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YEŞİL CENNETLE KASVETLİ FELAKET ARASINDA: ELYSIUM & AVATAR

Year 2020, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 301 - 323, 30.09.2020
https://doi.org/10.32001/sinecine.741686

Abstract

Ütopya/Distopya yazını medya ve popüler kültürde her daim popülerliğini korumayı başarmıştır. Bu popüler kültür ürünleri sınıf mücadelesinden, cinsiyet sorunlarına ve çevrebilime kadar çeşitli konuları ele almaktadır. Bu makale son yıllarda yıldızları parlayan iki filmi: Elysium (Elysium: Yeni Cennet) ve Avatar’ı analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Makale, distopya türünün tanımı ve işlevi ile başlayarak, bu filmlerde insanlığın geleceğine dair farklılık arz eden iki çarpıcı tablo ortaya koymaktadır ve mutlu sonları ile oluşan soru işaretlerini irdelemektedir. Tüm farklılıklara rağmen, gişe rekorları kıran bu iki film arasında bir takım benzerlikler de bulunmaktadır. Bu kapsamda, sömürgecilik ile çevre ile ilgili endişeler arasındaki ilişkiyi açığa çıkarmak amacıyla sömürgecilik sonrası ekoeleştiri yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Bu noktada, sömürgecilik ve emperyalizmin doğa üzerinde olan etkileri, bu iki filmin analizinin odak noktasını oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmanın sonucunda ortaya çıkan bulgular her iki filmde önemli ortak yönler olduğunu ve özellikle sömürü ve emperyalizm düzeninin istisnasız biçimde doğaya verdiği muazzam tahribatı tüm çıplaklığıyla gözler önüne sermiştir.

References

  • Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2013). Postcolonial Studies: The Key Concepts. Oxfordshire, England: Taylor & Francis.
  • Baccolini, R. (2004). The persistence of hope in dystopian science fiction. PMLA, 119(3), 518-521. doi:10.1632/003081204x20587
  • Banerjee, M. (2016). “Ecocriticism and Postcolonial Studies”. Handbook of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology 194-207. doi:10.1515/9783110314595-012.
  • Blomkamp, N. (Director). (2013). Elysium [Motion picture]. USA: Sony Pictures.
  • Bottomore, T. (1983). A Dictionary of Marxist Thought. Cambridge, NJ: Harvard UP.
  • Brown, M. (2009, December 10). Avatar: We shouldn't really be telling you this - but it's good. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/dec/10/james-cameron-avatar-preview.
  • Cameron, J. (Director). (2009). Avatar [Motion picture]. USA: 20th Century Fox.
  • Cilano, C., & DeLoughrey, E. (2007). “Against Authenticity: Global Knowledges and Postcolonial Ecocriticism”. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment 14(1) 71-87. doi:10.1093/isle/14.1.71.
  • Cox, D. (2013, September 2). Why Elysium's moral message is destined to miss its mark. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/sep/02/elysium-morality-neill-blomkamp.
  • Desowitz, B. (2016, June 12). Immersed in Movies: Neill Blomkamp Talks ‘Elysium,’ Sci-Fi, VFX. Retrieved from https://www.indiewire.com/2013/08/immersed-in-movies-neill-blomkamp-talks-elysium-sci-fi-vfx-trailer-196671/
  • Glotfelty, C. (1996) “Introduction”, in C. Glotfelty and H. Fromm (eds), The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. London: University of Georgia Press.
  • Heise, U. K. (2006). “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Ecocriticism”. PMLA 121(2) 503-516. doi:10.1632/003081206x129684.
  • Huggan, G., & Tiffin, H. (2010). Postcolonial ecocriticism: Literature, animals, environment. London: Routledge.
  • İkiz, S. S. (2016). Cehennem Haritaları. İstanbul: Kriter.
  • Loomba, A. (1998). Colonialism-postcolonialism. London, England: Routledge.
  • Moylan, T. (2000). Scraps of the untainted sky: Science fiction, utopia, dystopia. Routledge.
  • Mukherjee, P. (2006). “Surfing the Second Waves: Amitav Ghosh’s Tide Country”. New Formations 59 144–57.
  • Murphy, P. D. (1999). “Forum on Literatures of the Environment”. PMLA 114 10998-1099.
  • Nelson, Jake R. (2015). “For a Postcolonial Ecocritical Approach to International Relations.” in Transatlantic Perspectives on Diplomacy and Diversity edited by Anthony Chase 139-150. New York: Humanity in Action Press.
  • Oh, J. S. (2011). “Watching Avatar through Deleuzian 3D, Desire, Deterritorialization, and Doubling: A Postcolonial Eco-Theological Review”. The Journal of Postcolonial Networks 1(1) 1-27. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/phil_facpub/5.
  • Parra, A. (1999). “Forum on Literatures of the Environment”. PMLA 114(5) 1099-1100. doi:10.2307/463468.
  • Sargent, L. T. (2010). Utopianism: A very short introduction. New York, NY: OUP Oxford.
  • Simões, L. C., & Lima, M. A. (2014, July). “Welcome to Elysium! Debating IR Concepts and Scenarios through Sci-Fi”. Flacso-Isa Joint International Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • Sudmeyer, A. (2013). Deep Fiction: A postcolonial and ecocritial reading of works by Mia Couto and T.C. Boyle. Master's thesis. Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. Retrieved from https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/9941/1/ulfl141502_tm.pdf.
  • Thornber, K. (2012). Ecoambiguity: Environmental Crises and East Asian Literatures. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

