planet King: the gifts demonstrated the monarch's importance on the global stage and his dominance over the exotic regions of the Orient. As war animals, their captive status illustrated Philip's role as peacemaker who brought a new Pax Romana, as is visually illustrated on an engraved ewer by Juan de Arfe (1535–1603). Beusterien further argues that Philip's collections and similar early modern menageries were an important step towards the emergence of the modern zoo.

Chapter 2, "Fuleco the Armadillo," centers on an armadillo carapace displayed in the collection of the humanist Gonzalo Argote de Molina (1548–96) in Seville. Little is known of the animal itself, although it had most likely been eaten for...

 审阅者：

• 
  约翰·博斯特里安 (John Beusterien) 的《近代早期西班牙的跨洋动物奇观》
•  艾米丽·库夫纳

本书通过追溯五种早期现代动物被运送到西班牙并用作景观的故事，强调了非人类动物在早期现代西班牙及其帝国文化中所发挥的基本作用。约翰·博斯特里安（John Beusterien）通过生物地理学来研究他的主题：动物传记考虑了特定动物的栖息地和文化环境，研究该动物如何影响文化以及受到文化的影响。博斯特林的方法论将引人入胜的故事讲述与动物研究、文化研究、表演研究和帝国研究结合在一起。同样，他的创作来源也很广泛，包括历史文献、小说、纪实作品和视觉艺术。博斯特林的研究有两个总体目标。首先是阐明西班牙收藏家和作家对自然科学基础做出的一些宝贵贡献，从而有助于何塞·帕尔多·托马斯等学者重新评估西班牙在近代早期欧洲科学思维发展中的作用，约翰·斯莱特和胡安·皮门特尔。其次，作者试图通过为动物起名字等策略，通过帝国赠送礼物的方式，赋予那些作为典当交易的匿名动物主体性。

《越洋动物》由引言、三章、结论和两个附录组成。简介“房间里的装甲野兽和大象”描述了动物奇观在早期现代西班牙文化中的中心地位。博斯特里恩认为，外来动物这一类别出现于 16 世纪，当时欧洲君主政体试图巩固其全球身份，反对迷恋东方和美洲不断扩张的殖民地。他将他的分析置于动物研究和人类世方法中，试图使人类去中心化。博斯特里恩认为，早期现代动物奇观是现代人类世对自然环境不可持续的做法的先驱，他主张对过去和现在的非人类动物给予更多的道德关注。

第一章“大象夏威夷和犀牛阿巴达”追溯了莫卧儿皇帝阿克巴送给菲利普二世的这两件礼物的一生。经过痛苦的跨洋旅程后，这两件作品最初在埃斯科里亚尔展出[完第 383 页]，然后在马德里的安东·马丁医院展出。收取入场费是为了观看动物为穷人的慈善服务创造收入。博斯特里恩强调了医院与商业剧院的出现之间的密切联系，因为在建造永久性剧院（corrales de comedias）之前，戏剧作品是在医院庭院进行的。一旦戏剧转移到永久性剧场，医院就继续从戏剧制作的收益中获得资金。在讲述这些动物的历史时，博斯特里安举例说明了这一时期圈养动物经常遭受的残酷对待。就大象而言，腓力二世将其转赠给法国国王，法国国王对饲养这头动物的成本感到不满，将其转交给了英国宫廷，而大象在十三岁时就去世了（与此相反）圈养大象的平均寿命为四十年）。犀牛受到的待遇可以说更差。在她对人类进行了几次攻击后，她的眼睛和角被摘除，让她作为一个悲惨的俘虏生活，但也英年早逝。博斯特林将这些动物的个体生活与菲利普二世作为行星国王的帝国形象的构建联系起来：这些礼物证明了这位君主在全球舞台上的重要性以及他对东方异域地区的统治地位。作为战争动物，它们的俘虏地位体现了菲利普作为和平缔造者的角色，带来了新的罗马和平，胡安·德·阿尔夫（Juan de Arfe，1535-1603 年）的雕刻水壶上直观地展示了这一点。 博斯特里恩进一步认为，菲利普的收藏品和类似的早期现代动物园是现代动物园出现的重要一步。

第 2 章“犰狳富莱科”以塞维利亚人文主义者贡萨洛·阿尔戈特·德·莫利纳（Gonzalo Argote de Molina，1548-96 年）收藏的犰狳甲壳为中心。人们对这种动物本身知之甚少，尽管它很可能已经被吃掉了……