An immersive entry into animal festivals nationwide explores how we invoke symbolism to tell stories about animals and what stories we tell about ourselves in the process.
What makes a human different than an animal? Humans triangulate who we are—and what makes us special—through our relationship with animals. Throughout history, and today at hundreds of animal festivals around the world every year, humans have put members of the animal kingdom on display to gawk at, demonize, or adore. But why? What value do these carnivals and their rituals hold, and why when the animals are in distress do we insist so intently that the show still must go on?
In Carnival: How We Use Animals to Celebrate Ourselves, esteemed animal welfare lawyer Elizabeth MeLampy attends eight quintessential animal festivals and meets the groundhogs, butterflies, rattlesnakes, lobsters, sled dogs, and other creatures we use to build community, cause fear, and transmit meaning. She shows how profoundly symbolism affects the way we interact with animals and explores what that says about us. In the process she raises the profound questions of why our human impulse is to dominate, and if in today’s enlightened age we might finally find the compassion to craft a new path, one that frees animals from suffering for the sake of telling our stories.
A deft blend of reportage and personal narrative, Carnival is the first book to truly examine animal festivals, and is certain to be appreciated by fans of Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens or James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small. At once a raucous, immersive entry into the sights, smells, tastes, and noise of animals festivals around the country, it is also a much-needed call for a kinder future.
A raucous entry into animal festivals across America uncovers how humans triangulate who we are and what makes us special through the symbolism we attach to animals and the stories we use to rise above them.
As the gates open at the racetrack in Virginia City, Nevada, three camels stumble out, ridden by amateur jockeys. A crowd of roaring spectators looks on gleefully, but as the camels approach the first turn, one loses its footing and crashes to the ground. While the camel's handlers rush to calm the animal, the race's emcee calls out in defense of the jockey. "Check on Charlie!" he cries. "Forget the camel!"
The International Camel and Ostrich Races is just one of hundreds of animal festivals that take place around the world every year, each putting animals on display for humans to gawk at, demonize, or adore. But why? What value do these festivals and their rituals hold, and why when the animals are in distress do we insist that the show still must go on?
In Forget the Camel animal advocate and lawyer Elizabeth MeLampy meets the groundhogs, butterflies, rattlesnakes, lobsters, sled dogs, and other creatures we use to build community, instill fear, and transmit meaning. She shows how killing rattlesnakes in Texas represents a triumph over the Wild West; how massive lobster boils on Maine's Atlantic coast show solidarity with the working class; and how the celebration each February of a single groundhog reminds us of our reliance on nature. In the process, she presents a deft blend of reportage and personal narrative that raises profound questions about our human impulse to dominate and differentiate ourselves.
Certain to be appreciated by fans of Yuval Noah Harari, Mary Roach, and Sy Montgomery, Forget the Camel is an immersive entry into the sights, smells, tastes, and noise of animal festivals across the country, and a much-needed call for a kinder future.
