Post-Human Aesthetics of Apocalypse (original) (raw)

This paper aims to illustrate the transformation of point of view in apocalyptic/ dystopian genre films, abandoning the lamenting tone in favor of other species. It also intends to exhibit the aesthetic strategies conforming to the shifting tone of these genre films towards a post-human stance. It can be argued that the conjuncture which is shaped by several coinciding narratives of crisis from the Anthropocene to the more recent political crisis of rising Populism led Posthumanist discourse gain prevalence. The paper will try to link the shifting tone of genre films with the lineages of Posthumanist discourse and contemporary collective anxieties. Through analyzing the voice of narrative and its visual language, this paper will attempt to layout significant characteristics of post-human aesthetics in apocalyptic/dystopian genre films. In times of crisis, eschatological narratives tend to proliferate and flare like symptoms during allergy season. In the form of dystopias, horrors, catastrophic or apocalyptic films, these narratives on the ultimate destiny of humanity or the end of the world reflect our contemporary anxieties, fears, and concerns. In the face of an acute and inevitable struggle of life and death with a tangible foe, and a prospect for better days ahead, moral narratives accommodating rightful heroes help us confront our anxieties. However, uncertain, pervasive and chronic crises, lacking a certain nemesis and accompanying pessimistic future projections, lead to despair and cynicism. While we are experiencing a simultaneous political-economic crisis, ecological crisis and a deeper existential crisis, our apocalyptic narratives and dystopias are deviating from an anthropocentric point of view. On one hand, feeding on sores of global capitalism, social inequalities, migration waves, and rising reactionary populism, a crisis of democracy is sprawling, and it is leading to illiberal or authoritarian regimes, and to one-man rules trivializing democratic institutions and civil rights. On the other hand, a moral and existential crisis is unfolding in the face of ecological crisis, natural