Manufacturing Environmental Disasters: An Analysis of Eco-documentaries in the Age of Asia

Abstract

This essay examines how our new awareness of human complicity in disaster has affected our storytelling and, reciprocally, how storytelling shapes the way we interpret and come to terms with disaster. A close study of documentaries from Asia suggests that the three Asian societies represented all wish to replicate the endless acquisition of the West and to reconcile their cosmopolitan aspirations with their cultural traditions. All three can be seen as a response to a dystopian world in which “natural” disasters are in fact consequences of human irresponsibility. The films do not offer an Asian solution to climate change, but, by rejecting a neat solution, they force the audience to engage critically with the problems associated with disaster.

Keywords:

• Asian eco-consciousness
• disaster
• eco-awareness
• eco-cinema
• ecological disaster
• slow narration

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful for the constructive comments from the two anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author is grateful for the generous support from the Seed Fund from The University of Hong Kong (HKU 104005251).