Transcultural Narratives and Religious Symbols in Mass Media—The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky (2006)

Paula Rem

doi:10.25038/am.v0i28.677

Authors

Paula Rem The Academy of Arts and Culture, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University, Osijek, Croatia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9138-7009

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i28.677

Keywords:

film analysis; religious symbols in mass media; transcultural narratives in mass media.

Abstract

Researchers have identified many transcultural elements in mass media, especially in popular films. According to the Matrix trilogy director Lilly Wachowski, science fiction, dystopian and fantasy narratives, compared to other mass media, often have “fabulous subtext”. The use of symbols in mass media can be understood through several theories of communication: symbols are an important segment of every communicative process according to Burkart (2002); Noam Chomsky’s concept of generative grammar suggests that all humans have equal capacity for the development of language, which results in similarities among various cultural narratives and symbols. The results of research by Vladimir Propp and Claude Levi-Strauss show that similar topics and stories occur worldwide, enabling intercultural and interreligious dialogues. The same premise can be applied to films. Film is a mass medium which includes references to different cultures and religions. Films by Darren Aronofsky are especially filled with religious subtext (Davidowicz, 2016). This paper aims to systematically identify and compare religious and transcultural elements by analyzing narratives and visual symbols of the film The Fountain (2006). The methods used include a narratological analysis according to Maša Grdešić (2015) as well as a content analysis of signs and symbols in the film. The method is interdisciplinary, based on communication sciences for the analysis of messages and signs, while also including an approach of cultural and religious studies. The paper has a pragmatic implication for communication sciences. It indicates how film as a mass medium unites different cultural contents and facilitates intercultural and transcultural communication.

Author Biography

Paula Rem, The Academy of Arts and Culture, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University, Osijek, Croatia

Paula Rem (1995, Osijek) graduated from the University of Vienna and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Mass Media and Communication Sciences, as well as Jewish Studies and Hebrew language. At the University of Vienna, she was a teaching assistant (2017–2019) to Prof. Ph. D. Homero Gil de Zuniga for various subjects related to theories, methods, and processes of scientific research, and a tutor to Prof. Ph. D. Roland Burkart for Introduction to Theories of Media and Communication Sciences. Currently a doctoral student, Paula is an assistant at The Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University Osijek. Her research focuses on theories of media and communication sciences, the semiotics of mass media, interpersonal and intercultural communication in media content, religious and philosophical elements in mass media, and the role of media in shaping collective identities.

References

Atkinson, Michael. “The Fountain.” Sight & Sound 17, no. 3 (2007): 56.

Burkart, Roland. Kommunikationswissenschaft: Grundlagen und Problemfelder; Umrisse einer interdisziplinären Sozialwissenschaft. Böhlau, 2002.

Chomsky, Noam, Ángel J. Gallego and Dennis Ott. “Generative Grammar and the Faculty of Language: Insights, Questions, and Challenges.” Catalan Journal of Linguistics, Special Issue (2019): 229–61. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/catjl.288.

Cobb, Kayla. “Here’s Why Lilly Wachowski (Probably) Won’t Be Part of ‘The Matrix 4.’” Decider, 2019. https://decider.com/2019/08/21/the-matrix-4-lilly-wachowski/.

Davidowicz, Klaus S. Die Kabbala: Eine Einführung in die Welt der jüdischen Mystik und Magie. Böhlau Verlag, 2009.

Davidowicz, Klaus S. Film als Midrasch: Der Golem, Dybbuks und andere kabbalistische Elemente im populären Kino. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017.

D’Iorio, Paolo. “The Eternal Return: Genesis and Interpretation.” Lexicon Philosophicum: International Journal for the History of Texts and Ideas 2 (2014): 41–96. https://doi.org/10.19283/lph-20142.414.

Eliade, Mircea. Traité d’histoire des religions. Payot, 1964.

Ersoz Koc, Evrim. “The Road to Awe: Legitimating the Anomy of Death in Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain.” In Perspectives on the Sublime in American Cultural Studies, edited by Carl Boon. Dokuz Eylül University, 2018.

Fell, John L. “Vladimir Propp in Hollywood.” Film Quarterly 30, no. 3 (1977): 19–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/1211770.

Freud, Sigmund. “Mourning and Melancholia.” In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. 14 (1914–1916), translated from the German under the General Editorship of James Strachey. Hogarth Press, 1957.

Gheerbrant, Alain. “Stablo.” In Rječnik simbola: Mitovi, snovi, običaji, geste, oblici, likovi, boje, brojevi, edited by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant. Matica hrvatska, 1989.

