Paul Henley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
Though relatively unsung in the English-speaking world, Jean Rouch (1917–2004) was a towering figure of ethnographic cinema, who, over the course of a fifty-year career, completed over one hundred ...
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Though relatively unsung in the English-speaking world, Jean Rouch (1917–2004) was a towering figure of ethnographic cinema, who, over the course of a fifty-year career, completed over one hundred films, both documentary and fiction, and exerted an influence far beyond academia. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Rouch's practical filmmaking methods, which he developed while conducting anthropological research in West Africa in the 1940s–1950s. His innovative use of unscripted improvization by his subjects had a profound impact on the French New Wave, the author reveals, while his documentary work launched the genre of cinema-vérité. In addition to tracking Rouch's pioneering career, the author examines the technical strategies, aesthetic considerations, and ethical positions that contribute to Rouch's cinematographic legacy.Less
Though relatively unsung in the English-speaking world, Jean Rouch (1917–2004) was a towering figure of ethnographic cinema, who, over the course of a fifty-year career, completed over one hundred films, both documentary and fiction, and exerted an influence far beyond academia. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Rouch's practical filmmaking methods, which he developed while conducting anthropological research in West Africa in the 1940s–1950s. His innovative use of unscripted improvization by his subjects had a profound impact on the French New Wave, the author reveals, while his documentary work launched the genre of cinema-vérité. In addition to tracking Rouch's pioneering career, the author examines the technical strategies, aesthetic considerations, and ethical positions that contribute to Rouch's cinematographic legacy.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0015
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines Jean Rouch's conception of “shared anthropology.” For Rouch, there were a number of different stations on the “path of shared anthropology.” During the first stage, the feedback ...
More
This chapter examines Jean Rouch's conception of “shared anthropology.” For Rouch, there were a number of different stations on the “path of shared anthropology.” During the first stage, the feedback screenings, the sharing was relatively passive: Rouch screened the films, the subjects grew to understand why this strange European kept coming back with his camera, while Rouch grew to understand more about them. But the feedback screenings were only the prelude to what would become a much more active process of collaboration, for he discovered that at the end of a feedback screening, one or more members of the audience would typically come up to him and suggest an idea for a new film. The way that the screening of one film could lead to another was crucial to his conception of “shared anthropology,” since the subjects who proposed an idea for a new film following a screening became not merely protagonists, but active “stakeholders” in the new venture.Less
This chapter examines Jean Rouch's conception of “shared anthropology.” For Rouch, there were a number of different stations on the “path of shared anthropology.” During the first stage, the feedback screenings, the sharing was relatively passive: Rouch screened the films, the subjects grew to understand why this strange European kept coming back with his camera, while Rouch grew to understand more about them. But the feedback screenings were only the prelude to what would become a much more active process of collaboration, for he discovered that at the end of a feedback screening, one or more members of the audience would typically come up to him and suggest an idea for a new film. The way that the screening of one film could lead to another was crucial to his conception of “shared anthropology,” since the subjects who proposed an idea for a new film following a screening became not merely protagonists, but active “stakeholders” in the new venture.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0016
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter, which attempts to summarize the principles of Jean Rouch's praxis and to assess the value of the legacy that he has left for future generations of ethnographic filmmakers, begins by ...
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This chapter, which attempts to summarize the principles of Jean Rouch's praxis and to assess the value of the legacy that he has left for future generations of ethnographic filmmakers, begins by recognizing that his most acclaimed ethnographic filmwork now lies in the relatively distant past, dating from the 1970s and before. It also recognizes that he developed his praxis in a very different political climate, in the late colonial and early postcolonial period in Africa, and in relation to a cinematographic technology, 16 mm film, which is now effectively obsolete, at least insofar as the great majority of ethnographic filmmakers are concerned. In these circumstances, it is not unreasonable to ask just how relevant the legacy of Rouch's praxis might be for the young anthropologist filmmakers of today just starting out on the “adventure of the real.”Less
This chapter, which attempts to summarize the principles of Jean Rouch's praxis and to assess the value of the legacy that he has left for future generations of ethnographic filmmakers, begins by recognizing that his most acclaimed ethnographic filmwork now lies in the relatively distant past, dating from the 1970s and before. It also recognizes that he developed his praxis in a very different political climate, in the late colonial and early postcolonial period in Africa, and in relation to a cinematographic technology, 16 mm film, which is now effectively obsolete, at least insofar as the great majority of ethnographic filmmakers are concerned. In these circumstances, it is not unreasonable to ask just how relevant the legacy of Rouch's praxis might be for the young anthropologist filmmakers of today just starting out on the “adventure of the real.”
