Different natures: an ecocritical analysis of selected films by Terrence Malick, Werner Herzog and Sean Penn

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dc.contributor.authorVan Wyk, Karl
dc.date.accessioned2012-07-31T12:49:36Z
dc.date.available2012-07-31T12:49:36Z
dc.date.issued2012-07-31
dc.descriptionM.A. University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2012.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractHumanity’s relationship with nature has, in recent years, undoubtedly been one of contention and turmoil, an issue whose drama is gaining popularity in popular culture and, especially, film. In this dissertation I examine how these challenging human-nature relationships play out in Terrence Malick’s The New World, Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World, Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, and the Jon Krakauer book, of the same title, upon which Penn’s film is based. As one’s views on nature (like all else) are mediated through language, using ecocritical principles slanted towards filmic, as opposed to written, texts, I provide a close examination of the ways in which these artists portray the relationship between language and nature, and the impact this has on our cultural and individual identities. I will also show how these primary texts make use of centuries-old Romantic aesthetics in order to humanise nature for moral ends. The primary texts agree that a large part of the problem in the poor relationship between humanity and nature is due to inadequate metaphors with which humanity views the earth. Thus, each artist promotes a certain kind of anthropomorphic understanding of nature which he believes is pivotal in encouraging better interconnections between humanity and nature. As a result, I provide a critique of the kinds of metaphors used by each respective artist, where some metaphors of nature may support or contradict a certain artist’s aims in his portrayal of human-nature relationships.en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/11724
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.subjectTerrence Malicken_ZA
dc.subjectWerner Herzogen_ZA
dc.subjectSean Pennen_ZA
dc.subjectJon Krakaueren_ZA
dc.subjectnatureen_ZA
dc.subjectfilmen_ZA
dc.subjectdocumenturyen_ZA
dc.subjectecocriticismen_ZA
dc.subjectcelluloid ecocriticismen_ZA
dc.subjectecofeminismen_ZA
dc.subjectdeep ecologyen_ZA
dc.subjectanthropocentrismen_ZA
dc.subjectanthropomorphismen_ZA
dc.subjectRomanticismen_ZA
dc.subjectGaiaen_ZA
dc.titleDifferent natures: an ecocritical analysis of selected films by Terrence Malick, Werner Herzog and Sean Pennen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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