Using a framework of Fourth Cinema, first constructed by Māori filmmaker Barry Barclay, this thesis explores the (historical) identity politics of the Sámi and employs an eco-critical approach to...Show moreUsing a framework of Fourth Cinema, first constructed by Māori filmmaker Barry Barclay, this thesis explores the (historical) identity politics of the Sámi and employs an eco-critical approach to trace a bridge to climate politics. Fourth Cinema is a movement which empowers Indigenous people to take back control of their narrative and invites its audiences to envision an alternative to the Ecological Exotic Other constructed by Western colonial accounts. Whereas the roots of Fourth Cinema were first theorized in the 90s to strengthen Indigenous identity politics, it is now unquestionably intertwined with climate politics in the case of the Sámi. The cultural identity of the Sámi is so closely tied to their land that the increased threat of global warming is a direct assault on their social distinctiveness. Time and again the Sámi are at the forefront of climate change in the North. Consequently, Fourth Cinema meets ecocinema in the effort by Indigenous peoples to transmit their ways of knowing to a larger audience. Fourth Cinema is a space where the Sámi have the authority to voice their outlooks on environmental issues from the perspective of their values and traditional ways of knowing. At the core of this thesis is a study into the dialogue between ecocriticism and Fourth Cinema in Sámi film. The thesis’s focal hypothesis is that an eco-critical study of Sámi Fourth Cinema offers alternative outlooks to contemporary Nordic climate discussions and crises while simultaneously empowering cultural sovereignty to Sámi communities oppressed by colonial mechanisms of Othering.Show less
The ancient Egyptian mummies have been extensively portrayed throughout history, since the early inceptions of photography and cinema, and remain popular in visual culture. Certain ways of...Show moreThe ancient Egyptian mummies have been extensively portrayed throughout history, since the early inceptions of photography and cinema, and remain popular in visual culture. Certain ways of portraying them have been repeatedly followed like traditions, which resulted in establishing stereotypes. In this thesis, I investigate how some of these recurring portrayals dehumanise the ancient Egyptians. For this purpose, I have compiled an archive of photographs and films, and analysed their stereotypical portrayal patterns. In doing so, I have identified two traditions; the portrayal of mummies in non-fictional photographs as artefacts (artefication), and their portrayal in fictional films as monsters (monstrification). In two visual essays accompanying this thesis, I demonstrate how these traditions systematically deny the portrayed mummies essentially and uniquely human qualities, resulting in their dehumanisation. Further, I discuss their spectacularisation — inherent in their artefication and monstrification— and the mode of spectatorship evoked by the mummified body as a spectacle. The thesis thus aims to offer a critique on dehumanising portrayals of the ancient Egyptians, shedding light on the repercussions of the encounter with such images.Show less
