Abstract
Commercial cinema has influenced how we perceive other filmmaking modes; even when we are aware of the alternate intentions of a film. It is invested in clear cut narrative renderings of familiar plots. Our responses to commercial fictionalized films hinge largely on the effectiveness of those narratives. The exotic settings and spectacular practices in traditional ethnographic films make it easy to take them on the level of entertainment. Textual characteristics resembling those from cinema those drawn from other modes including ethnographic film – by cinema aid our ability to disengage with the informative aspect. This further problematizes the debate about anthropological objectivity versus cinematic pretense that has persisted throughout the history of ethnographic film theory. I analyzed ethnographic films by Jean Rouch, John Marshall, and Robert Gardner using a framework combining Heider’s attributes of ethnographicness with Odin’s semio-pragmatic approach. I also assessed the films in terms of Odin’s home movie textual characteristics. I determined that ethnographic films share characteristics with commercial cinema, but they can also be likened to essays, as they are composed towards a certain thesis. The aspect of composition can be likened to “ethnographic fiction” in written ethnography. Ethnographic films also resemble home movies in terms of some textual characteristics, but the presence of narrative supersedes the visual characteristics.