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Woman 1, Climate Disaster 0: An analysis of female representations in three contemporary climate fiction films

Ljunggren, Signe LU (2024) STVK04 20241
Department of Political Science
Abstract
This thesis takes on the task of analyzing the three contemporary Hollywood films Mad Max: Fury Road, Bird Box and Don’t Look Up in order to explore the existing portrayals of women within the films. The films all belong to the genre of climate fiction, commonly known as “cli-fi”. Using a theoretical framework based on two of ecofeminism’s most influential branches - socialist ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism - the thesis analyzes female representations in the film from two different perspectives. The analysis is carried out through the application of Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis model, as well as through the application of ecofeminist ideal-types. The results show that the three films produce a... (More)
This thesis takes on the task of analyzing the three contemporary Hollywood films Mad Max: Fury Road, Bird Box and Don’t Look Up in order to explore the existing portrayals of women within the films. The films all belong to the genre of climate fiction, commonly known as “cli-fi”. Using a theoretical framework based on two of ecofeminism’s most influential branches - socialist ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism - the thesis analyzes female representations in the film from two different perspectives. The analysis is carried out through the application of Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis model, as well as through the application of ecofeminist ideal-types. The results show that the three films produce a certain common female ideal through their representations; namely that of a (white) woman conveying hope in the context of a climate disaster. In two of the films, Mad Max: Fury Road and Bird Box, women were found to be portrayed much according to cultural ecofeminist thought, with an affiliation with nature and motherhood. In the remaining film, Don’t Look Up, women were portrayed more according to socialist ecofeminist thought, placing a clear critique against capitalism. (Less)
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author
Ljunggren, Signe LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK04 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
climate fiction, Hollywood, ecofeminism, climate scenarios, female representation, cinema
language
English
id
9152875
date added to LUP
2024-07-18 11:18:09
date last changed
2024-07-18 11:18:09
@misc{9152875,
  abstract     = {{This thesis takes on the task of analyzing the three contemporary Hollywood films Mad Max: Fury Road, Bird Box and Don’t Look Up in order to explore the existing portrayals of women within the films. The films all belong to the genre of climate fiction, commonly known as “cli-fi”. Using a theoretical framework based on two of ecofeminism’s most influential branches - socialist ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism - the thesis analyzes female representations in the film from two different perspectives. The analysis is carried out through the application of Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis model, as well as through the application of ecofeminist ideal-types. The results show that the three films produce a certain common female ideal through their representations; namely that of a (white) woman conveying hope in the context of a climate disaster. In two of the films, Mad Max: Fury Road and Bird Box, women were found to be portrayed much according to cultural ecofeminist thought, with an affiliation with nature and motherhood. In the remaining film, Don’t Look Up, women were portrayed more according to socialist ecofeminist thought, placing a clear critique against capitalism.}},
  author       = {{Ljunggren, Signe}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Woman 1, Climate Disaster 0: An analysis of female representations in three contemporary climate fiction films}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}