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The Evolutionary Epic

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The Evolutionary Epic Attenborough¶s natural history films: The evolutionary epic Graham Huggan This chapter looks at Sir David Attenborough¶s natural history films as examples of the µevolutionary epic¶: a by definition large-scale genre which, in keeping with natu- ral historical principles of systematic description and synthesising knowledge, drama- tises evolutionary processes of selective adaptation while illustrating the seemingly infinite variety needed for survival in the struggle for life. Drawing primarily on Life On Earth (1979), the chapter shows how this justly acclaimed TV series, sometimes seen as one of BBC¶s crowning achievements, upholds broadly conservationist prin- ciples while tending to rely on dubious sociobiological assumptions ± about inher- itance and lineage, territoriality and competition, the sexual division of labour and, not least, the capitalist system that sustains these ± which also go unchallenged else- where in Attenborough¶s nature documentary work. 1. Introduction Sir David Attenborough is one of the most recognisable faces on tele- vision today, though his physical appearances have become increas- ingly infrequent. For more than half a century, the windswept hair, the whispering voice, and the simultaneously authoritative and self- effacing demeanour all combined to make the Attenborough persona one of television¶s most readily identifiable screen images, and the nature documentaries he presented one of television¶s most enduringly successful market brands. Though ± unsurprisingly ± he dislikes the term, Attenborough has evolved into one of television¶s premier µna- ture celebrities¶, lending his name to a number of different environ- mental trusts and organisations and becoming iconically associated with the conservation of the planet and, particularly, the preservation of the world¶s wildlife. Knighted in 1985 for his services to the broad- casting industry, Attenborough has accumulated a large number of awards and accolades. This chapter seeks to enquire into some of the 160 Graham Huggan reasons behind Attenborough¶s massive popularity, not with a view to minimise his considerable achievements but rather to explore and critically analyse the different discursive and ideological networks within which they are enmeshed. Attenborough¶s fame is connected both to the democratisation of knowledge (the TV naturalist as science populariser) and to a recon- firmation of the cultural authority of the dominant social order (the TV naturalist as privileged member of the BBC establishment and the English cultural elite). This is not merely a question of scientific au- thority, for Attenborough¶s is also a thoroughly aestheticised appre- ciation of the natural world in which, through the composite figure of the celebrity as public intellectual, scientific and aesthetic knowledge are brought together in one person (the TV naturalist as connoisseur). In fulfilling his double role as fêted public intellectual and volatile µcelebrity-commodity¶ (Marshall 1997), Attenborough also draws attention to the contradictions embedded within TV nature, in which animals are themselves turned into commodities, conjured up for the camera by the presenter-host in his mediating role as µcultural impre- sario¶ (Rojek 2001), but joined to a conservationist ethic that promotes the inherent value of animal life. Despite his university science degree, Attenborough is not really a scientist at all. Attenborough studied natural sciences at Cambridge, but after completing national service, decided not to return to universi- ty to do a higher degree. As he explains in his memoir Life on Air (2002), zoology at the time was laboratory-based, and his own prefer- ence was for studying animals in the wild; however, his early televi- sion work, e.g. the series Zoo Quest, used zoo animals to illustrate basic zoological principles, and even in later series like Life on Earth (Attenborough 2005 [1979]; cf. Attenborough 1985), animals bred in captivity were frequently deployed. One of the myths surrounding popular perceptions of Attenborough¶s work is that it is all shot on location; the truth of the matter is that, like most documentaries, At- tenborough¶s natural history films have been produced under con- trolled conditions, making use in some cases of library footage, even though they have generally sought to avoid the kinds of staged specta- cle associated with earlier models of safari and µanimal exploitation¶ film (Attenborough 2002; Parsons 1982). Another myth, this time surrounding Attenborough himself, is that he is a scientist ± a view .
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