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Do Meat-Eaters Dream of Vengeful Sheep? Towards a Methodology for Animal-Oriented Music Criticism

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  • By Marc Brooks
  • Source: The Intellect Handbook of Popular Music Methodologies , pp 606-622
  • Publication Date: June 2025
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835951033_38
  • Language: English
  • Accessibility Summary:  EPUB 3 and pdf file included; compatible with devices and software which can read these formats. Adjustable font size, spacing, contrast, text justification, number of columns (ePUB only). Alternative text for images. Tagged with a logical reading order to assist screen readers. Navigation between in-text citations and reference list, and endnotes and endnote markers.

The study of animals in the arts is well-advanced in literature, fine arts, and cinema, and even in ethno-, zoö- and ecomusicological contexts. However, little, if indeed anything, has been written in music studies that comes close to the practice of close reading found in literary animal studies. This chapter proposes a methodology for animal-oriented music criticism (AMC), bridging the gap between music and literary animal studies. By establishing broad, flexible guidelines, the chapter demonstrates the efficacy of AMC through a close reading of Pink Floyd's ‘Sheep’ from the album Animals (1977). The analysis reveals how the album's use of animal sounds and technological distortions relies on cultural anxieties about modern meat production and the logic of domination. This allows us to rethink human-animal relations, fostering a more nuanced understanding of our ecological entanglements.

Keywords: animal studies ; ecocriticism ; environmental humanities ; music criticism ; popular music analysis ; posthumanism ; progressive rock

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Do Meat-Eaters Dream of Vengeful Sheep? Towards a Methodology for Animal-Oriented Music Criticism
Intellect , 606 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835951033_38
/content/books/9781835951033.c36
/content/books/9781835951033.c36
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