Gonda, Jan. “The Hindu Trinity.” Anthropos 1, no. 2 (1968): 212–26.

Grdešić, Maša. Uvod u naratologiju. Zagreb: Leykam International, 2015.

Guillen, Michael. “The Fountain—Roundtable Interview With Darren Aronofsky.” ScreenAnarchy. (November 15, 2006),

https://www.google.com/amp/s/screenanarchy.com/amp/2006/11/the-fountainroundtable-interview-with-darren-aronofsky.html

Habito, Ruben L. “The Trikāya Doctrine in Buddhism.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 6 (1986): 53–62.

Hill, Bernice. “A Review of The Fountain (2006), Written and Directed by Darren Aronofsky.” Psychological Perspectives 51, no. 1 (2008): 180–84.

Hoang, Nguyen Quy. “The Doctrine of Not-Self (Anattā) in Early Buddhism.” International Review of Social Research 9, no. 1 (2019): 18–27.

Hodosy, Annamária. “Aronofsky’s Two Visions of the Ecological Fall.” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies 29, no. 1 (2023): 78–102.

Kalupahana, David J. “The Buddhist Conception of Time and Temporality.” Philosophy East and West 24, no. 2 (1974): 181–91.

Katz, Eric. “Against the Inevitability of Anthropocentrism.” In Beneath the Surface: Critical Essays in the Philosophy of Deep Ecology, edited by Eric Katz, Andrew Light and David Rothenberg. MIT Press, 2000.

Laine, Tarja. Bodies in Pain: Emotion and the Cinema of Darren Aronofsky. Berghahn Books, 2015.

Le Roux, Françoise, and Christian-J Guyonvarc’h. “Drvo.” In Rječnik simbola: Mitovi, snovi, običaji, geste, oblici, likovi, boje, brojevi, edited by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant. Matica hrvatska, 1989.

Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Strukturalna antropologija 2. Školska knjiga, 1988.

Matheou, Demetrios. “Darren Aronofsky: ‘Everyone gets cheques now.’” The Guardian, no. 6 (2009). https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jun/24/darren-aronofsky-the-wrestler-pi.

Niemiec, Ryan M., and Danny Wedding. “Wisdom II: Open-Mindedness, Love of Learning, and Perspective.” In Positive Psychology at the Movies: Using Films to Build Virtues and Character Strengths. Hogrefe Publishing, 2008.

Peters, Ted. God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life. Westminster John Knox Press, 1993.

“Pirkei Avot.” In Mishnah. Translated by Joshua Kulp. Sefaria, 2026. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Mishnah.

Piskorski, Rodolfo. “Vicious Circles: Intersections of Gender and Species in Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain.” Humanimalia 5, no. 1 (2013): 80–103.

Riffard, Pierre. “Palingeneza, palingenezija.” In Rječnik ezoterizma, edited by Pierre Riffard, translated by Radmila Zdjelar. August Cesarec, 1989.

Riffard, Pierre. “Sefirah, sefirot.” In Rječnik ezoterizma, edited by Pierre Riffard, translated by Radmila Zdjelar. August Cesarec, 1989.

Riley, Denise. Time Lived, Without Its Flow. Capsule, 2012.

Ruether, Rosemary Radford. “Ecofeminism: Symbolic and Social Connections of the Oppression of Women and the Domination of Nature.” In This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment, edited by Roger S. Gottlieb. Routledge, 2004.

Shin, Kiseong. The Concept of Self in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity and Its Implication for Interfaith Relations. Wipf and Stock, 2017.

Silva, Lynn A. The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity. Palgrave Macmillan, 1979.

Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures. Translated by Jewish Publication Society. Jewish Publication Society, 1985. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Tanakh.

Teng, Yuan-Wei. “A Soul Journey to Repair the Broken World: An Overview of Kabbalah’s Concept of Gilgul.” Journal of Life Education 11, no. 1 (2019): 1–36.

White, Lynn, Jr. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.” In The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. University of Georgia Press, 1996.

Zohar. The First Unabridged Translation with the Sulam Commentary. Translated by Michael Berg. Kabbalah Centre International, 2016.

Transcultural Narratives and Religious Symbols in Mass Media—The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky (2006)

Authors

DOI:

Keywords:

Abstract

Author Biography

Paula Rem, The Academy of Arts and Culture, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University, Osijek, Croatia

References

Downloads

Published

How to Cite

Issue

Section

License