In Alain Silver.doc
SSA321 History of Anthropological Theory
Portfolio on CD-Rom
Candidate No. 178202
1st May 2003
Introduction
I have chosen to compile research information on Robert Flaherty (see slide 2),
who was a pioneer in ethnographic film, and whose masterpiece, Nanook of the
North,1922, is still the subject of debate in anthropology (MacDougall 1998: 103).
The aim of this CD is to provide information on Flaherty (prior to 1922), and
Nanook; the references by cited authors to other Flaherty films are not intended to
be used in this context, as they are more recent than 1922, the so-called beginning
of Structural-Functionalism and Modern British Anthropology.
This work is, therefore, research both on the person of Flaherty, and the influence
of Flaherty on the development of ethnographic film as a genre within
anthropology.
(Unfortunately it proved too challenging to import a video clip from the film, as it
does not appear to be on the web.)
Robert Flaherty
I have chosen to compile this information on Flaherty and his work on the film
Nanook of the North. The film was published in 1922, the same year as Malinowski’s
Argonauts of the Western Pacific.
My main argument is that the film has ethnographic merit and by extension Flaherty
can be considered an early anthropologist. The time consuming process of production
for a film rules out any Structural-Functional or Functional influence on the making
of Nanook, which predates it.
Encyclopaedia References and links on Flaherty, the man:
•http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/people/A0818850.html
•http://www.mr-moody.com/goldenboy/whoswho3/flaherty_r.htm
•Wikipedia on Flaherty.doc
• Doros on Flaherty.doc
(Picture from http://www.mr-moody.com/goldenboy/whoswho3/flaherty_r.htm)
Still from Nanook of the North
“Released in 1922, Nanook
is cited by most film
historians as the first
feature-length documentary”
•http://www.oneworldmagazine
.org/seek/nanook/nbiblio.htm
for article by Alain Silver.
Nyla, Nanook's wife, and her
baby at the
,
trading post
Film-making
These articles provide a general discussion on documentary and ethnographic film, and
consider Flaherty’s position within it. Consideration is given to some technical aspects,
as well as theoretical aspects of the genres. (Links to source websites cited in
documents)
•Flaherty on Nanook.doc
•Abstract of talk by J. Ruby: The Death of Ethnographic Film
http:/astro.ocis.temple.edu/~ruby/aac/ruby.html and The Death of Ethnographic
Film.doc
•Conversation between Shapiro and Godmilow on documentary film: Conversation.doc
•Review of Nanook: Sherwood on Film.doc
•Ethnographer as Scientist: Early documentary filmmakers as scientists.doc
Film making (continued)
•Comment on the emergence of Ethnographic Film: Prerana Reddy.doc
•Comment on the originality of Nanook in the Guardian: Nanook of the North
(Guardian).doc
Ethnographic Merit
Flaherty’s enduring work is the 1922 film Nanook of the North, which has prompted
much discussion within anthropology as to its ethnographic merit. See MacDougall
1998: 103.
•Robert Flaherty's NANOOK OF THE NORTH created the very genre of film documentary, with
its documentation of Nanook the Inuit and the Eskimo traditions which were even then being
erased by the influences of the white man. For close to 70 years, what we knew of Eskimo culture
was what we learned from NANOOK OF THE NORTH. Unfortunately, the documentary is as
much Flaherty's artistic and directorial imagination as reality. This program revisits Inukjiak, the
site of Flaherty's filming, where Eskimo oral tradition still retains the memory of Flaherty's shoot,
and learns that, among other things, the man's name was not Nanook, the women said to be
Nanook's wives were actually Flaherty's, and the Inuits thought what Flaherty was asking them to
do for the camera so hilarious they couldn't stop laughing. (unfortunately this anecdote is
unsubstantiated by reference but it is amusing)
http://www.avdist.fsu.edu/V070852.htm
•macdougall on flaherty.pdf
•http://www.geocities.com/gcalla1/nanook.htm
Visual Records and References
•Archival goods: Nanook Box 23, stills from Nanook box 24.
http://www.flahertyseminar.org/archives_home.htm
•A rough sequence of events in the film:
http://www.unb.ca/web/anthropology/nanook.htm
•http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/cb/flah1.htm : Photographs of Flaherty
•http://momawas.moma.org/collection/depts/film_media/blowups/film_media_005.
html
Bibliography
MacDougall, D., 1998, Transcultural Cinema, Princeton University
Press
Malinowski,
Press
1922, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, Oxford University
LINKS to Bibliographies:
Further references to Flaherty and Film in Bibliography Web.doc, from
www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/MultimediaStudent Projects/9899/950004s/project/html/bibliogr.htm
Web Resources for scholars by Ruby: Flaherty Index.htm
Bibliography on Documentary Film
http://www.anotherscene.com/cinema/docubib.html
Bibliography (continued).
•Robert J Flaherty: A Biography (ed.) Jay
Rubyhttp://nimbus.ocis.temple.edu/~jruby/wava/Flaherty/title.html
Filmography
Flaherty, R. J., 1922, Nanook of the North