ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses whether popular culture can undermine carnism as the dominant discourse. Specifically, it highlights which products of popular culture can be classified as “resistant”, “formally resistant”, and “fissure” texts, with reference to carnism as ideology. The first part of the chapter examines feature films for adults (a few) and children (more), which somehow question carnism and anthroparchy. The chapter then takes into account some texts that, by mixing fiction and investigative journalism, have partly succeeded, in both past and present, in disturbing readers’ consciences: The Jungle (1906), Fast Food Nation (2001), and Eating Animals (2009). Later, attention is turned to literary texts written by critically acclaimed writers: The Lives of Animals (1999) by J.M. Coetzee, The Slaughterer (1967) by Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Consider the Lobster (2004) by David Foster Wallace. Although they use different styles, the three texts embrace empathy rather than denunciation, addressing the core tactics of carnist discourse, such as dichotomization or denial. Finally, taking inspiration from a novel entitled My Year of Meats (1998, Ruth Ozeki), the chapter questions the role of materials of visual denunciation, which have sometimes been considered too violent to achieve the hoped-for result, and yet seem to have converted some viewers to vegetarianism and veganism.
