NORFOLK, Neb. – When one thinks of the murder-mystery genre, one name often comes to mind. Agatha Christie wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, many involving two fictional characters, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
Emma Burris-Janssen, English instructor at Northeast Community College, loves the English writer’s work and has even incorporated one interesting element of Christie’s stories into her own life.
During a recent Hawk Talk lecture series presentation, “She’s the Worst Cat in the Village: Agatha Christie’s Feline Detection,” Burris-Janssen explored how the British "Queen of Crime" insistently endowed her detectives with feline traits.
“I compared Christie’s treatment of the feline with that of some literary forebears and contemporaries. For instance, Jean Rhys’s heroines often identify with cats, but what they are responding to is the way that cats have been marginalized,” she said. “While both Marple and Poirot are certainly marginalized figures in their societies, Christie’s novels reject this marginalization, positioning them at the moral/ethical/narrative center of her novels. By associating her detectives with cats, Christie is also repositioning both the animal – and more specifically the cat – at the center of an idealized version of human morality/justice/social good in her novels.”
A cat lover herself, Burris-Janssen also spoke of how she is working with residents in Wayne County to improve the lives of community cats through a Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return (TNVR) program and well as their work to socialize the animals and get them adopted when appropriate.
“The core of our mission is to use TNVR to combat cat overpopulation in Wayne County, thus reducing unnecessary suffering among our community cats. In addition to this core mission, we will socialize and adopt out kittens/cats as much as we can.”
Burris-Janssen said there are many people doing this work in their communities, but they are all drawing heavily upon their personal financial resources to do so. One priority of the non-profit is to fundraise, apply for grants and work with local businesses to lessen - and ideally - eliminate personal financial responsibility for the volunteers.
“We also want to provide emotional support to individuals who are caring for community cats, to offer opportunities for continuing education among cat caretakers, and to educate people in our communities about community cats, the TNVR program and other opportunities,” she said.
To learn more, visit the group’s Instagram account, @WinsideWaywardCats. Burris-Janssen may be reached at emma.burrisjanssen@gmail.com.
Burris-Janssen’s lecture was the final Hawk Talk of the fall semester at Northeast Community College. Adjunct History Instructor Kathryn Hain’s presentation, “Vikings on Camels – Norse Slave Trade on the Silk Road,” was presented in September, followed by “The Impact of Education on Our Experiences,” by English Instructor Tom Elliot in October.
For more information on Hawk Talks, contact Paul Muncy, history/geography instructor, at paulm@northeast.edu or call (402) 844-7373.
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Emma Burris-Janssen, English instructor at Northeast Community College, speaks during a recent Hawk Talk lecture series presentation, “She’s the Worst Cat in the Village: Agatha Christie’s Feline Detection,” Burris Janssen explored how the British "Queen of Crime" insistently endows her detectives with feline traits. A cat lover herself, Burris-Janssen also spoke of how she is working with residents in Wayne County to improve the lives of community cats through a Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return (TNVR) program and well as work to socialize the cats and get them adopted when appropriate. (Northeast Community College)