Avatar and nature spirituality / Bron Taylor, editor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Bron Raymond, author, editor of compilation.

Series:

Environmental humanities series.

Environmental humanities series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Avatar (Motion picture : 2009).

Motion picture plays.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (378 p.)

Distribution:

Beaconsfield, Quebec : Canadian Electronic Library, 2013.

Place of Publication:

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, [2013]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Avatar and Nature Spirituality explores the cultural and religious significance of James Cameron's film Avatar (2010), one of the most commercially successful motion pictures of all time. Its success was due in no small measure to the beauty of the Pandoran landscape and the dramatic, heart-wrenching plight of its nature-venerating inhabitants. To some audience members, the film was inspirational, leading them to express affinity with the film's message of ecological interdependence and animistic spirituality. Some were moved to support the efforts of indigenous peoples, who were metaphorically and sympathetically depicted in the film, to protect their cultures and environments. To others, the film was politically, ethically, or spiritually dangerous. Indeed, the global reception to the film was intense, contested, and often confusing. To illuminate the film and its reception, this book draws on an interdisciplinary team of scholars, experts in indigenous traditions, religious studies, anthropology, literature and film, and post-colonial studies. Readers will learn about the cultural and religious trends that gave rise to the film and the reasons these trends are feared, resisted, and criticized, enabling them to wrestle with their own views about the film and the controversy. Like the film itself, Avatar and Nature Spirituality provides an opportunity for considering afresh the ongoing struggle to determine how we should live on our home planet, and what sorts of political, economic, and spiritual values and practices would best guide us." -- Publisher website.

Contents:

Part II Popular Responses. Avatar Fandom, Environmentalism, and Nature Religion / Britt Istoft

Post-Pandoran Depression or Na'vi Sympathy: Avatar , Affect, and Audience Reception / Matthew Holtmeier

Transposing the Conversation into Popular Idiom: The Reaction to Avatar in Hawai'i / Rachelle K. Gould, Nicole M. Ardoin, and Jennifer Kamakanipakolonahe'okekai Hashimoto

Watching Avatar from "AvaTar Sands" Land / Randolph Haluza-DeLay, Michael P. Ferber, and Tim Wiebe-Neufeld

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781554588800

1554588804

OCLC:

863054004