What Can We Learn from the Plastic Bag? Ramin Bahrani’s «Plastic Bag» in the Light of Performative Methodologies
Sylwia Mieczkowska
sylwia.mieczkowska@doctoral.uj.edu.plJagiellonian University Doctoral School in the Humanities (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7104-0614
Abstract
This article considers the performative aspects of environmental narratives, based on the example of the cultural image of the plastic bag. In contemporary culture, disposable plastic bags have become a symbol of the collective guilt related to the role of plastics in the environmental catastrophe. Their perception is affected by various environmental narratives and social campaigns, in which the image of a plastic bag is to evoke fear, aversion, anger, or disgust, reinforcing the view of plastic as an unnatural material that pollutes the planet. The effectiveness of these narratives is limited, as the number of plastic bags in the environment continues to increase. The author explores the possibility of imagining other, less anthropocentric and potentially more effective modes of relating to single-use plastic. She uses performative methods to analyze the short film Plastic Bag (dir. Ramin Bahrani, 2009). Her interpretation draws mainly on Jane Bennett’s concept of vital materialism and Timothy Morton’s dark ecology to focus on the agency of plastic bags in various settings and offer a different perspective on their potential roles in more-than-human relationships.
Keywords:
plastic bag, agency, dark ecology, vital materialismReferences
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Authors
Sylwia Mieczkowskasylwia.mieczkowska@doctoral.uj.edu.pl
Jagiellonian University Doctoral School in the Humanities Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7104-0614
Sylwia Mieczkowska - PhD student at the Jagiellonian University Doctoral School of Humanities in the field of Cultural and Religious Studies, a graduate in editorial studies and theater and performance studies at the Jagiellonian University. She collaborates with the Krytyka Polityczna Publishing House. Her research interests include (eco)posthumanism, feminist new materialism, design theory, and speculative realism.
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