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter analyzes three films that Jean Rouch made in the 1960s: La Punition, first screened publicly in 1963; Gare du Nord, released in 1965; and Les Veuves de quinze ans, released in 1966. ...
More
This chapter analyzes three films that Jean Rouch made in the 1960s: La Punition, first screened publicly in 1963; Gare du Nord, released in 1965; and Les Veuves de quinze ans, released in 1966. These films represented a series of attempts to apply the methods of cinéma-vérité to fictional filmmaking and, as such, were a continuation of “the experiment in cinéma-vérité” that he had announced in the opening voice-over in Chronicle of a Summer. Rouch often claimed that he was more interested in the results of these experiments than in whether his films were considered successful by cinema critics. In the case of these three films, this was just as well, since they received very mixed notices.Less
This chapter analyzes three films that Jean Rouch made in the 1960s: La Punition, first screened publicly in 1963; Gare du Nord, released in 1965; and Les Veuves de quinze ans, released in 1966. These films represented a series of attempts to apply the methods of cinéma-vérité to fictional filmmaking and, as such, were a continuation of “the experiment in cinéma-vérité” that he had announced in the opening voice-over in Chronicle of a Summer. Rouch often claimed that he was more interested in the results of these experiments than in whether his films were considered successful by cinema critics. In the case of these three films, this was just as well, since they received very mixed notices.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0011
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
The Dogon of the Bandiagara Escarpment in eastern Mali held a particularly privileged place in Jean Rouch's personal imaginary. Rouch devoted a vast amount of time and energy to the filming of their ...
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The Dogon of the Bandiagara Escarpment in eastern Mali held a particularly privileged place in Jean Rouch's personal imaginary. Rouch devoted a vast amount of time and energy to the filming of their major ritual cycle, the Sigui, in the years between 1966 and 1974. This chapter focuses not on the ethnographic substance of Rouch's work among the Dogon so much as the particular praxis that he deployed in making his films about the Sigui.Less
The Dogon of the Bandiagara Escarpment in eastern Mali held a particularly privileged place in Jean Rouch's personal imaginary. Rouch devoted a vast amount of time and energy to the filming of their major ritual cycle, the Sigui, in the years between 1966 and 1974. This chapter focuses not on the ethnographic substance of Rouch's work among the Dogon so much as the particular praxis that he deployed in making his films about the Sigui.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0012
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses some of the key principles of Jean Rouch's shooting praxis. Rouch believed that an essential requirement for any successful filmmaking adventure was the presence of some ...
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This chapter discusses some of the key principles of Jean Rouch's shooting praxis. Rouch believed that an essential requirement for any successful filmmaking adventure was the presence of some element of risk and chance, to which the filmmaker would be required to improvise an inspired response. If a shot is be successful, the cameraperson must think quickly on his feet about where to position himself, what or whom to follow, how to frame his shots and so on. But for the best possible result, it is necessary for there to be an inspired performance on both sides of the lens, by the subjects as well as by the filmmaker. Moreover, these performances by subjects and filmmaker must be “in connivance,” that is, in some sense in unison with one another. There must be skill, but also risk.Less
This chapter discusses some of the key principles of Jean Rouch's shooting praxis. Rouch believed that an essential requirement for any successful filmmaking adventure was the presence of some element of risk and chance, to which the filmmaker would be required to improvise an inspired response. If a shot is be successful, the cameraperson must think quickly on his feet about where to position himself, what or whom to follow, how to frame his shots and so on. But for the best possible result, it is necessary for there to be an inspired performance on both sides of the lens, by the subjects as well as by the filmmaker. Moreover, these performances by subjects and filmmaker must be “in connivance,” that is, in some sense in unison with one another. There must be skill, but also risk.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0008
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
The film Chronicle of a Summer (Chronique d'un été) follows a group of young people living in Paris in the summer of 1960, exploring their views about work, love, and happiness but also about the ...
