THE HUMAN ZOO
Written by James Ward
I’ve just finished reading The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris. The book doesn’t have a fully annotated bibliography, or an index, which is a shame as normally they’re my two favourite bits of a book. I’d quite happily read a book which is entirely index. What it has instead, is a list of literature which informed the writing of the book broken down by chapter, and then by each topic within that chapter. Here is the list of topics in The Human Zoo:
CHAPTER ONE: TRIBES AND SUPER-TRIBES
Home range of prehistoric man
Prehistoric man
Farming origins
Urban origins
Mourning dressCHAPTER TWO: STATUS AND SUPER-STATUS
Behaviour of baboons
Dominance patterns
Status seekers
Mimicry
Suicide
Re-direction of aggression
Cruelty to animalsCHAPTER THREE: SEX AND SUPER-SEX
Sexual behaviour
Masturbation
Religious ecstasy
Boredom
Displacement activities
Monkey prostitutes
Feline display
Sexual mimicry
Status sex
Phallic symbols
Maltese crossCHAPTER FOUR: IN-GROUPS AND OUT-GROUPS
Aggression and war
Races of man
Racial conflict
Population levelsCHAPTER FIVE: IMPRINTING AND MAL-IMPRINTING
Imprinting in animals
Mal-imprinting in animals
Social isolation in monkeys
Human infant bonding
Pair-bonding
Fetishism
Homosexuality
Pet-keepingCHAPTER SIX: THE STIMULUS STRUGGLE
Zoo animals
Boredom and stress
Aesthetics
Bestiality
Super-normal stimuli
Children’s drawings
Costume
Cut-offCHAPTER SEVEN: THE CHILDLIKE ADULT
Chimpanzee curiosity
Initiation ceremonies
School rituals1
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1 Desmond Morris, The Human Zoo, 1969, p249
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JAMES WARD: I LIKE BORING THINGS 