IGL Lecture Series 2026: Prof. Dr. Damaris Nübling on the topic of “The linguistic boundary between humans and animals in a diachronic perspective”

The lecture is part of the IGL lecture series 2026: “Of oxen, horses, and dogs—working animals throughout history.” The lecture series is dedicated to the diverse and often underestimated cooperation between humans and animals in work contexts.

From field work to driving mills, protecting animals and humans, and transporting goods – oxen, horses, and dogs have been integrated into human economic processes as living resources for several millennia. These working relationships gave rise not only to economic structures, but also to social structures and work cultures. Working with animals meant, and still means today, not only using their strength, but also forming a relationship with a living being. It was only with the advent of combustion engines that this relationship changed significantly, as machines took over most of the tasks. The lecture series therefore focuses primarily on the active roles of animals and human-animal relationships in joint work processes.

In our language, however, this close relationship between humans and working animals is still represented to this day. Terms such as “horsepower” or “workhorse,” but also proverbs such as “carrying the burden on one's shoulders” or “pulling like an ox,” show how much working animals once shaped people's daily lives—and how lasting their influence is to this day. 

The series covers a broad time span – from antiquity to the present day. Particular attention is paid to the changing relationship between humans and animals (in terms of work) over the centuries. While technological upheavals – such as the invention of the railway or the mechanisation of agriculture – are often interpreted as the end of animal labour, the contributions in this series aim to show that such phases led instead to a transformation: the tasks performed by animals changed, but their importance remained or even gained new relevance.

The individual lectures first examine the use of working animals in antiquity: based on archaeological findings, literary sources, and iconographic representations, they ask what role animals played in agriculture, trade, or the military. The focus then shifts to the Middle Ages and early modern period, eras in which diverse working animal cultures emerged. During these periods, animals gained importance not only as workers, but also in legal, social, and symbolic terms. Finally, we will look at idioms, metaphors, and terms that are still used in everyday language today. These linguistic peculiarities reflect the close relationship between humans and animals in everyday working life.