Vortrag: "Aufbruch nach Pandora als Rückkehr nach Eden: Der ökologische Heilsweg in Avatar"
Am Montag, den 29. November 2010 referiert Stefanie Belharte im Oberseminar über Welt- und Menschenbild des Films von James Cameron
29.11.2010
Stefanie Belharte, Ph.D. (Institut für Ethnologie, LMU München):
Aufbruch nach Pandora als Rückkehr nach Eden: Der ökologische Heilsweg in Avatar
Departure to Pandora as the Return to Eden: Avatar's Ecological Road to Salvation
Avatar presents a paradox. Apparently a masterpiece of environmentalist propaganda and indigenous rights advocacy, it appeals to audiences way beyond the obvious clientele. It should cause multiple discomforts, as a reminder of terrestrial grievances and apparent lecture on remedial action. Instead, it has swept the cinemas and broken all records, leaving its audiences euphoric and gripped by its addictive appeal.
Assuming an anthropological perspective, we explore why this should be so. Thus, we perceive the hunter-gatherer Na’vi as Ecologically Noble Savages who symbolize the primordial unity that inheres in the notion of Eden. Journeying into their universe, the hero enacts a myth that condenses the zeitgeist, the idealized past, and fantasies of redemption into a single narrative, promising the ecological road to salvation to audiences anguished by the evils of environmental alienation and destruction. The movie, simultaneously palliative and paradigmatic, reveals thus its pull as the power to instil faith.
Wann? 29. November 2010, 18 Uhr c.t.
Wo?: Edmund-Rumpler-Str. 13, Raum B 117