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Show FRANCIS FAMILY FOUNDATION UROP SCHOLAR 2012-2013 BEARS,TROLLS, AND FAIRYTALES: NARRATING VIRTUAL NATURE IN GRIZZLY MAN ANDTROLLHUNTER Annika Pecchia-Bekkum (Alf Seegert) Department of English University of Utah The purpose of this project is to analyze the uneasy intersection between fairy tale narratives and nature in the realm of contemporary films, and the effects that these narrative forms have on the treatment of non-humans in each text. Central to the creation of narrative in these texts are issues of J.R.R. Tolkien's concepts of sub-creation and Secondary Belief. Both characters and the overarching narrative attempt to use film to create a believable and compelling narrative, which is conflicted due to its overt use of virtualization (Tolkien 14). In essence, fairy tale narratives attempt to force depictions of nature and natural creatures within extremely limiting parameters, as demonstrated in Werner Herzog's Grizzly M a n and Andre 0vre-dal'sTrollhunter. Within each of these texts, contrasting narratives are present regarding interpretations of characters and Nature. In Grizzly Man, Timothy Treadwell's attempt to self-stylize as a bear-like warrior is undermined by Herzog's narrative of merciless Nature. Within Trollhunter, trolls are either creatures of the fairy realm or creatures that only "eat, [defecate], and mate" (Ovredal). This experience is intimately related toTzvetanTodorov's formulation of the notion of the fantastic, in which an individual experiences hesitation as a result of being exposed to a supernatural event that appears to counter their knowledge of natural rules (25). In dealing with the bears in Grizzly M a n and the trolls in Trollhunter, the audience is faced with conflicted means of evaluating agency and the value of relationships with nonhuman others. Alf Seegert |