Kot Bob, pies Bailey i inni. Terapeutyczne właściwości zwierzęcych bohaterów w literaturze popularnej

The author explores the meaning of animal companion figures in popular literature. The article presents a few examples of novels and autobiographical forms which use the companion animal character, like “A Street Cat Named Bob” by James Bowen, “Cleo: How an Uppity Cat Helped Heal a Family” by Helen Brown, “A Dog's Purpose” by W. Bruce Cameron and “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. Some of the books were filmed, most of them became bestsellers, which raises the question about reasons of their popularity. As scholars claim, popular literature has, among others, a therapeutic function. This corresponds with therapeutic function of companion animals, like dogs and cats. Sociologist Adrian Franklin (1999) claims that companion animals provide us ontological security in modern societies. The article examines the ways of providing different kinds of security by using an animal character.