Image source: Studio Ghibli, affiche japonaise du film Princess Mononoké, 1997

Article source: Camille Roelens, « Hayao Miyazaki, éducateur précoce en Anthropocène ? », Recherches & éducations [En ligne], 23 | 2021 ; URL : http://journals.openedition.org/rechercheseducations/11982 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/rechercheseducations.11982

The master of Japanese animation, Hayao Miyazaki, was certainly one of the architects of the democratisation of Japanese animation in the West and in having it considered as more than something just for children. Miyazaki is an animator, director, screenwriter and writer. He is the creator of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. As his work is both recognised and marked by fundamental themes such as the relationship between humans and nature, violence in society and manual arts, it has naturally been the subject of numerous analyses. In the field of the environment, an article in the humanities and social sciences intended for a specialist audience looks at what the work has to contribute in terms of the Anthropocene[1]. I offer here a summary and popularisation in order to highlight the most striking conclusions.

The author Camille Roelens suggests a discussion of the possible contribution of the Japanese director's work through the analysis of two notable works: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Princess Mononoke (1997). The study first demonstrates that the major issues of the Anthropocene are present in Miyazaki's work and describes the way in which they are addressed. It then analyses how the author's environmental perspective oscillates between different approaches in order to better allow the spectators’ views to develop, in a great autonomy and on a humanist register.

Miyazaki, a visionary and an educator

The man, his work, his influences

Let us briefly recall the works in question:

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) brings together several communities in one place and pushes the relationships between them to the limit. We discover the military empires of Pejite and Tolmekia, the inhabitants of the valley led by the young princess Nausicaä, but also a forest protected by giant insects and whose atmosphere is toxic for humans. Struggles for power ensue, followed by alliances for collective survival in the face of the destructive power of the gigantic and terrible “Ohm” insects.

Princess Mononoke (1997) is set in medieval Japan, at a time of intense deforestation. The leader of Irontown, Lady Eboshi, conquers a forest to support the independence of her community, which is made up mainly of vulnerable people. However, this forest is protected by monstrous animals as well as a deer-headed spirit and Princess Mononoke, who like Mowgli was taken in by animals as a young human (wolves in this case). The emperor sends his troops to conquer the deer god, which, according to a legend, gives him the gift of immortality. Coming from the north, Prince Ashitaka also heads towards the forest. He is cursed for killing a boar god turned demon. With his arm now both overpowered and demon-infested, he follows the shaman's advice and travels in search of the origin of this anger of nature, “with no other goal than to look at the world without hatred.” He joins forces with Princess Mononoke and they help to end the struggles between the different humans and non-humans.

Analysing these works in an educational context can take us beyond the simple illustration of a thought, and instead provide food for thought. We can look for the likely objectives intended by the author, such as the appearance of emotions, thoughts, or an invitation to interpret a certain vision of the world. By crossing this with the political philosophy of education, we can confront the stakes of socially vivid questions such as that of autonomous structuring, designating “a social organisation: first, based on the ideal of access for all to an individual autonomy attributed in law; second, considering that human societies are masters of the objectives they pursue and the means they employ to achieve them, while respecting the fundamental rights of each of their members.”  Or how to replay the nature/culture match (nature to be preserved and respected, democratic society confronting individual and collective freedoms) with the non-Manichean light of the director's work.

Miyazaki was four years old when the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hit by the atomic bombings. “As the first original form of expression to be reborn in the midst of material and moral ruin, [the manga has] an obvious mission: to rebuild the world and give it meaning again.” The themes addressed by manga are often focused on war robots, the failure of adults, the reconstruction of the world by teenagers... enlightened by heroes always imbued with a will to live and an insolent optimism. In Miyazaki's work, these heroes are developed through experiences and trials as well as through encounters with humans, animals and magical creatures. His films are not just for children, nor just for adults.

The author of the article also states that “political concerns and a certain distrust of the hubris of power and the virilistic assertions of strength also mark many of his creations.” Many of the heroes are heroines, with strong characters and highly developed intellects, unlike many of his male characters.

However, when it comes to addressing the need for self-transformation or social transformation, Miyazaki avoids any Manichean temptation to make a choice, such as whether to protect nature or individual freedom. He calls for maturity as responsibility and the staging of human frailty and “innocent” will - as opposed to calculating cynicism, through childhood.

Animating images and thoughts in the Anthropocene

The major themes of the Anthropocene are present in his work: controversies about responsibilities, consequences, generational divides and political perspectives. The themes of victimhood and care[2] can be added to this.  Nausicaä and Ashitaka are victims of imperialism and devote themselves to improving the living conditions of humans and the nature surrounding them by fostering a harmonious relationship. According to Bouissou, Miyazaki was “prophetically anticipating the advent of the ecological consciousness we are witnessing today”.

