Spirituality and Resistance
Ursula Le Guin’s The Word for World is Forest and the Film Avatar
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12901230 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Landis Barnhill (University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 478-498 |
| Publication date | 2011-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal for the Study of Religion Nature and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1749-4907 • E-ISSN: 1749-4915 |
| Publisher | Equinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1558/jsrnc.v4i4.478 |
| OpenAlex | W2321067027 |
| Language | EN |
Avatar shares key narrative features with Ursula Le Guin’s 1972 novel The Word for World is Forest, including a depleted earth, exploitive resource extraction on another planet, and a successful revolt by the natives. Natives live in harmony with a natural world that is considered sacred and has both animistic and Gaian properties. Both works present a radical critique of modern Western society. There also are fundamental differences: The Word for World is Forest does not portray a Terran leading the revolt or joining the indigenous society, there is no romance between a Terran and a native, and the violence by the natives is unheroic and culturally damaging. While The Word for World is Forest is a dystopian novel, Avatar is apocalyptic. Both also have utopian elements, though Avatar is more optimistic than The Word for World is Forest, with its more nuanced view of our political situation
Aesthetics · Art · Avatar · Dystopia · Harmony (color · Indigenous · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Romance · Sociology · Spirituality · Visual arts · History · Law · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life · Themes in Literature Analysis · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction · Ecology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |