A case study in the context of reader–response theory: Analysis of student reactions to ecocritical discourse in Miyazaki films

The main purpose of this research is to examine the reaction of students to Miyazaki's selected films in the ecocritical context and their reactions to the simultaneous reading of the text, taking into account the forms of interaction between the film and the audience. This thesis, in which ecological discourse and eco-cinema examples are investigated in the classroom context, is designed as a case study. In line with this purpose, the study group of the research included 31 seventh grade students, 14 girls and 17 boys, studying in an official secondary school in Muş province in 2023-2024. In the sampling process, the study was carried out with purposive sampling and the application was carried out for 8 weeks to determine whether or how the eco-cinema genre affected the students' attitudes towards the natural world. Throughout the research, observation forms, interview forms and forms consisting of open-ended questions were used to analyze the data in order to determine the reactions to the animated films. Within the findings obtained in the research, it was concluded that the main ideas and topics determined in the activities carried out were universal issues such as environmental problems, nature - human relationship, consumption, students identified with the character by paying attention to the location of the character on the ecological plane while reading in the step of identifying with the character, while expressing their feelings in the media messages presented, they did not make a pure good or pure bad judgment for any character, and it was determined that animated films are an important interaction tool in conveying the desired messages. The findings of this study supported that Hayao Miyazaki's animated films touched on the themes of environment and environmental problems, nature-human relationship and ecocritical messages, which are universal issues, and that the group watching the media messages were able to comprehend and convey these messages and sub-messages through the questions asked.