Reframing Ethnographic Film: A “Conversation” with David MacDougall and Judith MacDougall

Barbash, Ilisa; Taylor, Lucien

doi:10.1525/aa.1996.98.2.02a00120

Cited by 14 publications

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“…With subtitles, films found a way to present the individuality of the subjects as well as a way for the filmmakers to examine complex concepts [MacDougall 1998]. But due to the nature of visual representation, the ideas and themes raised in films may not be fixed and conclusive but remain multiple and divergent, depending upon diverse understandings of the viewers; and that is why MacDougall says that films are open for new interpretation [Barbash and Taylor 1996;Grimshaw and Papastergiadis 1995].…”

Section: Subtitles: Re-addressing the Themes Of The Writingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the relationship between ethnographic writings and ethnographic films he has pointed out that the latter should not simply be regarded as an addition to the writing but must go beyond it, creating new knowledge and open for interpretation [ Barbash and Taylor 1996]. As for the role of subtitles in ethnographic filmmaking, he has argued that there is more to subtitling than just the technical aspects: importantly, it is a process of presenting ideas and creating new interpretations [MacDougall 1998].…”

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The Interaction between Visual and Written Ethnography in Subtitling

Zhang¹

2012

Visual Anthropology

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This article explores how subtitles are applied in ethnographic film editing. Based upon doctoral research and accompanying films, I will illustrate how the key ideas in the writing could be re-addressed and re-interpreted in the films through certain ways of subtitling. I argue that appropriate subtitling not only presents the individuality of the subjects directly, but also allows the filmmaker to pronounce his=her own voice indirectly, which responds to as well as differs from written anthropology.Compared with the rich literature in visual anthropology analyzing how ethnographic films have been shot and structured, and exploring the history of ethnographic filmmaking, not much is to be found on the significance of subtitling for ethnographic films. This might in part be because subtitling is still regarded more as a technical practice of transcribing than a way of raising ideas or conceptual reflection; and in part because of the complexity of analyzing the process of subtitling, with a need to query both the source and the target language, and the subtitles in relation to their visual sequences. Here I review a few writings that have raised key points about subtitles, to rethink the role of subtitling for both ethnographic films and related writing.My reflection on the role of subtitles springs from two major insights of the ethnographic filmmaker and visual anthropologist David MacDougall. On the relationship between ethnographic writings and ethnographic films he has pointed out that the latter should not simply be regarded as an addition to the writing but must go beyond it, creating new knowledge and open for interpretation [ Barbash and Taylor 1996]. As for the role of subtitles in ethnographic filmmaking, he has argued that there is more to subtitling than just the technical aspects: importantly, it is a process of presenting ideas and creating new interpretations [MacDougall 1998]. Following these insights, taken up in more detail later, JINGHONG ZHANG holds a Ph.D. from the Australian National University for research which looks at the recent Puer tea fad in China, on which she produced both a dissertation and seven short films. She is now a lecturer at

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Section: Subtitles: Re-addressing the Themes Of The Writingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Interaction between Visual and Written Ethnography in Subtitling

Zhang¹

2012

Visual Anthropology

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“…Video production and filming as a method in anthropology has strengths for those seeking to balance the power of the Western gaze with that of the Indigenous one. MacDougall and MacDougall (as cited in Barbash & Taylor, 1996) situated ethnographic video in opposition to conventional written anthropology, because domains of knowledge are suppressed in written text and film offers new kinds of knowledge. They cautioned against using video production as a means of illustrating pre-existing anthropological knowledge, as this implies that the ethnographers know what they are going to say before the film is made (Barbash & Taylor, 1996).…”

Section: Visual Anthropology and Video Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MacDougall and MacDougall (as cited in Barbash & Taylor, 1996) situated ethnographic video in opposition to conventional written anthropology, because domains of knowledge are suppressed in written text and film offers new kinds of knowledge. They cautioned against using video production as a means of illustrating pre-existing anthropological knowledge, as this implies that the ethnographers know what they are going to say before the film is made (Barbash & Taylor, 1996). Viewers are able to make their own interpretations of video, to extents that are not possible in written text, but the videomaker must be careful not to be overly explanatory in order to let the viewers decide on their own interpretation.…”

Section: Visual Anthropology and Video Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Indigenous Experience and Cultural Renewal, Decolonization, and Transformation in the Ottawa Area

Matthew¹

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This research is an ethnography of 30 people on Indigenous experiences, place-making and the cultural practices that are used to construct meaning and cultural renewal that leads to healing and decolonization in the Ottawa, Ontario area. The research explores the lives of those who reside in the city and have never lived in traditional territories, and those who continue to have roots there.These practices are observed through the lens of the three bodies of the individual, social, and body politic. Identity has moved beyond legacies of essentialized and bounded notions which in actuality are multiple and fluid. The study revealed themes of a continuum of experiences and practices including: territorialists who reside in the homeland; returners who have the Indigenous diasporic experience of longing for a homeland; learners who have been displaced from

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Gender and Ethnographic Film

Hamilton¹

2018

The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology

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Ethnographic film emerged in the first part of the twentieth century in parallel with social/cultural anthropology. Like documentary cinema, it was understood to offer an objective representation in a scientific frame. Ethnographic film reflected the same masculinist sensibility as did anthropology more generally, and its representation of gender was unquestioned until the 1970s. Thereafter ethnographic films began to appear with women as their central subject, in some cases being directed by women filmmakers. The objectivity of anthropology began to be questioned along with the legitimacy of ethnographic film. Today, subjective approaches often by indigenous and local filmmakers have largely replaced the masculine authority of the traditional ethnographic film form.

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Reframing Ethnographic Film: A “Conversation” with David MacDougall and Judith MacDougall

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

The Interaction between Visual and Written Ethnography in Subtitling

The Interaction between Visual and Written Ethnography in Subtitling

The Indigenous Experience and Cultural Renewal, Decolonization, and Transformation in the Ottawa Area

Gender and Ethnographic Film

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