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The film Chronicle of a Summer (Chronique d'un été) follows a group of young people living in Paris in the summer of 1960, exploring their views about work, love, and happiness but also about the colonial wars then going on in Africa. The ups and downs of the cat's cradle of relationships involved in the making of Chronicle, as well as the many different transformations that the film went through from initial conception to final version, have been wittily recollected by the film's co-director Edgar Morin in a memoir written shortly after the release of the film. This chapter relies particularly on his account, supplemented by commentaries by Jean Rouch and a number of third parties, to discuss the practical processes whereby Chronicle came into being.Less
The film Chronicle of a Summer (Chronique d'un été) follows a group of young people living in Paris in the summer of 1960, exploring their views about work, love, and happiness but also about the colonial wars then going on in Africa. The ups and downs of the cat's cradle of relationships involved in the making of Chronicle, as well as the many different transformations that the film went through from initial conception to final version, have been wittily recollected by the film's co-director Edgar Morin in a memoir written shortly after the release of the film. This chapter relies particularly on his account, supplemented by commentaries by Jean Rouch and a number of third parties, to discuss the practical processes whereby Chronicle came into being.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0013
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on Jean Rouch's views about editing. Rouch had relatively little to say about the process of editing, and, from what little he did say, seems to have had distinctly contradictory ...
More
This chapter focuses on Jean Rouch's views about editing. Rouch had relatively little to say about the process of editing, and, from what little he did say, seems to have had distinctly contradictory attitudes about this phase of the filmmaking process. On the one hand, he would often assert the great importance of editing and that the editing of a film should always be performed by someone who has had no involvement in the actual shooting. On the other, despite these assertions about the great importance of working with an editor, Rouch seems to have worked hard to keep it to a minimum, be it by his practices on location or back in the edit suite.Less
This chapter focuses on Jean Rouch's views about editing. Rouch had relatively little to say about the process of editing, and, from what little he did say, seems to have had distinctly contradictory attitudes about this phase of the filmmaking process. On the one hand, he would often assert the great importance of editing and that the editing of a film should always be performed by someone who has had no involvement in the actual shooting. On the other, despite these assertions about the great importance of working with an editor, Rouch seems to have worked hard to keep it to a minimum, be it by his practices on location or back in the edit suite.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0010
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
In contrast to other leading figures of ethnographic cinema, such as Robert Gardner or David and Judith MacDougall, who have made films in several different continents, Jean Rouch returned ...
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In contrast to other leading figures of ethnographic cinema, such as Robert Gardner or David and Judith MacDougall, who have made films in several different continents, Jean Rouch returned religiously to the same relatively circumscribed part of West Africa throughout his life. Even while he was being lionized as a leading figure in the world of cinema in Paris in the 1960s, he continued to return to the region with great regularity. Through the 1960s and into the early 1970s, Rouch would shoot at least two films in West Africa every year, usually more. This chapter focuses on the films made during this period. A number of new themes and genres appeared in Rouch's West African repertoire over this period, one of which concerned social and economic development. Hunting was another theme from his earlier work that Rouch continued to explore through his filmmaking in the 1960s. But whereas his earlier films had concerned the hunting of hippopotami in the waters of the Niger River, the films of the 1960s were about the hunting of lions in the semidesert that stretches across the frontiers between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.Less
In contrast to other leading figures of ethnographic cinema, such as Robert Gardner or David and Judith MacDougall, who have made films in several different continents, Jean Rouch returned religiously to the same relatively circumscribed part of West Africa throughout his life. Even while he was being lionized as a leading figure in the world of cinema in Paris in the 1960s, he continued to return to the region with great regularity. Through the 1960s and into the early 1970s, Rouch would shoot at least two films in West Africa every year, usually more. This chapter focuses on the films made during this period. A number of new themes and genres appeared in Rouch's West African repertoire over this period, one of which concerned social and economic development. Hunting was another theme from his earlier work that Rouch continued to explore through his filmmaking in the 1960s. But whereas his earlier films had concerned the hunting of hippopotami in the waters of the Niger River, the films of the 1960s were about the hunting of lions in the semidesert that stretches across the frontiers between Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
In July 1946 Jean Rouch spent several months in West Africa, traveling the length of the Niger with two wartime comrades and contemporaries from the École des Ponts et Chausées, Pierre Ponty and Jean ...
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In July 1946 Jean Rouch spent several months in West Africa, traveling the length of the Niger with two wartime comrades and contemporaries from the École des Ponts et Chausées, Pierre Ponty and Jean Sauvy, and later returned for two doctoral expeditions, the first of which took place between September 1948 and March 1949. This chapter focuses on the films he made during the first doctoral expedition. These include Au pays des mages noirs, Hombori, La Circoncision, Les Magiciens de Wanzerbé, and Initiation à la danse des possédés.Less
In July 1946 Jean Rouch spent several months in West Africa, traveling the length of the Niger with two wartime comrades and contemporaries from the École des Ponts et Chausées, Pierre Ponty and Jean Sauvy, and later returned for two doctoral expeditions, the first of which took place between September 1948 and March 1949. This chapter focuses on the films he made during the first doctoral expedition. These include Au pays des mages noirs, Hombori, La Circoncision, Les Magiciens de Wanzerbé, and Initiation à la danse des possédés.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0014
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on Jean Rouch's editing praxis. It shows that although Rouch may have been a Napoleon of the edit suite, dedicating himself with great energy to the resolution of technical ...
