`mad Masters` And Jean Rouchs `les Maîtres Fous`

Sacred Rites and the Function of Religion in Les Maotres FousFive decades after it was produced and invited the resentment of its audiences , Les Maotres Fous continues to be hailed as a landmark film in ethnography . Henley (2006 ) observes that the film is one of the most salient among the many films that Rouch made in a span of more than cubic decimetre years (p . 732 ) This observation presents a stark contrast to the film producer s own ambivalence close the power of Les Maotres Fous Lim (2002 ) notes that Rouch s attempt to prevail the film as depicting the colonial white lords as the true mad masters was rather lame compared to the solid themes that can be identified from its images (p .41 ) Arguably , Les Maotres Fous is made arouse and provocative not only for the controversial images it contains and the image of Africa it conjures barely also for the valuable insights it provides on the meanings and symbols of religion and religious rituals for African pile in relation to their historical and cultural realities and experiences Les Maotres Fous or Mad MastersJean Rouch s (1955 ) Les Maotres Fous or Mad Masters is an ethnography about the spirit-possession ceremonies of the Hauka , a religious sect in Ghana , Africa . The go for of the Hauka was prevalent among members of immigrant communities such as Songhay and Zerma people (referred to as Zabrama in the film ) who came from the rural areas in the Niger and became workers in the cities of Ghana , then settled by the British . Rouch , using his camera and an improvised tape rec to capture sound simultaneously with the visuals , captures the image of puppet sacrifice , trance , and spirit possession among Hauka practitioners (Ricard 2004 ,.

7 Les Maotres Fous gained repute for showing the participants of the Hauka rites kill and then eat a mark in their moments of trance and possession , wherein they are possessed by spirits identified with colonial powers (Lim 2002 ,. 40 Henley 2006 ,. 731 ) The footage of the rituals provoked an incensed reaction from both the Europeans and the Africans , who alleged that the film was racist in both ways , depicting unfair caricatures of both the colonizers and the colonized . The film was subsequently banned by the British from beingness shown in Africa and denounced by French anthropologists as a scoffing that must be destroyed by Rouch himself (Lim 2002 ,. 40 ) Rouch , in defense of his work , suggests in the film that his documentary shows how the Songhay-Zerma people use the Hauka ritual as a coping tool to endure their low social status and degrading duty as laborers and workers in menial jobsAmbiguity of the SacredThe European s and African s take aback at the images of the religious ritual is not entirely impress as pervasive ethnocentrism opens the film to the risk of being interpreted out of context . Indeed , the hauka , just like opposite primitive rituals , involves practices that may be considered violent by outsiders , especially...If you postulate to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

If you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my paper