Stories in Crisis: radical imagination in environmental film and media
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: School of Arts
Abstract
This interdisciplinary research proposal addresses the need for critical engagement with
narrative and storytelling, essential for understanding representations of ecological crisis
(DeLoughrey, 2019). Whether our stories are about microplastics, Greta Thunberg or
loss of indigenous ways of life, 'we compulsively create [stories] around everything and
anything' (Marshall, 2014, p.96). However, although we're living in 'the most important
years in history' (IPCC, 2018), the magnitude of our environmental crisis has been slow
to penetrate public consciousness, signalling a failure of communication processes
(Penrhyn Jones, 2019). Against a possibility of wholescale loss and existential risk
(Spratt and Dunlop, 2017 [2018]) environmental stories are themselves in crisis.
Postcolonialism and poststructuralism demand sensitivity to 'the politics of specificity'
(Gregory et al, 2009). However, the specificity of place, vulnerability and even culpability
may be subsumed by the totalising story of the anthropocene, spanning deep time and
the whole world (Penrhyn Jones, 2019).
This planned research explores the inherent connection between progressive, inclusive
and ecological values; develops an analytical framework for understanding how radical
imagination is communicated and/or embodied in environmental documentary and
alternative media; and will result in traditional text-based scholarship, with three
accompanying research films exploring and articulating the relevant debates.
Research questions
-When analysing environmental documentaries released in the 21st century, to what extent
can their stories and/or storytelling process be defined as 'radical'?
-How do postcolonial, critical race and feminist theories complicate and enhance this
debate?
-How is the radical imagination of environmental stories enabled or limited by specific
media forms, their creative conventions, and production processes?
narrative and storytelling, essential for understanding representations of ecological crisis
(DeLoughrey, 2019). Whether our stories are about microplastics, Greta Thunberg or
loss of indigenous ways of life, 'we compulsively create [stories] around everything and
anything' (Marshall, 2014, p.96). However, although we're living in 'the most important
years in history' (IPCC, 2018), the magnitude of our environmental crisis has been slow
to penetrate public consciousness, signalling a failure of communication processes
(Penrhyn Jones, 2019). Against a possibility of wholescale loss and existential risk
(Spratt and Dunlop, 2017 [2018]) environmental stories are themselves in crisis.
Postcolonialism and poststructuralism demand sensitivity to 'the politics of specificity'
(Gregory et al, 2009). However, the specificity of place, vulnerability and even culpability
may be subsumed by the totalising story of the anthropocene, spanning deep time and
the whole world (Penrhyn Jones, 2019).
This planned research explores the inherent connection between progressive, inclusive
and ecological values; develops an analytical framework for understanding how radical
imagination is communicated and/or embodied in environmental documentary and
alternative media; and will result in traditional text-based scholarship, with three
accompanying research films exploring and articulating the relevant debates.
Research questions
-When analysing environmental documentaries released in the 21st century, to what extent
can their stories and/or storytelling process be defined as 'radical'?
-How do postcolonial, critical race and feminist theories complicate and enhance this
debate?
-How is the radical imagination of environmental stories enabled or limited by specific
media forms, their creative conventions, and production processes?
