Glimmerveen, Kjelda
(2023)
“Sneaking around exotic stuff”: The Evolution of Fictional Heritage Colonialism in Indiana Jones.
Research master thesis, Master Research Master Theologie en Religiewetenschappen.
Abstract
Indiana Jones is perhaps the most famous archaeologist in popular culture, and inspired dozens of other adventurer archeologist works of fiction. It is a franchise packed with nostalgia for times long gone, often times of colonialism. However, as a franchise that spans over four decades, Indiana Jones has had to adapt to many societal developments as well as audience reception to maintain its popularity. One theme that has challenged the franchise unlike any other has been colonialism, especially in regards to the (religious) heritage that Indiana Jones handles in his films. In this thesis, I show how the Indiana Jones films have adopted three different approaches to colonialism over time - colonial, anticolonial and uncolonial - in order to navigate societal developments regarding colonialism and heritage, while also maintaining the franchise’s core factor of reactionary nostalgia. Reactionary nostalgia, which is inherently uncritical, casts a certain protection over its object, which is also why, I argue, the films have failed to ever be truly anticolonial: this franchise, and its genre in general, cannot be nostalgic and also make a radical break with its object of nostalgia.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Research master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Dijk, M. van | Mathilde.van.Dijk@rug.nl | Faculteit GGW, Christendom en Ideeengeschiedenis | | | Irvind, A.J.M. | A.J.M.Irving@rug.nl | Faculteit GGW, Christendom en Ideeengeschiedenis | |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Research Master Theologie en Religiewetenschappen |
| Academic year: |
2022-2023 |
| Date of delivery: |
16 Nov 2023 15:10 |
| Last modified: |
16 Nov 2023 15:10 |
| URI: |
https://ggw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/773 |
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