Miyazaki then becomes an educator, staging the tragedy and anguish in these works. He allows the audience to see the possibilities for action and their consequences. In doing so, he promotes the construction of individual autonomy, a difficult and delicate task in the context of the intricacies and paradoxical injunctions of our societies and environments. The viewer is thus cruelly confronted with the tragedy and violence of nature through the insects or hybrid animals devouring humans, or through its devastating poisons. Infantilisation is not an option in the face of this reality of nature. This opens up the question of how to deal with tragedy, rather than pandering to the viewer by proposing a moderate approach that is certainly comfortable but nevertheless unattainable. The reaction to anguish is also dealt with in the films: the slain boar god is transformed into a demon drunk with hatred, while Ashitaka - also condemned - succeeds in “approaching the world without hatred”. Nausicaä overcomes the anguish caused by the toxic forest and thus understands the role of depollution it plays, enriching herself cognitively in the process. Finding ways to overcome fear in order to deal with the anguish of tragedy and mortality allows for the intellectual progress necessary to respond to the environmental crisis. “An enlightening parallel can be drawn here with the anxiety intrinsically linked to the learning process and which gives pedagogy the task of transforming this inhibiting factor into an appealing one, using well-designed paths, knowing how to promote the goal on any modest scale.” One of the founders of the term Anthropocene, P.J. Crutzen said that the term was born to mark the growing role of the power of the human intellect in controlling its environment and its own future.

For a humanist education in the Anthropocene

Miyazaki seems to be aware of certain criticisms of environmentalist currents, of which the notion of the Anthropocene may also be a victim: a focus on protecting nature can be seen as anti-humanist. He appears as a “humanist educator in the Anthropocene” by integrating the lessons of modernity's experiences and the environmental conditions necessary for human autonomy.

Responsibility

According to the philosopher Jonas, the imperative of responsibility demonstrates the obligation to adopt precaution and protection to counteract modern omnipotence, whose self-destructive potential has now clearly emerged. This duty has become a higher duty and can justify exceptional actions, even if in defiance of certain human rights.

For Levinas, responsibility evokes the “essential vulnerability of the face of the other, (...) the source of a total responsibility in the human who perceives it, a responsibility which answers for all others and for everything in others” (in particular, it condemns murder). But in the case of nature, attacked and vulnerable, as presented in the two films, how can we integrate responsibility as a vulnerability that calls for taking responsibility through strong political acts?

A holistic view of responsibility for the human condition in the Anthropocene is therefore opposed to an individualistic view. “In the first, a primacy of the sum (humanity, the biosphere, etc.) over the parts could justify sacrificing certain human rights in the interests of general preservation. In the second, the fundamental rights of individuals are non-negotiable”. In our case, does the end justify the means? Is the respect for individual rights as currently defined compatible with the possibilities of human life and autonomy?

Miyazaki answers these fundamental questions with situations from each of the visions and demonstrates that trying to resolve this dilemma by adopting one or the other position is immature. Eboshi, who sincerely wants to provide security and prosperity for former prostitutes and lepers, understands that the destruction of the forest to fuel the forges was self-destructive. Or when the giant insects or boar-demons “feel responsible for the forest they protect, until they see reason through the sacrifices made by Nausicaä, Ashitaka and Mononoke (also called San, a human raised by wolves and fighting alongside the guardian animals).”  These characters, who are the most mature, do not give in to the environmental conditions of existence nor to individual rights. Nausicaä thus considers, after the revenge of her father's murder, that life is too precious. She therefore no longer uses her exceptional fighting ability, even to defend the forest. These characters are also often frightened victims and show that they care. Nausicaä is able to let herself be bitten by an animal so that it can calm down; Princess Mononoke heals Ashitaka.

Autonomy and peaceful coexistence

Human autonomy according to Miyazaki consists of paying careful attention to the environment, with a view to preserving it but also to drawing on its resources and concrete possibilities in an optimal way. While individual autonomy is a capacity to direct oneself by knowing how to act, choose and think for oneself, we need to find resources to find our way in this complex world, much like Ashitaka guided by natives in the sacred forest or Nausicaä and her a sharp sense of direction. Their relationship with the environment is ultimately “pragmatic: to achieve their ends, they tend to maximise the efficiency of their journeys in order to minimise the effort involved and, if possible, also the amount of danger to be faced”. Characters who initially seemed better equipped or more competent, such as a samurai master, fail in their quest because of their inability to pay sufficient attention to their surroundings.

In collective autonomy, it is a question of articulating the self-being with the together-being in our relationship to the environment. Miyazaki proposes a solution to avoid taking the path of an “uncritical Promethean education that teaches us to dominate nature” or an education whose sole aim is to obey and rely on nature: it is about finding the “successive precarious balances necessary for the sustainable existence of nature and man.” This can be achieved through education.

In the two works studied, humans and nature are at odds from the outset, and a number of false leads are set up, before arriving at a reconciliation based on a peaceful coexistence of successive balances. This peaceful coexistence is based on two points: the recognition of an ultimate rupture between humanity and nature, and the need to find pragmatic arrangements that will allow us to live with this rupture as best we can. Princess Mononoke and Ashikata, in love, one symbolizing nature and the other humanity, decide to go their separate ways to find their respective worlds. Miyazaki refuses to limit the viewer to simplistic resolutions.

Concluding remarks: what should we do with this?

If we consider that training goes beyond technical and utilitarian learning and engages the whole being in its different physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual dimensions, the study of these works must certainly be part of these fruitful mediations allowing us to understand with finesse and critical spirit the issues of the Anthropocene. Use of these films in a pedagogical context has to be created and adapted to each situation: watch them, discuss them, link them with other resources, and remember that a film sometimes gives access to “a fine grain of thought experience” and avoids proposing prior answers to questions about the human condition.