Garbage in Paradise – Waste and the Representation of Space in Fatih Akın’s Documentary Müll im Garten Eden
Deniz Bayrak, Sarah ReininghausIn this article the documentary Müll im Garten Eden (2012) by Fatih Akın is analyzed concerning its representation of waste. Being a long term documentation, the film portrays the emergence of a waste dump in a small village close to the Turkish Black Sea. It documents the effects on its inhabitants and on the environment.
The article focuses on the presentation of this waste dump considering spatial theories: as a first step, we are going to prove that the village Çamburnu is an anthropological place according to Marc Augé. Its main characteristics can be seen in its naturalness, in its historic roots and its feeling of rural community. In addition to the representation within the documentary an analysis of the discourse around the film gives similar results, since reviews and discussion on the film frequently allude to the origins of the Akın family.
As a second step, considering Hans Krah`s thoughts we want to demonstrate, to what extent the semanticised space ‘village’ is contrasted to the semanticised space ‘waste dump’. Nonspatial characteristics are ascribed to these topographies. As a result, oppositional semantic subspaces emerge with permeable boarders. This way the idyll and its endangerment by the garbage from outside the village is created. Semantic features ascribed to the village are for example nativeness, paradise, pureness, modesty and oneness with nature. In contrast, attributes like civilization, dirt, capitalism, profit and power are assigned to the waste dump.
Finally, the ecological statement underlying the documentary and its possible social relevance are considered: According to Michel Foucault, the media are technologies of power, which are able to influence technologies of the self and can therefore evoke changes of ecological practices.
