Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6084-8596
Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis (Master's)
Department or Program
Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
First Advisor
Evelyn Lechner
Second Advisor
Regine Rosenthal
Third Advisor
Donald Pease
Abstract
Abstract
In the era of Climate Change, many are concerned that the end of the Anthropocene, or the end of the era of human life on Earth, is upon us. Western European colonialism and its subsequent systems (settler-colonialism, colonial-capitalism, and globalization - sometimes termed “neocolonialism”) have all been implicated in contributing to unsustainable behaviors linked to accelerating climate change. In searching for possible solutions, some have called for listening to Indigenous Peoples, citing ethics of sustainability found among many Indigenous cultures. However, the cultural products of settler-colonialism are still dominant in ways that do not allow for Indigenous worldviews to spread or be understood. This thesis will show how the narrative structures of settler-colonialism in the United States persist in cultural products (e.g. films, television, video games, journalism) in ways that silence non-dominant voices, and specifically Indigenous worldviews. This problem persists even among media makers claiming allyship to Indigenous Peoples and causes. In order to actually learn from Indigenous Peoples, the narrative structures of storytelling must be shifted so that true diversity of thought may be portrayed. To shift away from settler-colonial behaviors that overtax the world, people must first be able to perceive and conceptualize alternatives to them.
Original Citation
O'Leary, S. Rose Bigheart. (2024). The Regenarrative: How to Change the Story in Order to Change the Future. MALS Thesis. Dartmouth College.
Recommended Citation
O'Leary, S. Rose Bigheart, "The Regenarrative: How to Change the Story in Order to Change the Future" (2024). Dartmouth College Master’s Theses. 145.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/masters_theses/145
Included in
American Film Studies Commons, American Popular Culture Commons, Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, Game Design Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Indigenous Education Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Native American Studies Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons, Political Theory Commons, Screenwriting Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social Justice Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons, Television Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons, United States History Commons