3) How do it and other Miyazaki films address the humanity/nature divide, according to Wright (2005)? Could Miyazaki’s vision be described as in some sense religious (in as much as it conveys a sense of the sacred)?
As Wright (2005) suggests, Miyazaki’s films seem to have recurring themes of the binary opposition between humanity and nature – there is “symbolism and narrative” (p.12) of the role people have had in the progress of destruction or construction of nature. Most of his characters are made up of two sides, such as the humans versus spiritual forms and there is usually an issue that is central to the film. Wright (2005) also mentions that Miyazaki’s films have subtle suggestions to make life a bit easier such as “the removal of pollution to restore the essentially pure state of nature and of the human spirit” (p.12). This can also be read as a literal action for the environment as well as a spiritual state of cleansing.
Wright (2005) states that “Shinto has been a part of Japanese culture for more than two millennia, and has provided a cultural framework for the integration of new ideas, while maintain the essence of old ones” (p. 13). I guess, in a way Miyazaki’s works have been influenced by spirituality as it also seems that he has concerns to do with the relationship between nature’s progress and humanity’s affect as consequential of their struggle to co-exist. He himself may be spiritual or he just personally thinks that the natural order of things depends on how people treat the earth, especially in times of desperation due to the current global issues of global warming, extinction of species and natural disasters.
REF LIST
Wright, L. (2005). Nature Spirits, Giant Insects and World Trees: the nature vision of Hayao Miyazaki. In the Journal of Religion of Popular Culture. Volume X: Summer 2005.
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