| Visual anthropology
Winter Term 2008-2009 Schedule: Friday 13:30 - 15:10, 15:30 - 17:10; TIGY Nador 11 Office hours: Friday 10-12 and by appointment E-mail: naumescuv@ceu.hu CEU Ext.: 2315 Course description This course explores the ways in which the visual conveys and broadens ethnographic investigation. In a discipline dominated by words we came to think in terms of 'culture as text' and ethnography as 'writing culture’. Challenging anthropology's 'iconophobia' the course proposes a different perspective focused on the role of vision and image in anthropological research. By looking at the ways of seeing in particular cultural and historical contexts we will discuss the visual both as technique of representation and mode of knowing. Visual anthropology is one of the fastest growing fields covering almost any manner of visual expression. This course will provide only a partial introduction focused mostly on photography and film. We will refer to the different ways of picturing cultures and the cultural interpretations of visual representations. Some of the central topics in visual anthropology related to the veracity of the visual record, objective camera vs. subjective voice in filmmaking, reflexivity, ethics and aesthetics in the process of representation will be addressed throughout the course. The course starts with a definition of the field, followed by a closer look at classic portrayals of 'exotic people' and the role of photographic documentation in social anthropology. We will turn afterwards to film, discussing visual conventions in fiction and documentary, perspectives, narrative and editing styles in contemporary ethnographic film. Sessions evolve around these specific topics but in the same time they also illustrate different stages in the short history of ethnographic film. The last two sessions explore the theoretical and methodological potential of new media and cybercultures. This course is not a hands-on camera training and neither a film theory course; it is designed to balance practice and theory based on substantial visual and theoretical input and the creation of a visual project/photo-essay. Learning outcomes Upon completion of the course, students should a) demonstrate advanced knowledge of theory and methodology in visual anthropology b) have acquired knowledge of the history of visual documentation in social research c) improve their research skills by learning to use visual methods in social research d) identify and apply appropriate visual methods and theories in a visual project conducted during the course e) creatively combine visual and written forms in presenting their work. Course structure and assessment This course requires your full interest, participation and creativity. We will have weekly meetings consisting of a brief introduction followed by a film screening and general discussion. Film screenings are an essential part of the class and you should be present, attentive, taking notes. For most of the films I have also provided additional material discussing the ‘making of’ the film. These readings help you understand the filmic process and the authors’ intentions. Class discussions are intended to reflect on specific themes based on films or film excerpts and weekly readings. During this course you should keep a diary of your notes on films, class readings and your progress with the visual project. At the end of the course you have to submit the diary in electronic format. There is no standard format but your dairy should have weekly entries related to the topics discussed in class and details on the development of your visual project. You can also post some of your comments on the blog of the visual anthropology course. Your final evaluation is based on a photo essay which should include 10-15 photographs and 1500-2000 words. For this you have to choose a social topic and describe it through photographs and text following some of the theoretical and methodological issues discussed in class. By week 4 you should submit in writing a paragraph describing what you want to work on. Weeks 4-6 will be reserved for consultations and first explorations of the chosen topic. Starting with week 7 we will have presentations of ongoing projects. The final grade will reflect your participation in class (10%), the course diary (40%) and the photo essay (50%). The blog of the 2007-2008 class is an excellent resource and a good introduction to the course: http://visualanthroceu.blogspot.com/ Week 1. Introducing the field of visual anthropology What is visual anthropology and what should it be? What is the role of vision and image in ethnographic investigation? In what respects images convey culture and what challenges does this pose for conventional anthropological knowledge? Film: Into the Field. Alyssa Grossman, UK/RO, 28 min. 2006. Required reading Mead, M. 2003 (1975). Visual Anthropology in a Discipline of Words. In Hockings, P. Principles of visual anthropology, 2nd ed. pp. 3-12. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Banks, M. and H. Morphy, eds. 1997. Introduction: rethinking visual anthropology. In Banks, M., and H. Morphy. eds. Rethinking visual anthropology. Pp. 1-35. New Haven ; London: Yale University Press.
