{"title":"“白色的黑暗”","authors":"Elliot Evans","doi":"10.1080/0969725x.2022.2093972","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Rather than considering the modernist aesthetic of primitivism as singular, this article contends that there are multiple and diverse primitivist projects. Each of these speaks to its historical context, and this article considers that of the Ukrainian-born, American avant-garde film-maker Maya Deren’s primitivist investments in Haiti through her published writing, diary entries and her film footage produced between 1948 and 1953. Deren’s work must be understood in relation to US imperialism and the occupation of Haiti (1915–34). It is also informed by her complex modernist aesthetics, Trotskyist politics and proximity to the New Negro movement through her association with choreographer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham. Despite a clearly articulated modernist vision for her film in Haiti, when confronted with the material reality of Haiti itself Deren abandoned her film in favour of a written “personal ethnography.” This article considers Deren’s refusal of film and the fracturing of her aesthetic gaze, framed as a refusal to manipulate reality, in the context of colonial ethnographic film. Finally, it considers the legacy of – and resistance to – Western imperialism and voyeurism informing Haitian artistic works today, as well as the policies of the Geto Byenal (Ghetto Biennale), held in Port-au-Prince from 2009 onwards.","PeriodicalId":45929,"journal":{"name":"ANGELAKI-JOURNAL OF THE THEORETICAL HUMANITIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"THE “WHITE DARKNESS”\",\"authors\":\"Elliot Evans\",\"doi\":\"10.1080/0969725x.2022.2093972\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Abstract Rather than considering the modernist aesthetic of primitivism as singular, this article contends that there are multiple and diverse primitivist projects. Each of these speaks to its historical context, and this article considers that of the Ukrainian-born, American avant-garde film-maker Maya Deren’s primitivist investments in Haiti through her published writing, diary entries and her film footage produced between 1948 and 1953. Deren’s work must be understood in relation to US imperialism and the occupation of Haiti (1915–34). It is also informed by her complex modernist aesthetics, Trotskyist politics and proximity to the New Negro movement through her association with choreographer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham. Despite a clearly articulated modernist vision for her film in Haiti, when confronted with the material reality of Haiti itself Deren abandoned her film in favour of a written “personal ethnography.” This article considers Deren’s refusal of film and the fracturing of her aesthetic gaze, framed as a refusal to manipulate reality, in the context of colonial ethnographic film. Finally, it considers the legacy of – and resistance to – Western imperialism and voyeurism informing Haitian artistic works today, as well as the policies of the Geto Byenal (Ghetto Biennale), held in Port-au-Prince from 2009 onwards.\",\"PeriodicalId\":45929,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"ANGELAKI-JOURNAL OF THE THEORETICAL HUMANITIES\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.2000,\"publicationDate\":\"2022-07-04\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"ANGELAKI-JOURNAL OF THE THEORETICAL HUMANITIES\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725x.2022.2093972\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"社会学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"0\",\"JCRName\":\"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ANGELAKI-JOURNAL OF THE THEORETICAL HUMANITIES","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725x.2022.2093972","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Rather than considering the modernist aesthetic of primitivism as singular, this article contends that there are multiple and diverse primitivist projects. Each of these speaks to its historical context, and this article considers that of the Ukrainian-born, American avant-garde film-maker Maya Deren’s primitivist investments in Haiti through her published writing, diary entries and her film footage produced between 1948 and 1953. Deren’s work must be understood in relation to US imperialism and the occupation of Haiti (1915–34). It is also informed by her complex modernist aesthetics, Trotskyist politics and proximity to the New Negro movement through her association with choreographer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham. Despite a clearly articulated modernist vision for her film in Haiti, when confronted with the material reality of Haiti itself Deren abandoned her film in favour of a written “personal ethnography.” This article considers Deren’s refusal of film and the fracturing of her aesthetic gaze, framed as a refusal to manipulate reality, in the context of colonial ethnographic film. Finally, it considers the legacy of – and resistance to – Western imperialism and voyeurism informing Haitian artistic works today, as well as the policies of the Geto Byenal (Ghetto Biennale), held in Port-au-Prince from 2009 onwards.
期刊介绍:
Angelaki: journal of the theoretical humanities was established in September 1993 to provide an international forum for vanguard work in the theoretical humanities. In itself a contentious category, "theoretical humanities" represents the productive nexus of work in the disciplinary fields of literary criticism and theory, philosophy, and cultural studies. The journal is dedicated to the refreshing of intellectual coordinates, and to the challenging and vivifying process of re-thinking. Angelaki: journal of the theoretical humanities encourages a critical engagement with theory in terms of disciplinary development and intellectual and political usefulness, the inquiry into and articulation of culture.