Browsing by Author "Vosloo, Robert Roux"

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    From Solastalgia to Soliphilia : reimagining home in the Anthropocene in Darren Aronofsky’s mother!, Paul Schrader’s First Reformed and Wanuri Kahiu’s Pumzi
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Vosloo, Robert Roux; Green, Louise; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of English.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis, I aim to study the relationship between home environments and solastalgia during the Anthropocene. I shall argue that it is fruitful to interpret this relationship through the medium of cinema, and through the lens of eco-film criticism in particular. I have selected three significant films to work with for the sake of my argument. These are Darren Aronofsky’s 2017 film mother!, Paul Schrader’s 2017 film First Reformed and Wanuri Kahiu’s 2009 short film Pumzi. One consequence of the Anthropocene is the increasing rate of climate change, which poses a direct threat to Earth as a home environment. “Solastalgia” is a term coined by Glenn Albrecht, Professor of Sustainability at Murdoch University in Australia, and retired Assistant Professor in Environmental Studies at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. Solastalgia refers to the psychic condition a person suffers from when their home environment is under immediate threat. The Anthropocene, in this case, refers to the idea of a geological epoch in which humanity controls, moves and converts resources more than any other group or force on Earth. The scale of this resource manipulation can be comprehended when considering the fact that the human-made materials on Earth now weigh more than the matter untouched by humanity. I argue that each film achieves a unique effect via its use of filmic techniques. In mother!, this technique relates to the aesthetics of disaster and desolation, as well as to Cara Nine’s reading of home in her article “The Wrong of Displacement: The Home as Extended Mind.” In the chapter on First Reformed , I examine Schrader’s use of transcendental style and the way it links to the powerlessness that solastalgia leads to for different characters. In the chapter on Pumzi, the director’s depiction of action-based approaches and its relation to Albrecht’s concept of soliphilia (love for the maintenance and reparation of home spaces) will be addressed. This will be done in relation to Kenyan environmental activist, Wangari Maathai’s ideas surrounding the “Green Belt Movement.” All of this will be done to envision possible ways of exiting the Anthropocene and entering a new era, referred to by Albrecht as the “Symbiocene” – an age that emphasizes the interconnectedness of nature and culture.