Ecocritical themes in Hayao Miyazaki’s Anime films: an analysis of nausicaä of the valley of the wind (1984) and Princess Mononoke (1997).

Abstract

This dissertation provides a scene-based ecocritical analysis of environmental themes in Hayao Miyazaki’s animated features, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Princess Mononoke (1997). Moving beyond traditional descriptive summaries, the study employs a film studies lens to investigate how Miyazaki utilises precise visual strategies, such as colour symbolism, mise-en-scène, and spatial configurations, to dismantle anthropocentric worldviews and construct ecological meaning. By situating the analysis within Japanese religious traditions, the study demonstrates how Miyazaki portrays the natural world as a sentient, agentic force that resists human dominion. The research fills a significant gap in scholarship by pairing these two films as contrasting temporal imaginaries of environmental crisis: Princess Mononoke (1997) depicts the violent, active expansion of industry, while Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) envisions a post-apocalyptic aftermath in which nature initiates its own concealed renewal. This study draws on the theoretical frameworks of Timothy Morton’s ‘mesh’, Greg Garrard’s ‘other-than-human’, and environmental hermeneutics, as well as Layman Tower Sargent’s critical dystopias and Donna Haraway and Ana Tsing’s collaborative survival in the ruins by staying with the trouble of a damaged world. In doing so, the dissertation argues that Miyazaki presents a relational ontology where humans and nature are fundamentally interdependent. Ultimately, the dissertation concludes that these films, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Princess Mononoke (1997), serve as powerful tools for environmental advocacy, compelling viewers to reflect on their ecological responsibilities and the potential for a non-hierarchical coexistence in a damaged world.