Eco-criticism and cinema: The relationship between human and nature in Werner Herzog films

The ecological problems that humankind prefers to aggravate persistently instead of seeking solutions, continue to threaten the future of our planet. When we look at the history of humanity, we can clearly see the building of borders between species, and nature made to become a part of an endless exploitation by being taken under domination. First of all, this situation should be considered as a cultural problem. Dualism which is shaped through the culture-nature duality has played a major role in the current ecological crisis. Therefore, it is a great mistake to see ecological problems merely as scientific issues by excluding them from cultural studies. Eco-criticism tries to examine the relationship between human and human-environment by taking the cultural history of humanity as a reference, and by putting "human" at the center of criticism. The most important points of the relationship between cinema and eco-criticism are how cinema represents nature in the films created by audio-visual codes, what kind of changes are caused in viewers' perceptions about nature and how it persuades the masses to exhibit the right behaviors in environmental issues. In the study, the relationship between ecological destruction and culture was examined, and how cinema can play a role in breaking the prejudices against nature and making people gain awareness on ecological issues was discussed. In this context, the films of Werner Herzog, who is one of the prominent names of European cinema, have been subjected to an eco-critical examination within the pursuant to the human-nature relationship. Keywords: Culture-nature duality, eco-criticism, cinema, Werner Herzog