The Cinematic Griot: The Ethnography of Jean Rouch / Edition 1

by Paul Stoller

Overview

The most prolific ethnographic filmmaker in the world, a pioneer of cinéma vérité and one of the earliest ethnographers of African societies, Jean Rouch (1917-) remains a controversial and often misunderstood figure in histories of anthropology and film. By examining Rouch's neglected ethnographic writings, Paul Stoller seeks to clarify the filmmaker's true place in anthropology.

A brief account of Rouch's background, revealing the ethnographic foundations and intellectual assumptions underlying his fieldwork among the Songhay of Niger in the 1940s and 1950s, sets the stage for his emergence as a cinematic griot, a peripatetic bard who "recites" the story of a people through provocative imagery. Against this backdrop, Stoller considers Rouch's writings on Songhay history, myth, magic and possession, migration, and social change. By analyzing in depth some of Rouch's most important films and assessing Rouch's ethnography in terms of his own expertise in Songhay culture, Stoller demonstrates the inner connection between these two modes of representation.

Stoller, who has done more fieldwork among the Songhay than anyone other than Rouch himself, here gives the first full account of Rouch the griot, whose own story scintillates with important implications for anthropology, ethnography, African studies, and film.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226775487
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	06/15/1992
Edition description:	1
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Paul Stoller is a professor of anthropology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of many books, including ethnographies, biographies, and memoirs. In 1994 he was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2002, the American Anthropological Association named him the recipient of the Robert B. Textor Award for Excellence in Anthropology. He lectures frequently both in the United States and Europe and has appeared on various NPR programs as well as on the National Geographic Television Network.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
1. In the Past, in the Present
Part I. Ethnographic Foundations
Introduction: Son of Griaule
2. Rouch's Life in the Field
3. Worlds of the Ancestors
4. Migrations to New Worlds
5. People of Force, Spirits of Power
Part II. Cinema Rouch
Introduction: Two Spiritual Fathers and a Critical Son
6. Les Magiciens de Wanzerbe
7. The Lion Hunters
8. Jaguar
9. Les Maîtres Fous
10. Les Tambours d'Avant: Turu et Bitti
11. The Dogon Passion
Part III. When Films Become Dreams
Introduction: Postpositions
12. Rouch, Theory, and Ethnographic Film
Postface: The Work of the Griot
Bibliography of Jean Rouch
Filmography of Jean Rouch
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

How and why did censorship of films begin? The question is inextricably connected to the history of sexuality. This is a lengthy and intellectual examination of the beginning of his phenomenon. The author uses both specific films and particular issues to analyze how social and political forces intersected to bring about the institutionalization of censorship. It has a decidedly British slant. Only few (and poor) stills. Recommended for advanced women's studies and film programs. Explores the work of French filmmaker Rouch in recording the spiritual practices and other behavior of tribal people in the Niamey region of Niger. Also considers his training in ethnography, and the significance of his work to the field. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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