HERMAN MELVILLE’S NOVEL "MOBY DICK" VS. FILM "AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER": EVOLUTION OF ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Abstract

In this article H. Melville’s novel Moby Dick (1851) is compared with American science fiction epic Avatar: The Way of Water (December 2022). Despite temporal and medium-based differences, Avatar 2 is analysed as a paradigmatic alternative of the novel as it reinterprets the key themes from Moby Dick. The comparison of these two works is focused on the interconnection of human and marine ecosystems and its purpose is to reveal the continuity of ethical and philosophical tradition in American culture. What unites these two works, so different at first glance, is water element. In the novel the ocean became both the background and the major instrument of uncovering the essence of each character. The same is true about "Avatar 2" which introduces original mythology and philosophy of world creation. Both works centre on aquatic environment, involve intelligent water creatures, and explore human destructive impact on nature, simultaneously emphasizing the importance of water element as a key source of life and existential quest. From this perspective, both works are studied within the frames of Ecocriticism and Blue ecocriticism. The thematic interconnection between these two works is further reinforced by their exploration of philosophical and moral-ethical issues, thus introducing the quest for meaning in a vast and mysterious environment. Both Moby Dick and its film replica, Payakan, are surveyed as incarnations of nature's spiritual power, profundity, and intelligence. It is noted that this attempt of parallel hermeneutic analysis of literary and film narratives illustrates inseparable unity of word and image, demonstrates rapid spread of cinematic opportunities to materialize human imagination and to enhance the importance of individual experience. It is concluded that Melville’s philosophical attitude to futility of human aggression may be regarded as the first step to understand deeper the ecological challenges of contemporary epoch. The authors of the film have gone further when accentuating the necessity to change radically our perception of Nature – from the object of “conquest” to the object of reverence as a spiritual unity of all forms of life in Universe.