Of dogs and daughters: between surrogate and self

Abstract

Of Dogs and Daughters brings a compelling record of female artists and writers, whose voices have been documented and collected through friendships and chance encounters. Combined with found material that proposes dog-human perspectives, this book attempts to redefine the mother-daughter relationship through a surrogate lens, exploring images of closeness, of anxieties conjured up by film franchises and mechanisms of nostalgia aimed at caregivers and children. The contributions by artists Carmen Dusmet Carrasco and Simona Koutná, and writer Susan van Veen are complemented by the introspections of memoirist Giuseppa and interlaced with passages from the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956) by Dodie Smith. Each voice represents a unique personal account against a backdrop of deficient social support, single parenthood and absent caregivers.