Ecology and Contemporary Nordic Cinemas: From Nation-building to Ecocosmopolitanism

Description

Ecology and Contemporary Nordic Cinemas uses a range of analytical approaches to interrogate how the traditional socio-political rhetoric of national cinema can be rethought through ecosystemic concerns, by exploring a range of Nordic films as national and transnational, regional and local texts--all with significant global implications. By synergizing transnational theories with ecological approaches, the study considers the planetary implications of nation-based cultural production.

Pietari Kaapa is Lecturer in Media and Communications at University of Stirling, UK. His research work synergizes transnational film and media studies with ecocriticism. Kaapa has published widely on transnational Nordic cinema and issues relating to ecocinema, including collections and articles exploring ecocritical concerns in Chinese cinema, in relation to audiences, documentary politics and minority film production.

The quality and depth of the references in this book provide a new platform and focus for ecocinema scholarship... [With] fascinating chapters including studies of deer western and road movies; the horror film; children's film; crime and urban eco-narratives, alongside specific Nordic multicultural and minority concerns, drawing from a broad corpus of films and documentaries. This multi-faceted and convincing study will inspire scholars and help to draw further comparisons with Hollywood and other national cinemas well into the future. * Pat Brereton, Head of the School of Communications, Dublin City University, Ireland * Ecology and Contemporary Nordic Cinemas shows how film has helped create Nordic love for nature, but also how film works to conceal a Nordic history of the exploitation of nature. The study explores ecocritical approaches to genre, ideologies of the welfare state, globalization, transnationalism, and green activism in the cinema. All this is developed in a theory of transvergent ecocriticism, which helps the reader see newly emergent forms of environmental consciousness. Ecology and Contemporary Nordic Cinemas will be required reading for anyone interested in Nordic cinema or ecocriticism and film. * Andrew Nestingen, Professor of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington, USA *