Ethnofiction is a subfield of
ethnography
Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...
which produces works that introduce art, in the form of
storytelling
Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...
, "thick descriptions and conversational narratives", and even
first-person autobiographical accounts, into academic works.
In addition to written texts, the term has also been used in the context of filmmaking, where it refers to ethnographic
docufiction
Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary film, documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or ciné ...
, a blend of documentary and fictional film. It is a film type in which, by means of fictional narrative or creative imagination, often improvised, the portrayed characters (
natives
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
) play their own roles as members of an ethnic or social group.
History
Ethnologist
Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch (; 31 May 1917 – 18 February 2004) was a French Filmmaking, filmmaker and anthropologist.
He is considered one of the founders of cinéma vérité in France. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker, for over 60 years in Africa, was char ...
is considered to be the father of ethnofiction, with
Robert Flaherty
Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...
as an ancestor. Rouch discovered that a filmmaker interferes with the event he registers: the behavior of the portrayed individuals, the natives, will be affected by the camera's presence. Contrary to the principles of
Marcel Griaule
Marcel Griaule (16 May 1898 – 23 February 1956) was a French author and anthropologist known for his studies of the Dogon people of West Africa, and for pioneering ethnographic field studies in France. He worked together with Germaine ...
, his mentor, Rouch considers it impossible for a non-participating camera to record "pure" events in ethnographic research.
An ethnographer cameraman, in this view, will be accepted as a natural partner by the actors who play their roles. The cameraman will be one of them, and may even be possessed by the
rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...
of dancers during a ritual celebration and induced in a state of ''cine-
trance
Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
''. Rouch thus introduced the actor as a tool in research.
Ethnofiction has also been developed in Portuguese cinema. Ethnic films have been common in Portugal since the 1930s, particularly from the 1960s to the 1980s and in the early 21st century. The remote
Trás-os-Montes region in Portugal and the former Portuguese colonies of
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...
and the
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
islands are common subjects of such films. These films depict local realities along with legends and surreal imagery, producing works of ethnofiction.
Chronology
1910s
* 1914 – ''
In the Land of the Head Hunters'' by
Edward S. Curtis
Edward Sheriff Curtis (February 19, 1868 – October 19, 1952; sometimes given as Edward Sherriff Curtis) was an American photographer and ethnologist whose work focused on the American West and Native American people. Sometimes referred to a ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
1920s
* 1926 – ''
Moana'' by
Robert Flaherty
Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...
,
US
1930s
* 1930 – ''
Maria do Mar'' by
José Leitão de Barros
José Júlio Marques Leitão de Barros (22 October 1896 – 29 June 1967) was a Portuguese film director and playwright.
Career
Among his most famous films are '' Maria do Mar'' (1930), the second docufiction after ''
Moana'' (1926) by Rob ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 1931 – ''
Tabu'' written by
Robert Flaherty
Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...
and directed by
F. W. Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era.
An e ...
,
US
* 1932 – ''L'or des mers'' by
Jean Epstein
Jean Epstein (; 25 March 1897 – 2 April 1953) was a French filmmaker, film theorist, literary critic, and novelist. Although he is remembered today primarily for his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's '' The Fall of the House of Usher'', he direc ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
* 1933 – ''
Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan'' by
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
* 1934 – ''
Man of Aran
''Man of Aran'' is a 1934 Irish fictional documentary ( ethnofiction) film shot, written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern condition ...
'' by
Robert Flaherty
Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...
,
UK
1940s
* 1942 – ''
Ala-Arriba!'' by
José Leitão de Barros
José Júlio Marques Leitão de Barros (22 October 1896 – 29 June 1967) was a Portuguese film director and playwright.
Career
Among his most famous films are '' Maria do Mar'' (1930), the second docufiction after ''
Moana'' (1926) by Rob ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 1948 – ''
Louisiana Story'' by
Robert Flaherty
Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...
,
US
1950s
* 1955 – ''
Les maîtres fous
LES or Les may refer to:
People
* Les (given name)
* Les (surname)
* L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer
Space flight
* Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews
* Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies
* Lincoln Experimen ...
'' (The Mad Masters) by
Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch (; 31 May 1917 – 18 February 2004) was a French Filmmaking, filmmaker and anthropologist.
