Abstract:
ABSTRACT
This research will focus on how we understand conflict through fiction film. The thesis
will analyse the two case studies Hotel Rwanda, Terry George, (2004) and The Kingdom,
(Peter Berg, 2007), by focusing on three areas of study, namely, globalisation, fictional
narratives, and how we remember conflict.
The discussion begins with globalisation with reference to narrative content and the
economic and distributive authority of Hollywood. This will be linked to film as a
commodity and how popular culture (through fiction film) intersects with the ‘real’,
historical world and promotes ideological perceptions of the events.
Through an analysis of the narrative structure, this research shall investigate how each
narrative creates ‘preferred’ readings around ethnic groups and how it assumes a truthful
depiction of its referents. The discussion shall focus on how the Classic Hollywood
narrative, voice and rhetoric emerge within the two films.
The investigation will also examine how the films are located within memory of conflict
and how they create ‘othering’ through their representation and ‘voice’. This message
provides a framework within the global environment. The research will show that
although the films are fictional, their global message is very much the same as to what is
emerging within global media regarding mainstream as opposed to the marginalised
‘other’, whether this relates to Cultural Imperialism, fantasy others, mythical others or
cultural and political associations of others.
