The Ethnographic Optic

Jean Rouch, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, and the Turn Inward in 1960s French Cinema

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by Laure Astourian

Type

Studies

Subject

Countries > France

Keywords

ethnology, Jean Rouch, Alain Resnais, Chris Marker, 1960s, France

Publishing date

2024

Publisher

Indiana University Press

Collection

New Directions in National Cinemas

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 264 pages
6 x 9 inches (15.5 x 23 cm)

ISBN

978-0-253-06959-7

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Book Presentation:
The Ethnographic Optic traces the surprising role of ethnography in French cinema in the 1960s and examines its place in several New Wave fictions and cin ma véritédocumentaries during the final years of the French colonial empire.

Focusing on prominent French filmmakers Jean Rouch, Chris Marker, and Alain Resnais, author Laure Astourian elucidates their striking pivot from centering their work on distant lands to scrutinizing their own French urban culture. As awareness of the ramifications of the shrinking empire grew within metropolitan France, these filmmakers turned inward what their similarly white, urban, bourgeois predecessors had long turned outward toward the colonies: the ethnographic gaze.

Featuring some of the most canonical and best-loved films of the French tradition, such as Moi, un Noir, La jet e, and Muriel, this is an essential book for readers interested in national identity and cinema.

About the Author:
Laure Astourian is Associate Professor of French at Bentley University.

See the publisher website: Indiana University Press