He is considered one of the founders of cinéma vérité in France. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker, for over 60 years in Africa, was char ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
* 1958 – ''
Moi, un noir'' (Me a Black) by
Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch (; 31 May 1917 – 18 February 2004) was a French Filmmaking, filmmaker and anthropologist.
He is considered one of the founders of cinéma vérité in France. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker, for over 60 years in Africa, was char ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
1960s
* 1961 – ''
La pyramide humaine'' by
Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch (; 31 May 1917 – 18 February 2004) was a French Filmmaking, filmmaker and anthropologist.
He is considered one of the founders of cinéma vérité in France. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker, for over 60 years in Africa, was char ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
* 1962 – ''Acto da Primavera'' (Act of Spring) by
Manoel de Oliveira
Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira (; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about Wor ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 1963 – ''
Pour la suite du monde'' (Of Whales, the Moon and Men) by
Pierre Perrault
Pierre Perrault (29 June 1927 – 23 June 1999) was a Canadian documentary film director with the National Film Board of Canada. Over his 40-year career, he directed 32 films and was one of Canada's most important filmmakers, although he ...
and
Michel Brault
Michel Brault, OQ (25 June 1928 – 21 September 2013) was a Canadian cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the Nationa ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
* 1967 – ''Jaguar'', by
Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch (; 31 May 1917 – 18 February 2004) was a French Filmmaking, filmmaker and anthropologist.
He is considered one of the founders of cinéma vérité in France. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker, for over 60 years in Africa, was char ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
1970s
* 1976 – ''
People from Praia da Vieira'' (Gente da Praia da Vieira) by
António Campos,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 1976 – ''
Trás-os-Montes
Trás-os-Montes () is a geographical, historical and cultural region of Portugal.
Portuguese language, Portuguese for "behind the mountains", Trás-os-Montes is located northeast of the country in an highland, upland area, landlocked by the Douro ...
'' by
António Reis
António Ferreira Gonçalves dos Reis, known as António Reis (27 August 1925 – 10 September 1991), was a Portuguese film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer, poet, sculptor and ethnographer. He occupies an original place in the h ...
and
Margarida Cordeiro,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
1980s
* 1982 �
''Nelisita'': narrativas nyanekaby
Ruy Duarte de Carvalho,
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
* 1988 – ''
Mortu Nega'' (Death Denied) by
Flora Gomes
Flora Gomes is a Bissau-Guinean film director. He was born in Cadique, Guinea-Bissau on 31 December 1949 and after high school in Cuba, he decided to study film at the Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematográficos in Havana.
Shot ...
,
Guiné-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast.
Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kin ...
1990s
* 1997 – ''
Ossos'' by
Pedro Costa
Pedro Costa (born 30 December 1958) is a Portuguese film director. He is best known for his sequence of films set in Lisbon, which focuses on the lives of the impoverished residents of a slum in the Fontainhas neighbourhood.
Biography
After comp ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
2000s
* 2000 – ''
No Quarto da Vanda'' (In Vanda's Room) by
Pedro Costa
Pedro Costa (born 30 December 1958) is a Portuguese film director. He is best known for his sequence of films set in Lisbon, which focuses on the lives of the impoverished residents of a slum in the Fontainhas neighbourhood.
Biography
After comp ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 2003 – ''
Terra Longe
Terra may often refer to:
* Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess
* An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet
Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy
* Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...
'' (Remote Land) by
Daniel E. Thorbecke
* 2006 – ''
Colossal Youth
''Colossal Youth'' is the only studio album by Welsh post-punk band Young Marble Giants, released in February 1980 on Rough Trade Records. Young Marble Giants were offered the opportunity to record the album after Rough Trade heard just two son ...
'' by
Pedro Costa
Pedro Costa (born 30 December 1958) is a Portuguese film director. He is best known for his sequence of films set in Lisbon, which focuses on the lives of the impoverished residents of a slum in the Fontainhas neighbourhood.
Biography
After comp ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 2007 – ''Transfiction'' by
Johannes Sjöberg
2010s
* 2011 – ''
Toomelah
Toomelah (formerly Toomelah Aboriginal Mission or Toomelah Station) is an Aboriginal Australian community in the far north of inland New South Wales, Australia.
Location and governance
Toomelah is located north of Moree on the MacIntyre Rive ...
