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Eco-Fantasy and the Semiotics of Nature’s Language: A Comparative Analysis of Indian and Canadian Cinema

  • Unique Paper ID: 172900
  • Volume: 11
  • Issue: 9
  • PageNo: 1185-1190
  • Abstract:
  • Films produce in us the conscientization required to change our beliefs, attitudes, and opinions about specific ideas. The power of cinema touted as the “cinematic” process by film scholars such as Metz, Bozak, and Benjamin captures the potential of film technology as a process and experience to create changes in our attitudes and perceptions. Both mainstream and alternative cinema provide visual stimuli enough to alter our thought processes. Film, then, as a medium of communication, creates awareness and can be used to depict the future, be it in a utopian or dystopian landscape. Therefore, the need to study the environmental tropes in popular cinema and documentaries arises since they can widely influence the public. However, there is a dearth of knowledge existing in Indo-Canadian studies of films that explore the framing of environmental issues. The research gap identified in the existing literature is that the impact of culture and nature on one another is not explored through the eco-fantasy genre, much less depicted in a comparative analysis. This study curates six films from the eco-fantasy genre to showcase how environment and ecology are negotiated through narratives that reflect the social, political, and cultural factors. The differences in the framing of films within the context of constructing relationships between man and nature directly or indirectly (metaphorically) are highlighted through the comparative analysis of the following films. Selected Indian films include Swades (2004), Water (2005), Padman (2018). Canadian docu-dramas analysed are Manufactured Landscapes (2006), Antiviral (2012) and Crimes of the Future (2022). Due to the rarity of this film genre, movies are selected through purposive sampling and a qualitative analysis using visual semiotics is presented. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of narration and motifs (underlying themes) on environmental concerns and present observations in a contrasting manner between Canadian and Indian representations of the landscape. The 2021 Census data suggests that one in five immigrants in Canada are from India (Banerjee, 2024, 32). With Indian migrations still rising in 2024, it becomes necessary to study the cultural differences propagated by the media, in this case, films. This paper identifies such frameworks that shape environmental consciousness in films. The research objective is limited to how eco-fantasy in films is portrayed and a distinction is created between the two countries based on their portrayals of the environment through selected films. This is also examined through Goffman’s framing analysis to identify what “frames” are associated with culture and nature (Goffman, 1975, 603). This study infers that Indian films embellish a fusion of myths, folk tales, and an infatuation with British customs and rules, while also highlighting a spiritual relationship with nature whereas Canadian representations are more introspective, and interactive, and promulgate an environmental sensitivity leading to education and empowerment. This paper effectively highlights the cultural and environmental differences between films from both countries, employing both film semiotics and framing analysis and contributing to the coinage of two new terms to existing literature, - hard eco-fantasy and soft eco-fantasy.
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Cite This Article

  • ISSN: 2349-6002
  • Volume: 11
  • Issue: 9
  • PageNo: 1185-1190

Eco-Fantasy and the Semiotics of Nature’s Language: A Comparative Analysis of Indian and Canadian Cinema

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UGC Approved
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