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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Convention Center, Exhibit Hall BC, Second Floor
Abstract:
Human interactions with soil produce not only the basic materials of food and shelter, but also strong values like a sense of home or “place.” One source for understanding how these symbolic and cognitive values connect across social and material dimensions is film. Movies are the world's most widespread form of communication, a medium of education as well as entertainment, with a powerful visual and narrative impact.
The influence of film on public perceptions of nature was evident by the 1930s with masterworks like The Plow That Broke The Plains. Only recently, however, have interdisciplinary fields like Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Ecocriticism, and Environmental Humanities studied how film reflects and shapes cultural attitudes toward the environment. These fields began with a focus on popular, aesthetic, and recreational themes like wilderness, rainforest and eye-catching animals. Soil is too often ignored, treated as the romantic symbol of traditional farming, or even cast as a “dirty” part of the environment. These urban and western biases overlook the foundational role of soil in the historical human understanding of nature and its meanings. I address this gap through semiotic analysis of more than 60 US and international films, which identifies seven human dimensions of soil meaning: Home, Identity, Power, Risk, Social Others, Security/Stability, and Alterity. Comparative analysis shows cross-cultural differences and chronological change.
The study highlights specific strengths of film for research, outreach and teaching. Film, as a cultural text, represents soil meanings that environmental science and policy may fail to see. The analysis also indicates how the physical complexities of soil have generated both positive and negative human attitudes towards it. Understanding the full range of cultural meanings of soil can aid in classroom teaching, and support the discussions of soil conservation and sustainability that are critical for society today.
The influence of film on public perceptions of nature was evident by the 1930s with masterworks like The Plow That Broke The Plains. Only recently, however, have interdisciplinary fields like Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Ecocriticism, and Environmental Humanities studied how film reflects and shapes cultural attitudes toward the environment. These fields began with a focus on popular, aesthetic, and recreational themes like wilderness, rainforest and eye-catching animals. Soil is too often ignored, treated as the romantic symbol of traditional farming, or even cast as a “dirty” part of the environment. These urban and western biases overlook the foundational role of soil in the historical human understanding of nature and its meanings. I address this gap through semiotic analysis of more than 60 US and international films, which identifies seven human dimensions of soil meaning: Home, Identity, Power, Risk, Social Others, Security/Stability, and Alterity. Comparative analysis shows cross-cultural differences and chronological change.
The study highlights specific strengths of film for research, outreach and teaching. Film, as a cultural text, represents soil meanings that environmental science and policy may fail to see. The analysis also indicates how the physical complexities of soil have generated both positive and negative human attitudes towards it. Understanding the full range of cultural meanings of soil can aid in classroom teaching, and support the discussions of soil conservation and sustainability that are critical for society today.