Picturing the Primitive Visual Culture, Ethnography, and Early Germa
Primitive Pictures explores the relationship between early German cinema and anthropology's fascination with 'primitive' cultures. At the core of this study is a mythic first contact between the camera and the non-Western body. The term that binds the two
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Picturing the Primitive
Visual Culture, Ethnography, and Early German Cinema
Assenka Oksilo./f
palgrave
*
To my father; Assen Oksiloff, in loving memory. PICTURING THE PRIMITNE
Copyright © Assenka Oksiloff, 2001. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2001 978-0-312-23554-3 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published 2001 by PALGRAVETM 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingsroke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE is the new global publishing imprint of St. Martin's Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd. (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd.). ISBN 978-0-312-29373-4 ISBN 978-1-137-05687-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-05687-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Oksiloff, Assenka. Picturing the primitive: visual culture, ethnography, and early German cinema / Assenka Oksifoff. p. em. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Visual anthropology-Germany. 2. Motion pictures in ethnologyGermany. 3. Exoticism in motion pictures. 4. Motion picturesGermany-History. 1. Title. GN347.038 2001 301'.0943-dc21 2001021497 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Letra Libre, Inc. First edition: December 2001 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
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Contents
Acknowledgments
Vll
Introduction
Section I Filming the Primitive Chapter 1
The Body as Artifact: Early Cinema and Ethnography
15
Chapter 2
The Evolution of Vision: The Visual Culture of Early German Ethnographic Films
43
Paradise Lost: Colonialist and Adventure Films of the 1910s and 1920s
71
Chapter 3
Section II German Anthropology and Early Film Theory Chapter 4
Leo Frobenius and Kino-Vision
Chapter 5
Primitive Spectators: Lukacs and Hofmannsthal on Film
117
The Visible Man: The Film Theory of Bela Balazs
135
Chapter 6
99
Section III Conclusion: Documenting Primitive Cinema Chapter 7
Notes Bibliography Index
Ethnotopia: F. W Murnau's Tabu
161 179 207 219
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without a generous research fellowship from the Fulbright Commission as well as a grant from the German Academic Exchange Association (DAAD). In addition, I am indebted to the following institutions for sharing their invaluable resources: the Institut fur den Wissenschaftlichen Film, Gottingen; the Deutsches Institut fUr Filmkunde, Frankfurt; the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv and the Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York City. Thanks to Jorg Schoning and the staff of Cinegraph for drawing my attention to important materials pertaining to adventure films. The Osterreichische Phonotek provided rare photographs included in this volume. lowe my appreciation to Ms. Jutta Neimann for her willingness to share fascinating materials from the Hans Schomburgk Archives.