Further reading MacDougall, D. The Visual in Anthropology. In Banks, M., and H. Morphy. eds. Rethinking visual anthropology. Pp. 276-295. New Haven ; London: Yale University Press. Ruby, Jay. 1996. “Visual Anthropology.” In David Levinson and Melvin Ember, eds. Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropolog y, vol.4: 1345-1351; New York: Henry Holt, Permanent link: http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/ruby/cultanthro.html
Week 2. Early ethnographic films: ethnographic reconstructions of 'exotic' cultures In spite of the parallel foundations of cinema and anthropology, cinema had a hard time entering anthropology. How did the first ethnographic films convey their ‘ethnographicness’? What is an ethnographically valid reconstruction? What makes it authentic? Film: Nanook of the North. Robert Flaherty, Canada, 1922, 55 min. Flaherty, Robert J. 1922 ‘How I Filmed 'Nanook of the North'’, World's Work, October: 632-640. Permanent link: http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/bookshelf/23_rf1_2.htm Required reading Grimshaw, A. 2001. The Innocent Eye: Flaherty, Malinowski and the Romantic Quest. In Grimshaw, A. The ethnographer's eye: ways of seeing in anthropology. Pp. 44-56. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ruby, J. 2000. The Aggie Must Come First: Robert Flaherty's Place in Ethnographic Film History. In Ruby, J. Picturing culture: explorations of film & anthropology pp. 67-93. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press. Griffiths, A. 1996. Knowledge and Visuality in Turn-of-the-century Anthropology: The Early Ethnographic Cinema of Alfred Cort Haddon and Walter Baldwin Spencer. Visual Anthropology Review, 12(2): 18-43.
Further Reading Balikci, A. 2003 (1975) Reconstructing Cultures on Film. In Hockings, P. Principles of visual anthropology, 2nd ed. pp. 181-191. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. De Brigard, E. 2003 (1975) The History of Ethnographic Film. In Hockings, P. Principles of visual anthropology, 2nd ed. pp. 13-43. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Rothman, W. 1997. Nanook of the North. In Rothman, W. Documentary film classics. Cambridge studies in film. Pp. 1-20. Cambridge; New York: CUP. Rotha, Paul, and Basil Wright 1980. Nanook and the North. Studies in Visual Communication 6(2):33-60. Week 3 Between exoticizing and documenting: photography in ethnography. This class looks at what makes a visual representation ethnographic. By taking the example of the Nuba and the way they were portrayed in films and photography we come to analyze processes of representation and discover their limitations and biases.
Film: Worlds apart: The South East Nuba. BBC 1982, 50 min. Film:Trance and dance in Bali. Gregory Bateson & Margaret Mead. U.S. 1951, 22min. Bateson, G., and M. Mead. 1942. Balinese character, a photographic analysis. New York: The New York Academy of Sciences. Required reading Edwards, E. 1997. Beyond the Boundary: a consideration of the expressive in photography and anthropology. In Banks, M., and H. Morphy. eds. Jacknis, I. 1988. Margared Mead and Gregory Bateson in Bali: Their Use of Photography and Film. Cultural Anthropology 3(2): 160-177. Lutz, C & J. Collins 1994. The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes: the example of National Geographic. In Taylor, L. Visualizing theory: selected essays from V.A.R., 1990-1994. Pp. 363-384. New York: Routledge. Further reading Bateson, G., and M. Mead. 1942. Balinese character, a photographic analysis. New York: The New York Academy of Sciences. Sontag, S. 1975. Fascinating Fascism. In New York Review of Books, vol. 22 (1). Faris J. 1992. Photography, power and the southern Nuba. In Edwards, E. 1992. Anthropology and photography, 1860-1920. pp. 211-17, New Haven: Yale University Press in association with the Royal Anthropological Institute, London. Week 4. Analyzing photos: conventions and methods What can you do with a picture? Which are the strategies of ‘reading pictures’? Which is the relation between image and text? Does every picture need a story/caption? How can we use the materiality of photography? Which are the various meanings of photography in different visual cultures? Film: Photo Wallahs. David MacDougall, 1991, 60 min. MacDougall, D. 2006. Photo Hierarchicus: Signs and Mirrors in Indian Photography. In MacDougall, D. The corporeal image: film, ethnography, and the senses.. pp. 147-175. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Required reading Barthes, R. 1981. Camera Lucida. Reflections on photography. Pp. 23-60; 82-106. London : Flamingo. Banks, M. 2001. Reading Pictures. In Banks. M. Visual Methods in Social Research, pp. 1-12, London: Sage. Further reading Pinney, C. 1997. Camera Indica: the social life of Indian photographs. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Banks, M. 2001. Encountering the Visual. In Banks, M. Visual Methods in Social Research, pp. 13- 48, London: Sage. MacDougall, D. 2006 Staging the Body: The Photography of Jean Audema. In MacDougall, D. The corporeal image: film, ethnography, and the senses. Pp. 176-209. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Week 5. Ways of seeing: between documenting and experimenting What separates fiction from documentary? How is the ‘real’ produced on screen? What conveys the meaning of a documentary? How does technology affect issues of representation and interpretation? Which are the visual conventions in filmmaking? Film excerpts: Man with a Movie Camera. Dziga Vertov, Soviet Union, 1929, 80 min.
