TY - JOUR

T1 - Homo Hibernicus

T2 - myth, ethnography and nationalism in Robert Flaherty's Man of Aran

AU - Carney, James

PY - 2012/5/21

Y1 - 2012/5/21

N2 - Why did Robert Flaherty's Man of Aran resonate so strongly with the cultural milieu of 1930s Ireland? I argue that Flaherty's documentary, despite its mimetic intentions, has, in fact, the semiotic form of a foundation myth. A consequence of this, I suggest, was that Flaherty's film would have been instrumental in activating nationalist narratives of self-determination and colonial oppression that were then current in the nascent Irish State. Additionally, a subsidiary (and related) goal of my discussion is to show, by way of Flaherty's film, that the documentary form is no less structured by normative cultural codes than its fictional counterparts.

AB - Why did Robert Flaherty's Man of Aran resonate so strongly with the cultural milieu of 1930s Ireland? I argue that Flaherty's documentary, despite its mimetic intentions, has, in fact, the semiotic form of a foundation myth. A consequence of this, I suggest, was that Flaherty's film would have been instrumental in activating nationalist narratives of self-determination and colonial oppression that were then current in the nascent Irish State. Additionally, a subsidiary (and related) goal of my discussion is to show, by way of Flaherty's film, that the documentary form is no less structured by normative cultural codes than its fictional counterparts.

U2 - 10.1386/sdf.6.1.61_1

DO - 10.1386/sdf.6.1.61_1

M3 - Journal article

VL - 6

SP - 61

EP - 79

JO - Studies in Documentary Film

JF - Studies in Documentary Film

SN - 1750-3280

IS - 1

ER -