Medieval Dog Whisperers: The Poetics of Rehabilitation.

Published: In Alison Langdon, ed. Animal Languages in the Middle Ages: Representations of Interspecies Communication (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), pp. 217-34.

Description: Departs from purely functional or allegorical approaches to the whelp in BD by situating the narrative's portrayal of canine-human relations within the field of critical animal studies. Establishes the role of the whelp in rectifying human dysfunction by focusing on problems of identity and communication and drawing on literary, as well as sociological, frameworks (e.g., modern prison rehabilitation programs). The uncanny communicative bond between whelp and dreamer reveals a "motion away from subhuman singularity and toward humane community."