History at the end of the world: decolonial revisionism in Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok

Ethan Stoneman, Joseph C Packer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

From 19th-century novels to contemporary computer-animated adventure films, popular media culture provides no shortage of representations that subserve colonialist attitudes and perspectives. Thor: Ragnarok (2017) provides a rare decolonial fantasy, which is especially surprising given that it does so through the veneer of the big-budget superhero film. Registering a deep concern with public memory, the film spotlights and challenges the various uses of public memory in the maintenance of colonial legitimation. In doing so, Thor: Ragnarok offers an incisive and uncompromising indictment of colonization and colonialism, one that ends not with a call for reform but with the end of the world.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)127-142
JournalReview of Communication
Volume22
Issue number2
StatePublished - Jun 1 2022

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