Dr Matthew Whittle

About

Matthew Whittle’s research explores the relationship between hunting, taxonomy and colonialism in contemporary literature, art and film. He is particularly interested in texts that address the paradoxical nature of hunting, how it performs colonial dominance whilst also exposing the fragility of that dominant position. He has co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Commonwealth Literature entitled ‘Postcolonial Environments: Animals, Ecologies, Localities’ (2016). Alongside reflections of the Rwandan genocide through gorilla tourism and the animal imagery of graphic novels, the journal features his own work on the artworks of Walton Ford that engage critically with the naturalist paintings of John James Audubon and Ernest Hemingway’s hunting expeditions in East Africa.