More
This chapter focuses on Jean Rouch's editing praxis. It shows that although Rouch may have been a Napoleon of the edit suite, dedicating himself with great energy to the resolution of technical problems, he only availed himself of a limited range of editorial weapons. Central to his editorial praxis was the superimposition of a poetic commentary that he always performed himself. So although Rouch may have set great store by preserving the objective integrity of the events represented in the images, the viewer's relationship to those images is always heavily mediated through the subjectivity of his oral performance. In effect, this involved what one might call a fixing of the truth in a somewhat different sense, that is, a fixing as in the final stage of a photographic process, in which a definitive form or coloration is imparted to an image.Less
This chapter focuses on Jean Rouch's editing praxis. It shows that although Rouch may have been a Napoleon of the edit suite, dedicating himself with great energy to the resolution of technical problems, he only availed himself of a limited range of editorial weapons. Central to his editorial praxis was the superimposition of a poetic commentary that he always performed himself. So although Rouch may have set great store by preserving the objective integrity of the events represented in the images, the viewer's relationship to those images is always heavily mediated through the subjectivity of his oral performance. In effect, this involved what one might call a fixing of the truth in a somewhat different sense, that is, a fixing as in the final stage of a photographic process, in which a definitive form or coloration is imparted to an image.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter outlines the circumstances under which, as a very young man in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Jean Rouch was first attracted to anthropology, or ethnology as it was then known in ...
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This chapter outlines the circumstances under which, as a very young man in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Jean Rouch was first attracted to anthropology, or ethnology as it was then known in France, describing the influence upon him of the ideas of Marcel Mauss, as transmitted through his teachers, Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen.Less
This chapter outlines the circumstances under which, as a very young man in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Jean Rouch was first attracted to anthropology, or ethnology as it was then known in France, describing the influence upon him of the ideas of Marcel Mauss, as transmitted through his teachers, Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the films Jean Rouch made during a second doctoral fieldwork expedition, which took place between July 1950 and June 1951, and involved a journey from the French Soudan to the ...
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This chapter focuses on the films Jean Rouch made during a second doctoral fieldwork expedition, which took place between July 1950 and June 1951, and involved a journey from the French Soudan to the Gold Coast, passing through Niger on the way. The three principal films that he produced in the course of this second doctoral expedition are: Cimetières dans la falaise, Yenendi, Les hommes qui font la pluie, and Bataille sur le grand fleuve. Although Rouch frequently refers to these films in his interviews and articles, they are not well known, particularly to English-speaking audiences, because, until recently, they have been very difficult to see.Less
This chapter focuses on the films Jean Rouch made during a second doctoral fieldwork expedition, which took place between July 1950 and June 1951, and involved a journey from the French Soudan to the Gold Coast, passing through Niger on the way. The three principal films that he produced in the course of this second doctoral expedition are: Cimetières dans la falaise, Yenendi, Les hommes qui font la pluie, and Bataille sur le grand fleuve. Although Rouch frequently refers to these films in his interviews and articles, they are not well known, particularly to English-speaking audiences, because, until recently, they have been very difficult to see.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
Migration from rural to urban areas intensified in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa in the period immediately after the Second World War. This was a social phenomenon of major importance and the ...
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Migration from rural to urban areas intensified in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa in the period immediately after the Second World War. This was a social phenomenon of major importance and the colonial governments of the time were prepared to provide generous funding for research into its causes and effects. Jean Rouch was one of those engaged to do this research, and from 1954 to 1960 was supported by a combination of the CNRS, IFAN, and various multinational colonial research agencies set up to coordinate scientific programs in countries south of the Sahara. In October 1953, he set out from Paris to travel overland to West Africa, accompanied by his wife Jane. They entered the Gold Coast in February 1954 where they remained until Rouch's return to France in January 1955. During this period, Rouch made three major films that dealt directly with the experience of the migrants: Les Maîtres fous, Jaguar, and Moi, un Noir. This chapter focuses on the films Les Maîtres fous and Jaguar.Less
Migration from rural to urban areas intensified in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa in the period immediately after the Second World War. This was a social phenomenon of major importance and the colonial governments of the time were prepared to provide generous funding for research into its causes and effects. Jean Rouch was one of those engaged to do this research, and from 1954 to 1960 was supported by a combination of the CNRS, IFAN, and various multinational colonial research agencies set up to coordinate scientific programs in countries south of the Sahara. In October 1953, he set out from Paris to travel overland to West Africa, accompanied by his wife Jane. They entered the Gold Coast in February 1954 where they remained until Rouch's return to France in January 1955. During this period, Rouch made three major films that dealt directly with the experience of the migrants: Les Maîtres fous, Jaguar, and Moi, un Noir. This chapter focuses on the films Les Maîtres fous and Jaguar.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
In November 1956, Jean Rouch moved to the French colony on the Ivory Coast to begin a new phase of his migration research. Over the next four years, Abidjan, the capital, would become the principal ...
