Emphasis on the individual....

Lorang has a voice and a lot to say......

Lorangs Way was unique in that it was all narration, and this time not belonging to some stuffy sounding anthroplogist or someone with a dull un-excited tone. It was Lorang, part of the Turkana tribe, telling about his life and his personal story. The MacDougals are in a sense "giving" their film to Lorang. Its almost as if they are allowing the people in the Turkana culture to really be heard without the over analyzing or sometimes racist sounding ethnographers.
Words have a power, and by allowing Lorang to speak directly to the camera without voice- overs was in a way giving Lorang power.

The film seemed very unfiltered and raw at times (even though we all know parts of it were edited). For exmaple, the part where Lorang is showing his home and where everyone lives. He is guiding the camera and you (as a viewer) are taken along on a trip with him while he uses his own, un-edited words to explain each place. The MacDougals also offer an interesting interview with Lorangs good friend. His friend is then "given the film" in which he speaks openly and freely in his own native language about his own friend. I think it is exdtremely effective in trying to portray an ethnographid film as objectively as you can.

There is virtually no ethnographer in the film. You do not see the MacDouals or really ever hear them. I think this film was a great example of what ethnography film should look like. It seemed raw and unassuming of a culture. As well MacDougal in his essay writes about how it is important to look at an individual. "In emphasizing the individual, visual anthropologists may be more likely to depart from the idea of culture as a set of discrete structures and approach it instead as a series of variations on a theme: a convergence of the personal, historical, and material at a particular time and place." (p.271)
Looking at a culture from an individual point of referencce is important because it shows that a culture is not just one huge representation. There are many voices withing a culture or group that need to be studied, in which you can grasp an idea of the larger culture through different ways such as personal stories and histories.



In Transcultural Cinema MacDougal clearly points out the differences in written anthropology versus visual anthropology. At times he seems to lean towards visual anthropology as more beneficial and rewarding. We went over this quote briefly but I think it is central to his idea overall. He says, "Although it would be mistaken to deny the possibiilty of access to sensory experience in anthropological writing, visual anthropology opens more directly onto the sensorium than written texts ande creates psychological and somatic forms of intersubjectivity between viewer and social actor. In films, we achieve identification with others through a synchrony with their bodies made possible in large part by vision..." (p.262).
This quote is showing that a written text does not allow us to phyically see "the body" or make a connection with whatever is being written about. It allows us to feel more emotional and relatable to what we see on the camera rathen than what we are just reading in a book.

I would have to agree with him. I think he has a very valid and legitimate point about how visual can evoke more senses and create more psychological connections with what is being seen. There is somethin in visually observing and watching a film about a culture that can not be realted in words. It forces us to look at something, as is, in the way it was supposed to be seen as (if the ethnography is done well). Written text can sometimes take away from learning about a culture. While vital and important it doesnt seems to give us a direct connection with the group or individual that is being talked about.


MacDougall later goes on to say, "The value of visual anthropology lies in its distinctiveness from ethnographic writing, including the transcultural properties of visual images. It lies in creating new conceptions of ethnography, rather than adapting vision to written froms." (p,271) Visual Ethnography is something innovative in which it is freed from constraints that are placed on writing. It allows a viewer to see images, which according to MacDougall, are much more open-ended and open to interpretation than words.

In class we also talked about how one of the authors felt that by using observation it allows for the ethnographer's real voice to come through. I would have to disagree also. Although it sometimes is very beneficial to use observation it is not the best means to allow an ethnographers view or point to come through.