A Cultural History of Insects in the Modern Age

A Cultural History of Insects in the Modern Age covers the period from 1920 to the present, a time of tremendous scientific advances in our understanding of insects and their place in the natural world. The age ushered in an optimism fueled by the power of science and technology to improve the human condition and included stunning achievements in managing insect pests in the first half of the century. Today, although insects are recognised as cultural symbols of natural harmony and as bellwethers of ecological damage, our irrational fears continue, transforming insects into metaphors of invasion, alienation, and decay across literature, art, music, film, and political rhetoric. The six-volume set of the Cultural History of Insects presents the first comprehensive history from antiquity to today of all forms and aspects of human-insect interaction. The themes covered in each volume are insect knowledge; insects and disease; insects and food; insect products; insects in mythology and religion; insects as symbols; insects in literature and language; and insects in art.

List of contents

Series Preface
List of Illustrations

Introduction, Robert K.D Peterson
1. Insect Knowledge: The Impact of Insect Pest Coverage in the Press on Cultural Attitudes about Insect Management, Rayda Krell
2. Insects and Disease: Insects, Disease, and War, Jeffrey Lockwood
3. Insects and Food, David Kinkela
4. Insect Products, Amelia Dolan
5. Insects in Mythology and Religion, Gary Noel Ross
6. Insects as Symbols: Insects as Tricksters in Early Blues Music, Robert K.D. Peterson
7. Insects in Literature and Language: I See Things From The Under Side Now, Karl Zuelke
8. Insects in Art: A Planet in Peril and the Insect Muse, Barrett Klein and Tierney Brosius

Acknowledgements
Notes
Bibliography
Contributors' List
Index

About the author

GENE KRITSKY is Dean and Professor in the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences at Mount St. Joseph University, USA.GENE KRITSKY is Dean and Professor in the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences at Mount St. Joseph University, USA.

Product details

• Authors: Ian C Beavis, Gene Kritsky, Robert K D Peterson
• Assisted by: Gene Kritsky (Editor), Gene Kritsky (Editor of the series)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 19.02.2026
• EAN: 9781350003156
• ISBN: 978-1-350-00315-6
• No. of pages: 232
• Dimensions: 170 mm x 242 mm x 16 mm
• Series: The Cultural Histories Series
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Plastic arts; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Zoology; SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Entomology, HISTORY / Social History, NATURE / Animals / Insects & Spiders, SCIENCE / Natural History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, History of Medicine, History of Science, Social and cultural history, History of engineering and technology, Social and cultural anthropology, Environmentalist thought and ideology, Zoology: invertebrates, Animals and society / Animal rights - issues and debates