'' by
Ivan Sen
Ivan Sen (born 1972) is an Indigenous Australian filmmaker. He is a director, screenwriter and cinematographer, as well as an editor, composer, and sound designer. He is co-founder and director of Bunya Productions, and known for the 2013 film ...
* 2012 – ''
The Act of Killing'' by
Joshua Oppenheimer,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
* 2014 – ''
Cavalo Dinheiro'' (Horse Money) by
Pedro Costa
Pedro Costa (born 30 December 1958) is a Portuguese film director. He is best known for his sequence of films set in Lisbon, which focuses on the lives of the impoverished residents of a slum in the Fontainhas neighbourhood.
Biography
After comp ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 2014 – ''
La creazione di significato'' (The Creation of Meaning) by
Simone Rapisarda Casanova
Simone Rapisarda Casanova is an Italian experimental filmmaker currently living in Canada. In 2014, he won the Leopard for Best Emerging Director at the Locarno International Film Festival.
Life
Rapisarda Casanova was born in Catania, Italy. ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
* 2015 – ''
Dead Slow Ahead'' by
Mauro Herce
* 2018 – ''
Zanj Hegel la'' (Hegel's Angel) by
Simone Rapisarda Casanova
Simone Rapisarda Casanova is an Italian experimental filmmaker currently living in Canada. In 2014, he won the Leopard for Best Emerging Director at the Locarno International Film Festival.
Life
Rapisarda Casanova was born in Catania, Italy. ...
,
Haiti
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
* 2018 – ''
The Dead and the Others'' by
João Salaviza,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 2019 – ''
Vitalina Varela
''Vitalina Varela'' is a 2019 Portuguese drama directed by acclaimed director Pedro Costa. It won the Golden Leopard and Best Actress Award at the 2019 Locarno Film Festival. The film follows Vitalina Varela, a character who previously appeare ...
'' by
Pedro Costa
Pedro Costa (born 30 December 1958) is a Portuguese film director. He is best known for his sequence of films set in Lisbon, which focuses on the lives of the impoverished residents of a slum in the Fontainhas neighbourhood.
Biography
After comp ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
* 2019 – ''Work, or To Whom Does the World Belong'', by
Elisa Cepedal
The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay is a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presence of ...
, Spain
* 2024 – ''
Anime galleggianti
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
'' by
Maria Giménez Cavallo
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
*Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...
,
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
See also
*
Direct cinema
Direct cinema is a documentary genre that originated between 1958 and 1962—principally in Quebec and the United States—and was developed in France by Jean Rouch. It is a cinematic practice employing lightweight portable filming equipment, han ...
*
Docufiction
Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary film, documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or ciné ...
*
Ethnographic film
An ethnographic film is a non-fiction film, often similar to a documentary film, historically shot by Western filmmakers and dealing with non-Western people, and sometimes associated with anthropology. Definitions of the term are not definitive. ...
*
Ethnography
Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...
*
Media ecology
Media ecology is the study of media, technology, and communication and how they affect human environments. The theoretical concepts were proposed by Marshall McLuhan in 1964, while the term ''media ecology'' was first formally introduced by Neil ...
*
Visual anthropology
Visual anthropology is a subfield of social anthropology that is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnography, ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media. More recently it has been used by historians ...
Footnotes
External links
Ethnofitionat The University of Manchester (watch video)
Ethnofiction and Beyond: The Legacy of Projective Improvisation in Ethnographic Filmmakingby Johannes Sjöberg
– Article (French) by Gaetano Ciarcia a
Université Montpellier IIIRouch & Cie. – un quintette – Article (French) by Andrea Paganini at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
Ethnic Portraits and Ethnofictiona
MubiThe war of dreams: exercises in ethno-fiction by Marc Augé (google books)
Ethnofiction : drama as a creative research practice in ethnographic filma
Mendley– Paper by Bloom, Elizabeth A., Ed.D., STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BINGHAMTON, 2006
Language description and "the new paradigm": What linguists may learn from ethnocinematographers– Article by Gerrit J. Dimmendaal, University of Cologne, a
University of Hawai'i at ManoaEthnofiction and the Work of Jean Roucha
UK Visual Anthropology*
{{Jean Rouch
Ethnography
Visual anthropology
Anthropology documentary films
Film genres
Cinematic techniques
Drama genres
Documentary film genres
Fiction by genre
Fiction forms
Television genres