The U.S. has beef with its history
Posted by Velvet Hasner
In her new book, Cattle Country: Livestock in the Cultural Imagination, Dr. Kathryn Dolan examines beef and cattle production in 19th-century America. Her research shows the cow emerging as the nation’s representative food animal, earning it a role in many works of literature of the day. The book is published by the University of Nebraska Press.
“Cattle work corresponded directly with westward expansion throughout the 19th century in the U.S.,” says Dolan, associate professor of English and technical communication. “Often, the interests of cattle ranchers and others in the cattle industry became the motivating factors in policy decisions — usually to do with land and almost always to the detriment of Native American communities.”
Posted by Velvet Hasner