BETWEEN GREEN PARADISE AND BLEAK CALAMITY: ELYSIUM & AVATAR

Year 2020, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 301 - 323, 30.09.2020
https://doi.org/10.32001/sinecine.741686

Abstract

Utopian/dystopian works of popular culture reflect a wide variety of matters from class struggle to gender issues and environmental affairs. These works deal with many issues from class struggle to gender issues and environmental affairs. This article strives to criticize two utopian/dystopian films that have been in spotlight during the last decade: Elysium and Avatar. Both movies depict strikingly disparate, dystopian visions regarding humanity’s future. Yet, despite these differences, there are also amazing resemblances between the two blockbuster films. To this end, postcolonial ecocriticism will be applied as the major method in order to reveal the relationship between colonialism/postcolonialism and environmental issues. The effects of colonialism/exploitation on nature stand at the centre of the analysis of these particular two films. The findings that were obtained at the conclusion of the study reveal that both films contain remarkable similarities, in specific the destruction of natural areas as an unconditional result of colonialism and imperialism.

References

  • Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2013). Postcolonial Studies: The Key Concepts. Oxfordshire, England: Taylor & Francis.
  • Baccolini, R. (2004). The persistence of hope in dystopian science fiction. PMLA, 119(3), 518-521. doi:10.1632/003081204x20587
  • Banerjee, M. (2016). “Ecocriticism and Postcolonial Studies”. Handbook of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology 194-207. doi:10.1515/9783110314595-012.
  • Blomkamp, N. (Director). (2013). Elysium [Motion picture]. USA: Sony Pictures.
  • Bottomore, T. (1983). A Dictionary of Marxist Thought. Cambridge, NJ: Harvard UP.
  • Brown, M. (2009, December 10). Avatar: We shouldn't really be telling you this - but it's good. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/dec/10/james-cameron-avatar-preview.
  • Cameron, J. (Director). (2009). Avatar [Motion picture]. USA: 20th Century Fox.
  • Cilano, C., & DeLoughrey, E. (2007). “Against Authenticity: Global Knowledges and Postcolonial Ecocriticism”. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment 14(1) 71-87. doi:10.1093/isle/14.1.71.
  • Cox, D. (2013, September 2). Why Elysium's moral message is destined to miss its mark. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/sep/02/elysium-morality-neill-blomkamp.
  • Desowitz, B. (2016, June 12). Immersed in Movies: Neill Blomkamp Talks ‘Elysium,’ Sci-Fi, VFX. Retrieved from https://www.indiewire.com/2013/08/immersed-in-movies-neill-blomkamp-talks-elysium-sci-fi-vfx-trailer-196671/
  • Glotfelty, C. (1996) “Introduction”, in C. Glotfelty and H. Fromm (eds), The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. London: University of Georgia Press.
  • Heise, U. K. (2006). “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Ecocriticism”. PMLA 121(2) 503-516. doi:10.1632/003081206x129684.
  • Huggan, G., & Tiffin, H. (2010). Postcolonial ecocriticism: Literature, animals, environment. London: Routledge.
  • İkiz, S. S. (2016). Cehennem Haritaları. İstanbul: Kriter.
  • Loomba, A. (1998). Colonialism-postcolonialism. London, England: Routledge.
  • Moylan, T. (2000). Scraps of the untainted sky: Science fiction, utopia, dystopia. Routledge.
  • Mukherjee, P. (2006). “Surfing the Second Waves: Amitav Ghosh’s Tide Country”. New Formations 59 144–57.
  • Murphy, P. D. (1999). “Forum on Literatures of the Environment”. PMLA 114 10998-1099.
  • Nelson, Jake R. (2015). “For a Postcolonial Ecocritical Approach to International Relations.” in Transatlantic Perspectives on Diplomacy and Diversity edited by Anthony Chase 139-150. New York: Humanity in Action Press.
  • Oh, J. S. (2011). “Watching Avatar through Deleuzian 3D, Desire, Deterritorialization, and Doubling: A Postcolonial Eco-Theological Review”. The Journal of Postcolonial Networks 1(1) 1-27. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/phil_facpub/5.
  • Parra, A. (1999). “Forum on Literatures of the Environment”. PMLA 114(5) 1099-1100. doi:10.2307/463468.
  • Sargent, L. T. (2010). Utopianism: A very short introduction. New York, NY: OUP Oxford.
  • Simões, L. C., & Lima, M. A. (2014, July). “Welcome to Elysium! Debating IR Concepts and Scenarios through Sci-Fi”. Flacso-Isa Joint International Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • Sudmeyer, A. (2013). Deep Fiction: A postcolonial and ecocritial reading of works by Mia Couto and T.C. Boyle. Master's thesis. Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. Retrieved from https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/9941/1/ulfl141502_tm.pdf.
  • Thornber, K. (2012). Ecoambiguity: Environmental Crises and East Asian Literatures. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
There are 25 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Features
Authors

Cenk Tan 0000-0003-2451-3612

Publication Date September 30, 2020
Published in Issue Year 2020 Volume: 11 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Tan, C. (2020). BETWEEN GREEN PARADISE AND BLEAK CALAMITY: ELYSIUM & AVATAR. Sinecine: Sinema Araştırmaları Dergisi, 11(2), 301-323. https://doi.org/10.32001/sinecine.741686

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