“Reservoirs of the Subconscious of a People”: The Local, National, and Global Resonances of a Lost Hinterland

Abstract

The flooding of Capel Celyn village in 1965—arguably the most dramatic hydropolitical event in the history of the United Kingdom—continues to hold a central place in the Welsh consciousness, leading to powerful collective cultural and political memories of loss. This chapter will explore the prominent role given to this act of flooding in contemporary film and television, from images of inundation in Pen Talar (2010) to a saturated, sodden mise-en-scène in the horror film Yr Ymadawiad (2015) which explores what lies beneath the visible. The Welsh / Argentine feature film Patagonia (2010) suggests how we might perceive articulations of global processes in the act of flooding a localized space, and a rippling out of resonances with other hinterlands across the globe.