VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY - CINEMA

Course Title: «Voir mais alors voir». The Use of the Gaze in Ethnographic Fieldwork

Through the sentence ‘Voir, mais alors voir’, André Breton, in his novel "Nadja" (1928), called for a philosophy of the gaze rooted in going beyond the simple act of looking. The suggestion presented in "Nadja" evokes the exercise of an active, critical and reflective gaze, capable of deconstructing what appears immediately visible and of grasping not only the subjects being observed, but also the whole network of relationships, practices and meanings that constitute a specific ethnographic and social context.
Following this suggestion, this course offers an introduction to the various ethnographic practices of seeing and looking through the study and critical analysis of the textures of visual fabrics, composed of local structures, representations, reifications, regimes and wars of images, and art without history.

The course is aimed at students undertaking a Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology and Ethnolinguistics, or at students from other disciplines who are interested in the critical tools offered by the discipline and its ethnographic application, with particular attention to the ethnographic use of film and photographic imagery and to the preservation, through these media, of ephemeral intangible anthropological heritage that would otherwise be lost.
The overall aim of the course is to provide students with the analytical tools necessary to undertake the visual analysis of ethnographic contexts, including through field trips in Venice or the Lagoon designed to teach them how to conduct field research.

Attendance and active participation in the course (lectures, written or oral assignments produced during the course), viewing ethnographic documentaries and visual materials, taking part in workshop discussions, and studying the examination material will enable students to:
1. Gain an understanding of anthropological theories and methods applied to the study of images
2. Acquire the knowledge and understanding required to experiment with image-centred ethnographic research methods
3. Acquire the basic analytical tools necessary to analyse and evaluate the production of images as a method of anthropological research
4. Deepen their understanding of anthropological theory and become familiar with audio-visual analysis
5. Organise and critically summarise the topics and ideas learnt during lectures and whilst preparing for the examination.
6. To refine one’s gaze through an anthropological lens

It is suggested that students attend the course after having passed and attended at least two of the core examinations of the ACEL degree course.

The course introduces students to the main themes of the anthropology of images:

- definition and theoretical approaches to the study of images;
- the method of visual fieldwork;
- ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and the construction of images;
- the study of editing and framing;
- analysis of ethnographic documentaries and ethnographic photography;
- practical workshop: field trips aimed at comparing ‘perspectives’ and ethnographic images.

The theoretical issues will be illustrated using visual materials drawn from various local contexts, whilst also taking into account exhibitions and the production and circulation of images in everyday life.

The complete programme will be available in September


The reading list is still being defined.
Walter Benjamin, Piccola storia della fotografia in L'opera d'arte nell'epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica, Einaudi, 2000, pp. 57-78.
Aby Warburg, Il rituale del serpente, Adelphi, 1998.
Pietro Meloni, Apocalissi visuali. Guerra, immagini e social media, in Lares, 2022, pp. 31-54.
Silvia Paggi, “Considerazioni sulla mediazione della parola in antropologia filmica”, in Voci, 95, 2015, pp. 95-108.
Elena Zapponi, Primitivismi rovesciati. Immagini della mulatta tra Cuba e l'Europa, in Mulier ludens. Bellezza e immagini della mulatta, pp. 187- 249.

Further reading
Francesco Faeta, "A partire da un taglio. Immagini, allocronia, anacronismo" in Le ragioni dello sguardo, Bollati Boringhieri, 2011, pp. 50-67
“Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson on the Use of the Camera in Anthropology” in Studies in Visual Communication 4, no. 2, pp. 78–80.
Roland Barthes, La camera chiara. Note sulla fotografia. Torino, Einaudi, 1980.
Silvia Paggi, Voix-off et commentaire dans le cinéma doumentaire et ethnographique, in Cahiers de narratologie, 20, 2011.
Susan Sontag, Sulla fotografia, Torino, Einaudi.



Visuale references
"Nanook of the North", di Robert Flaherty
"Essere donne" di Cecila Mangini
"Il Male di San Donato" di Luigi Di Gianni
"Nascita di un culto" di Luigi Di Gianni, testo di Annabella Rossi
"Venezia Minore", "La gondola" e "Piccioni a Venezia" di Francesco Pasinetti
"La noire de" di Ousmane Sembène
"Guanabacoa. Cronica de mi familia" di Sara Goméz
"Los del baile" di Nicolás Guillén Landrián
Jean Rouch, Petit à petit
Agnés Varda, Daguerréotypes

The final assessment consists of an oral examination and a project in the form of either a photographic essay or a short documentary, to be submitted to the instructor two months before the date of the oral examination. The examination requirements are the same for students who do not attend the course.

oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

The examination grade will be established during an oral examination.
The exam grade will be determined through an oral examination.
Assessment will be based on the level of knowledge and understanding of the exam material, as well as analytical skills and the ability to personally elaborate on the content.

More specifically:
A sufficient performance (18–22/30) demonstrates the student’s ability to reflect on the entire exam syllabus.
A good performance (22–26/30) demonstrates the student’s ability to analytically elaborate on the course content.
An excellent performance (27–30/30) demonstrates critical thinking on environmental conflicts and the ability to connect different topics from the syllabus.
A distinction (30/30 cum laude) is awarded to students who demonstrate in-depth understanding, critical analysis, and autonomous, cross-cutting connections between the required readings.

Viewing and discussion in class of selected documentaries and films; educational visits to museums or within the urban area; possible field research workshops in the Venice Lagoon.
Throughout the course, supplementary reading materials will be uploaded to MOODLE.
The course addresses the main theoretical and methodological issues through lectures and introduces the procedures and requirements for delivering classroom presentations:
Students present an article or chapter specified in the reading materials in collaboration with their classmates. The aim of this presentation is to consolidate the course content, stimulate classroom debate and foster discussion.