Hayao Miyazaki (1941-) is arguably Japan's most successful and revered animator and screenwriter. It can be argued that three of his most iconic animations, My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro, 1988), Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-Hime, 1997) and Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, 2001), embody three unique variations of the human-spiritual-natural relationship. Respectively, the first animation starts from a highly utopian and idealized viewpoint of nature, the second from a confrontational standpoint between humanity and a spiritual version of nature, and the third from a process of human displacement and alienation from the natural world into the world of spirits. By intertwining his environmental concerns with his Shinto beliefs, Miyazaki aspires to artistically represent a harmonious way of cohabiting with nature. The best way to achieve this entails recognizing human dependence on the natural element, as well as developing a reverential and respectful attitude towards nature´s transience, attitudes that are historically imbued in Shinto praxis. This paper seeks to analyze the Shinto references and allusions in these three works by Miyazaki, outlining three very distinct approaches to the complex relationship between spiritual belief and new environmental thought, in order to gain a richer understanding, not only of Miyazaki's work and point of view, but also of the pivotal role that spiritual belief and storytelling can play in promoting a new environmentally conscious way of living.

Authors:
Lauro Filipe Reis, University of Lisbon, Portugal

About the Presenter(s)
Lauro Filipe Reis is a PhD student at the Theory of Literature program at the University of Lisbon. His interests are metafiction, japanese literature and modern cinema. His current project concerns the making of a poetics of fiction.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurofilipereis/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Schedule

Bookmark