Open AccessTHE BELLWETHER EWE: Recent Developments in Ethnographic Filmmaking and the Aesthetics of Anthropological Inquiry
Author(s) -
GRIMSHAW ANNA
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
cultural anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.669
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1548-1360
pISSN - 0886-7356
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1360.2011.01098.x
Subject(s) - filmmaking , articulation (sociology) , ethnography , aesthetics , sociology , legitimacy , visual anthropology , anthropology , visual arts , art , political science , politics , law , movie theater
This article explores what might be called the “aesthetic” turn in ethnographic filmmaking. It seeks to move beyond the old debates about the legitimacy of nonliterary forms to offer a detailed examination of how selected camera, sound, and editing techniques are used to constitute a distinctive kind of anthropological inquiry. No longer approached as illustrative or preliminary to anthropology proper, recent trends in ethnographic filmmaking are suggestive as to the articulation of a new agenda. At its center are questions about art, the senses, knowledge, and the possibilities of a multispecies ethnography.