From Cheap Labour to Surplus Humanity : World-Ecology and the Postapartheid Speculative in Neill Blomkamp’s District 9

• Conventions appropriated from certain forms of speculative fiction – sf, gothic and horror among them – have become increasingly discernible features of diverse contemporary postcolonial imaginaries. In this article, I consider Neill Blomkamp's District 9 (2009) in light of questions posed by these developments. Drawing on world-ecological thinking (Moore 2015) and highlighting legacies of South African political economy (Wolpe 1972), I suggest the film deploys sf and horror traditions alongside invocations of local history in response to the reorganisation of 'Nature' in South Africa in the wake of the transition from apartheid to neoliberal governance. I show that Blomkamp manipulates speculative forms to register the febrile climate of this anxious time, and to contest the logic undergirding historic and ongoing unevenness. In conclusion, I point to key limitations to his project in this last regard.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Filmvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Studies on Film (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Litteraturvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- General Literary Studies (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Film Studies

Filmvetenskap

English literature

Engelska med litteraturvetenskaplig inriktning

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)