This chapter analyses the ways in which (un)sustainability is represented in the Netflix children’s film The Sea Beast (2022) from the perspectives of visual culture and environmental history. First, the film addresses the unsustainable use of sea resources, such as hunting and poaching. However, instead of portraying actual marine species, the film shows enormous fantastic monsters. The authors argue that monsters have been used to embody the non-human world and the concept of “nature” as something both beautiful and dangerous. Second, they demonstrate that the visual aesthetics of The Sea Beast are a recycling project themselves, as they are largely indebted to monsters depicted in Olaus Magnus’s famous Carta Marina created in the sixteenth century. The authors consolidate these two themes by problematising the film’s approach to (un)sustainability. Namely, they examine the ways human–non-human relations are portrayed, with non-humans depicted as needing to earn humans’ compassion. While monsters remain in the focus, the film does not encourage care for other non-human inhabitants and parts of the marine ecosystem. The authors further argue that while the film concludes by encouraging sustainable approaches towards marine environments, it does not provide a feasible answer on how to do so. By portraying a dreamlike universe inhabited by humans and monsters, The Sea Beast ultimately fails to address questions of sustainable approaches towards non-fictional species.

This paper will analyse the ways in which water landscapes and water-borne creatures are represented in Netflix’s film The Sea Beast (2022). First, the film addresses unsustainable use of the sea resources, such as hunting and poaching. However, instead of portraying actual marine species, the film shows enormous fantastic monsters, suggesting that the sea is a liminal space full of dangerous creatures. We are going to argue that the monsters have been used to embody the nonhuman world and the concept of ‘nature’ as something both beautiful and dangerous. Second, we are going to demonstrate that the visual aesthetics and imaginative landscapes of the Sea Beast world are a recycling project, as they are largely indebted to Olaus Magnus’s famous Carta marina created in the sixteenth century. In addition, the film draws inspiration from Lovecraft’s ideas and the Cthulhu aesthetics. We will consolidate these two themes by problematising the film’s approach to human explorations of the water landscapes. Namely, we will examine the ways human-nonhuman relations are portrayed, with nonhumans shown as needing to earn humans’ compassion. While monsters remain in focus, the film does not encourage care for other nonhuman inhabitants and parts of the marine ecosystem. Employing Donna Haraway’s concept of Cthulhucene, we argue that the film does not provide a feasible solution for humans and nonhumans sharing the same water environment. By encouraging humans to stay away from the sea for the fear of ‘Cthulhu’, the film reinforces the image of the sea as a liminal space. 

Stories about humans visiting the realms of fairies, trolls, and other supernatural creatures have been present in the folklore for millennia. Recently, Nationalmuseum Jamtli in Östersund, Sweden, has put on display 110 works of art representing Nordic mythology in an attempt to create a similar experience for its visitors. The exhibition includes works by artists such as Elsa Beskow, Carl Larsson, John Bauer, and Ivar Arosenius. Created during the 19thand early 20th centuries, before the advent of modern cinema, these works were made with a largely narrative purpose. Their role was to communicate Nordic culture and heritage to the next generations of Swedes. The proposed paper will provide a twofold analysis of the exhibition. First, we will explore how artists in the 19th and 20th centuries engaged in medievalism and represented the imaginative landscapes of Nordic mythology and sagas. We will also address how these works of art create an image of collective imagined realities of the past generations. Second, we will discuss how the exhibition itself, through its displays, becomes a landscape. While the art represents imaginative landscapes, the exhibition is a material milieu. By analysing the exhibition’s ways of display and the visual storytelling created by the museum, we will contribute to the understanding of how material landscapes can help modern individuals interact with the imaginative landscapes of the past.

Denna presentation kommer att bjuda in er till odjurens värld via Netflixs nya barnfilm Havsmonstret. Vi kommer att diskutera hur filmen tar upp viktiga miljöproblem så som tjuvjakt och förlust av biologisk mångfald genom dess porträttering av havsmonster. Dessutom kommer vi att belysa hur relationen mellan det mänskliga och det icke-mänskliga framställs och förkroppsligas genom monstren och deras jägare. 

Across centuries and cultures, natural and human-made water bodies have been perceived as homes for monstrous fishes and fantastic creatures. In recent years these phenomena have been addressed by Monster Theory and through discussions of the aquapelagic imaginary. The present issue seeks to study human understandings of and relationships with water and the natural environment through the lens of water-related mythology, legends, and folklore.