Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Humanities and Cultural Studies
Major Professor
Amy Rust, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Sara Dykins Callahan, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Benjamin Goldberg, Ph.D.
Keywords
Anthropocene, Yellowstone, Film Technique, Ecology, Nature Documentary
Abstract
Yellowstone: America’s Eden is but one example of nature documentaries tackling the complexities of nature-culture relationships during the age of the Anthropocene. Yellowstone National Park, the first to be named, is a primary example of how our relationship to the natural world developed through conservation and commodification. Yellowstone: America’s Eden demonstrates how film techniques conceal nature as a human construct through selective framing and narrative. By analyzing editing techniques made in the representation of Yellowstone National Park, this thesis bridges anthropocentrism to nature documentaries. Drawing on interdisciplinary research from media studies, environmental humanities, and anthropology, this thesis analyzes the ways in which selective framing and narrative shape the viewer’s perception of the natural world. This research demonstrates how the film techniques reinforce anthropocentrism within the documentary, specifically showing how the film inadvertently reinforces a hierarchical view of the natural world, relegating nonhuman beings to secondary roles. The film’s production was during the emergence of the Anthropocene, qualifying it as a base to discuss the broader implications of the epoch term and how human-centric narrative in nature documentaries contribute to hierarchical thinking.
Scholar Commons Citation
Hansen, Breanna Lee, "Selective Framing and Narrative as Anthropocentric Agents in Yellowstone: America’s Eden" (2023). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/9878
Included in
Film and Media Studies Commons, Other Education Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