Required reading Thomas, D. 1994. Manufacturing Vision. Kino-Eye, The Man with a Movie Camera, and the Perceptual Reconstruction of Social Identity. In Taylor, L. Visualizing theory: selected essays from V.A.R., 1990-1994. Pp. 271-286. New York: Routledge. Vaughan, D. 1992. The aesthetics of ambiguity. In P Crawford & D. Turton (eds) Film as Ethnography. pp. 99–115. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Trinh Minh-ha. 1993. The Totalizing Quest of Meaning. In Renov, M ed. Theorizing Documentary. Pp. 90-107, London: Routledge.
Further reading Nichols, B. 1991. The fact of realism and the fiction of objectivity. In Nichols, B. Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. pp. 165-200. Indiana University Press. Vaughan, D. 1999. Arms and the Absent. In Vaughan, D. For documentary : twelve essays. pg: 29-53. Berkeley: University of California Press. Week 6. Case study: between documenting and experimenting with ‘a village story’. Films: Hukkle. Dir. by György Pálfi, Hungary, 2002, 78 min. The Angelmakers. Dir. by Astrid Bussink, 2005, 34 min. Weeks 7-12. Presentations of your work on the visual projects! Week 7. Ways of knowing: between documenting and documentary What is ethnographic film? What is the relation between ethnographic film and ethnography? Which are the visual and narrative conventions of ethnographic films? How can we move from documenting social phenomena to filmmaking? Film:The Ax Fight. Tim Asch, 1975, The Ax Fight Study Guide: http://der.org/resources/study-guides/the-ax-fight.pdf Yanomamo Interactive: http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/projects/axfight/updates/index.html
Required reading Banks, M. 1992. Which Films are Ethnographic Films? In Crawford, P. I., D. Turton eds. MacDougal, David (1998) Visual Anthropology and the Ways of knowing. In MacDougall, Transcultural Cinema. pp. 61-92. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Asch, T. and P.Asch. 2003 (1975). Film in Anthropological Research. In Hockings, P. Principles of visual anthropology, 2nd ed. pp. 335-360. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Further reading Ruby, J. 1975. Is an ethnographic film a filmic ethnography? Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication 2(2), 104-111. Permanent link: http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/ruby/is.html Loizos, P. 1993. For the record: documentation filming from innocent realism to self-consciousness. In Loizos, P. Innovation in Ethnographic Film. Pp. 16-44. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Ruby, J. 2000. Out of Sync: the Cinema of Tim Asch. In Ruby, J. Picturing culture: explorations of film & anthropology. Pp. 115-135. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Week 8. Conveying knowledge: the ‘limits’ of representation What is the relation between aesthetics and documentary? Is there a specific visual language of ethnographic film? How can one draw meaning from image/film without additional explanations or 'cultural intimacy' with the subject? What is the relation between film and theory in anthropology? Film: Forest of Bliss. Robert Gardner, 1986, 90 min. Gardner, R., Á. Östör, et al. (2001). Making Forest of Bliss: intention, circumstance, and chance in nonfiction film : a conversation between Robert Gardner + Ákos Östör . Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Film Archive. Required reading: Weinberger, E. 1994. The Camera People. In Taylor, L. Visualizing theory: selected essays from V.A.R., 1990-1994. Pp. 3-26. New York: Routledge. Crawford, P. 1992. Film as discourse: the invention of anthropological realities. In P Crawford & D Turton (eds) Film as Ethnography. pp. 66–83. Manchester: Manchester University Press. The Gardner debate in SVA: Moore et al. 1988. The Limitations of Imagist Documentary: A Review of Robert Gardner's "Forest of Bliss." Society For Visual Anthropology Newsletter 4(2): 1-3.including reviews by J Parry (1988), R Chopra (1989), A Ostor (1989), Ruby (1989). Mischler, C. 1985. Narrativity and metaphor in ethnographic film; a critique of Robert Gardner's Dead Birds. In American Anthropologist 87: 668‑672. Ostor, A. 1988. Misreading the metaphor. In American Anthropologist 90:980‑982 Further reading Henley, P. The Promise of Ethnographic Film. Visual Anthropology 13: 207-226. Loizos, P. 1992. Admissible Evidence? Film in anthropology. In P Crawford & D Turton (eds) Film as Ethnography. pp. 50-65. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Ruby, J. 2000. Robert Gardner and Anthropological Cinema. In Ruby, J. Picturing culture: explorations of film & anthropology. pp: 95-113. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Week 9. Beyond observational film: Jean Rouch and participatory cinema With Rouch we witness a move from documentary realism to shared anthropology and participatory cinema. Camera becomes a catalyst of social processes and filmmaking a site for transformation. Can he reveal more about human nature by taking an experiential stance? Is his cinema an authentic representation of the anthropological encounter? Film: Chronique d’un été (Chronicle of a Summer), Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin, France, 1961, 85 min. Rouch, J. 2003. Chronicle of a Summer: A Film Book by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin. In Rouch, J. and Steven Feld eds. Cine-Ethnography/ Jean Rouch, pp: 229-273. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Required reading Feld, S. 2003. Themes in the Cinema of Jean Rouch. In Rouch, J. and S. Feld eds. Cine-Ethnography/ Jean Rouch , pp: 4-20. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Ruby, J. 2000. Exposing yourself: reflexivity, anthropology and film. In Ruby 2000: 151-180. Permanent link: http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/ruby/exposing.html
Further reading Rothman, W. 1997. Chronicle of a Summer. In Rothman, W. Documentary film classics. Cambridge studies in film. Pp. 69-107. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Permanent link: http://www.der.org/jean-ro uch/pdf/ChronicleofaSummer-WRothman.pdf MacDougall, D. 1998. Beyond Observational Cinema. In MacDougall Transcultural Cinema. Pp. 125-139. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Grimshaw, A. 2001. The Anthropological Cinema of Jean Rouch. In Grimshaw, A. The ethnographer's eye: ways of seeing in anthropology. Pp. 90-120. Cambridge, UK ; New York: Cambridge University Press. Week 10. Observing observers: voice and authority in ethnographic film What types of perspective do we find in ethnographic films? What are the motivations for the subjective voice in film? What aspects of subjective experience are attainable in film? How much does the subjective voice actually reveal of the ‘subjects’? Film: Them and Me (Eux et mois), Stéphane Breton, 2001, 63 min . Required reading MacDougall, D. 1998. The Subjective Voice in Ethnographic Film. In MacDougall Transcultural Cinema. Pp. 125-139. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Henley, P. 2006. Narratives: the Guilty Secret of Ethnographic Film-Making? In Reflecting Visual Anthropology: using the camera in anthropological research. Postma, M. & Peter Crawford eds., Leiden: CNWS Publications pp. 376-402. Further reading Adair, John and Sol Worth. 1972. Through Navajo eyes: an exploration in film communication and anthropology., Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Permanent link: http://isc.temple.edu/TNE/ Week 11. Picturing culture on screen: Disappearing World Series Can anthropology have an (wider) audience? How can we portray culture on screen without losing the ‘imponderabilia’ of everyday life? Which is the difference between 'anthropology on television' and 'anthropological television'? Which is the representational impact of television on different cultures and visual systems? Films: Maasai women. Disappearing World Series. Melissa Llewelyn-Davies, 1974, 60 min. BBC2/ Discovery, Going Tribal - Tourist Gazes Required reading Grimshaw, A. 2001. The anthropological television of Melissa Llewelyn-Davies. In Grimshaw, A. The ethnographer's eye: ways of seeing in anthropology. Pp. 148-171. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Weiner, J. 1997. Televisualist Anthropology: Representation, Aesthetics, Politics. In Current Anthropology, Vol. 38(2): 198-235. Caplan, Pat 2005 ‘In search of the exotic: A discussion of the BBC2 series Tribe’ Anthropology Today 21(2): 3-7.
Further reading Loizos, P. 1980. Granada’s Television's Disappearing World Series: An Appraisal. American Anthropologist. Vol 82: 573- 594. Loizos 1993 The Loita Maasai Films. In Loizos, Innovation in Ethnographic Film. pp. 115-138, University of Chicago Press. Crawford, P. I., D. Turton, and Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology. 1992. Film as ethnography . Manchester ; New York: Manchester University Press. Read Part 4. Television and new technologies. Pp. 259-316.
Week 12. New media and the ‘second culture' What are the new forms of social construction of reality introduced by new technologies? How do they affect our conceptual and methodological frameworks? Which modern practices shape the current understanding, design, and modes of relating to new technologies? Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us An anthropological introduction to YouTube: Required reading Escobar, A. 1994. Welcome to Cyberia: Notes on the Anthropology of Cyberculture. Current Anthropology Vol. 35(3): 211-231. Ginsburg, F., Lila Abu-Lughod & Brian Larkin. 2002. Media worlds: anthropology on new terrain. Berkeley: University of California Press. Read Introduction, pp. 1-36. |