Animal-based experiences and animal experiences: farm animals’ perspective on human leisure in rural settings

Abstract

This study poses the question: How are leisure experiences inspired by rural practices about the traditional use of farm animals lived by the animals? The aim is to contribute to the literature about farm animals in leisure experiences and the animals' perspectives on the leisure experiences in which they are involved. Based on the main tenets of ecofeminism, it explores the research question by adopting a creative approach consisting of a fictional story about a pig living at a rural museum. An ad hoc model is developed to identify some main typologies of animal experiences derived from their involvement in human leisure experiences. This study highlights some practical and research implications and invites the reader to deeply and critically reflect on the use of animals for human leisure.

Including the ‘Voices’ of Animals in Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Research

“…A few scholars have attempted to report on animals' perspectives in the tourism, hospitality and leisure literature: the study about swim-with-dolphins tourism mentioned above, a study on the thoughts of a pig rescued from slaughter at a rural event, and a study in which orcas tell the scientific and tourism community what they think about whale-watching (Bertella et al, 2019;Bertella, 2020Bertella, , 2021. The approaches used in these studies rely on fiction and, in one case, on developing potential future scenarios (Banks & Banks, 1998;Reinhold, 2018;Yeoman & Postma, 2014).…”

“…Accordingly, Bertella et al (2019) combined their theoretical and practical knowledge from academia and the non-profit sector to develop a fictional dolphin-tourist dialogue. Another means of approaching these challenges is to gain knowledge about animals by consulting the available literature; for example, Bertella (2020) used various sources to learn about pigs and their cognitive and emotional capacities.…”

“…Another challenge in investigating animals' perspectives concerns the imbalance of power when writing in someone else's name, as discussed by Bertella et al (2019) and Bertella (2020) with reference to the 2013 book Speaking for animals: Animal autobiographical writing by animal studies scholar Margo DeMello. The complexities of a situation in which a human 'holds the pen' and claims to represent the voice of an animal echo some arguments about the need to overcome traditional methods of qualitative research that may reinforce power mechanisms (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011;Hollinshead, 2013;Höckert & Grimwood, 2019).…”

“…In particular, the risk of 'epistemic violence' when research is conducted 'on or about' instead of 'with or by' is highly relevant to studies about animals. Bertella et al (2019) and Bertella (2020) have argued that instead of claiming to speak for animals, scholars writing fictional narratives in which animals express their views should aim to develop plausible stories based on explicitly described sources of information and inspiration. Bertella et al (2019) and Bertella (2020) related this latter aspect to creative writing criterianamely, to creative analytic practice (CAP) (Parry & Johnson, 2007;Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005).…”

“…Bertella et al (2019) and Bertella (2020) have argued that instead of claiming to speak for animals, scholars writing fictional narratives in which animals express their views should aim to develop plausible stories based on explicitly described sources of information and inspiration. Bertella et al (2019) and Bertella (2020) related this latter aspect to creative writing criterianamely, to creative analytic practice (CAP) (Parry & Johnson, 2007;Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005). One criterion concerns the development of plausible stories, as mentioned above.…”