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In November 1956, Jean Rouch moved to the French colony on the Ivory Coast to begin a new phase of his migration research. Over the next four years, Abidjan, the capital, would become the principal location of his filmmaking activities. This chapter focuses on two major films that Rouch made in Abidjan, which were his most significant works. Both were ethnofictions, involving a further development of the improvisational techniques that he had employed in Jaguar. The first, Moi, un Noir, was shot over the course of six months in 1957, though it was not released in its definitive form until 1960. The other, La Pyramide humaine, was shot in 1959–1960 and was not finally released until 1961. If Les Maîtres fous had confirmed Rouch's reputation as a documentarist, it would be these two films that would establish him as a major figure of French fictional cinema and one whose methods would have a major impact on the emergent New Wave.Less
In November 1956, Jean Rouch moved to the French colony on the Ivory Coast to begin a new phase of his migration research. Over the next four years, Abidjan, the capital, would become the principal location of his filmmaking activities. This chapter focuses on two major films that Rouch made in Abidjan, which were his most significant works. Both were ethnofictions, involving a further development of the improvisational techniques that he had employed in Jaguar. The first, Moi, un Noir, was shot over the course of six months in 1957, though it was not released in its definitive form until 1960. The other, La Pyramide humaine, was shot in 1959–1960 and was not finally released until 1961. If Les Maîtres fous had confirmed Rouch's reputation as a documentarist, it would be these two films that would establish him as a major figure of French fictional cinema and one whose methods would have a major impact on the emergent New Wave.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter analyzes the film Les Maîtres fous, which established Jean Rouch's international renown. Les Maîtres fous concerns the hauka spirit possession cult in and around Accra, the capital of ...
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This chapter analyzes the film Les Maîtres fous, which established Jean Rouch's international renown. Les Maîtres fous concerns the hauka spirit possession cult in and around Accra, the capital of what is now the independent state of Ghana but which was then still the British colony of the Gold Coast. The mediums were mostly young Songhay men who had migrated from the middle reaches of the Niger River, some 650 miles to the north in the French colony of Niger. Referred to as “Zabrama” in the film, they represented merely the most recent wave of a pattern of seasonal migration from the drought-afflicted southern margin of the Sahelian Desert to the economically dynamic cities on the coastal plains of West Africa that had been going on since at least the middle of the nineteenth century.Less
This chapter analyzes the film Les Maîtres fous, which established Jean Rouch's international renown. Les Maîtres fous concerns the hauka spirit possession cult in and around Accra, the capital of what is now the independent state of Ghana but which was then still the British colony of the Gold Coast. The mediums were mostly young Songhay men who had migrated from the middle reaches of the Niger River, some 650 miles to the north in the French colony of Niger. Referred to as “Zabrama” in the film, they represented merely the most recent wave of a pattern of seasonal migration from the drought-afflicted southern margin of the Sahelian Desert to the economically dynamic cities on the coastal plains of West Africa that had been going on since at least the middle of the nineteenth century.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226327143
- eISBN:
- 9780226327167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226327167.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter explores the connections between ethnology and the Surrealist movement, since it was through a prior encounter with the latter that Jean Rouch discovered the former. The interests and ...
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This chapter explores the connections between ethnology and the Surrealist movement, since it was through a prior encounter with the latter that Jean Rouch discovered the former. The interests and attitudes that Rouch developed through his youthful encounter with Surrealism played an important part in molding his filmmaking method right until the end of his life, several decades after Surrealism had fallen out of fashion not merely in anthropology but also in the world of the arts more broadly defined.Less
This chapter explores the connections between ethnology and the Surrealist movement, since it was through a prior encounter with the latter that Jean Rouch discovered the former. The interests and attitudes that Rouch developed through his youthful encounter with Surrealism played an important part in molding his filmmaking method right until the end of his life, several decades after Surrealism had fallen out of fashion not merely in anthropology but also in the world of the arts more broadly defined.
