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James Cameron’s film Avatar (2009) has been a great commercial success, among other reasons, for its innovative 3-D technology, but as much for its blending of several older narrative traditions like the Native American and the Hindu in the age old battle of good against evil. From a transcultural point of view, one of the most fascinating features of the film is its focus on the human-animal divide, a much-debated topic of special relevance to the processes of European colonisation. In influential works like R. Kipling’s The Jungle Book (currently a popular musical), the Virginian story of Pocahontas and Capt. Smith (now a popular Disney film), the colonial Other(s) are presented, as was done in the Hindu Ramayana, as humanized animal/native informant ‘helpers’ of the ‘hero’ on his mission to defeat ‘savage’ evildoers.
The ‘savages’ in question form the focus of an exhibition titled “Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage” at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris. An excursion to this important exhibition will take place on a Fri/Sat, most likely 1st or 2nd June. The seminar will conclude with a media workshop on the topic of “Avatar/s” during which animated/trick film practitioners and screenplay writers will provide insights into their work.
Participation
Regular attendance of the tutorial, all sessions including the workshop block seminar and the excursion; thorough acquaintance with all the material listed above before the first session; individual research on a relevant topic of your choice for short oral presentations / group work, followed by a term paper (7,500 words, in MLA format). Please check the TAS website under "Your Studies" for further details about oral presentation and essay writing modalities.
Please contact m.ghosh@mx.uni-saarland.de for further details.
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