Bad Film Histories

Ethnography and the Early Archive

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Film, History & Criticism, Performing Arts, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Bad Film Histories by Katherine Groo, University of Minnesota Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Katherine Groo ISBN: 9781452960128
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press Publication: February 26, 2019
Imprint: Univ Of Minnesota Press Language: English
Author: Katherine Groo
ISBN: 9781452960128
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Publication: February 26, 2019
Imprint: Univ Of Minnesota Press
Language: English

**A daring, deep investigation into ethnographic cinema that challenges standard ways of writing film history and breaks important new ground in understanding archives **

Bad Film Histories is a vital work that unsettles the authority of the archive. Katherine Groo daringly takes readers to the margins of the film record, addressing the undertheorization of film history and offering a rigorous corrective. Taking ethnographic cinema as a crucial case study, Groo challenges standard ways of thinking and writing about film history and questions widespread assumptions about what film artifacts are and what makes them meaningful. Rather than filling holes, Groo endeavors to understand the imprecisions and absences that define film history and its archives. 

Bad Film Histories draws on numerous works of ethnographic cinema, from Edward S. Curtis’s In the Land of the Head Hunters, to a Citroën-sponsored “croisière” across Africa, to the extensive archives of the Maison Lumière and the Musée Albert-Kahn, to dozens of expedition films from the 1910s and 1920s. The project is deeply grounded in poststructural approaches to history, and throughout Groo draws on these frameworks to offer innovative and accessible readings that explain ethnographic cinema’s destabilizing energies.

As Groo describes, ethnographic works are mostly untitled, unauthored, seemingly infinite in number, and largely unrestored even in their digital afterlives. Her examination of ethnographic cinema provides necessary new thought for both film scholars and those who are thrilled by cinema’s boundless possibilities. In so doing, she boldly reexamines what early ethnographic cinema is and how these films produce meaning, challenging the foundations of film history and prevailing approaches to the archive.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

**A daring, deep investigation into ethnographic cinema that challenges standard ways of writing film history and breaks important new ground in understanding archives **

Bad Film Histories is a vital work that unsettles the authority of the archive. Katherine Groo daringly takes readers to the margins of the film record, addressing the undertheorization of film history and offering a rigorous corrective. Taking ethnographic cinema as a crucial case study, Groo challenges standard ways of thinking and writing about film history and questions widespread assumptions about what film artifacts are and what makes them meaningful. Rather than filling holes, Groo endeavors to understand the imprecisions and absences that define film history and its archives. 

Bad Film Histories draws on numerous works of ethnographic cinema, from Edward S. Curtis’s In the Land of the Head Hunters, to a Citroën-sponsored “croisière” across Africa, to the extensive archives of the Maison Lumière and the Musée Albert-Kahn, to dozens of expedition films from the 1910s and 1920s. The project is deeply grounded in poststructural approaches to history, and throughout Groo draws on these frameworks to offer innovative and accessible readings that explain ethnographic cinema’s destabilizing energies.

As Groo describes, ethnographic works are mostly untitled, unauthored, seemingly infinite in number, and largely unrestored even in their digital afterlives. Her examination of ethnographic cinema provides necessary new thought for both film scholars and those who are thrilled by cinema’s boundless possibilities. In so doing, she boldly reexamines what early ethnographic cinema is and how these films produce meaning, challenging the foundations of film history and prevailing approaches to the archive.

More books from University of Minnesota Press

Cover of the book Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book The Lure of the North Woods by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Barnstorming the Prairies by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book The White Possessive by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Inside the Gate by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Testing Fate by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Degraded Work by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Building Zion by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Our Own Image by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Fictionalizing Anthropology by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Starting and Running a Nonprofit Organization by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Those About Him Remained Silent by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Mandela's Dark Years by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Disidentifications by Katherine Groo
Cover of the book Anime’s Media Mix by Katherine Groo
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy