Title: Transcending the 'dust': African-American filmmakers preserving the 'glimpse of the eternal'
Abstract: IntroductionIn Africa, it is often said that when an old man dies, library burns to ground. As oral tradition fades by which accumulated lore has been passed on, filmmakers step into void to fulfill ancient task of village storytellers through newer medium of cinema ... share best films about multifaceted global experience of African and African descended people through eyes of Screen Griots-African and African descended filmmakers, our new cinematic storytellers. (Alice Stephens 1997, 1)According to Julie Carthy, stories in oral tradition can be described as those, which people formulate, pick up, and carry along as part of their cultural freight. She also stresses that the most common criterion for definition of folklore is its means of transmission, that is, orally (Carthy 1984). Oral history is story passed down by word of mouth from one generation to another. Oral traditional motifs can be seen in diverse artistic forms such as epics, myths, legends, fairytales, fables, proverbs, riddles, songs, jokes, insults, toasts, nursery rhymes, street vendors' cries and prayers. Non-verbal forms include games, symbols, quilt designs, and festivals. Bascom has described these oral traditional motifs as a bridge between literate and non-literate societies (qtd. in Carthy 1984).These oral traditional motifs perform multifarious functions within society, which have been enumerated by Adams and Dundes in terms of validation, maintenance of conformity, social control, diversion or escapism and education. Orality possesses continuing relevance in society, and this is revealed through its transformation into written, filmic and electronic forms.The glimpse of eternal is expression used by Nana Peazant and her unborn great-grand-daughter in Julie Dash's film Daughters of Dust. It describes ancestral memories residing in hearts and minds of Americans of African descent, memories kept through oral history. This paper explores interface between history and literature, throughout African American Diaspora. Julie Dash and Zeinabu irene Davis are part of crop of growing number of independent African American women filmmakers who actively affirm oral history of African Americans in their films. In consonance with Alice Stephens's quote above, these two female directors can be regarded as Screen Griots, telling story of African Americans and relics of their past. Julie Dash's film, Daughters of Dust and Zeinabu irene Davis's Mother of River go back in time to show foremothers of race clutching tenaciously to their history in order to re-state their identity and to impart dignity and meaning to lives of their children. Through these films, we see how African culture has survived middle passage (the transportation of Blacks as slaves through Trans Atlantic slave route) and how cultural artifacts have impacted upon lives of Africans in Diaspora.Such films are important on three basic levels. First, historical facts in films affirm that African Americans possess history. They did not just drop from sky nor were they belched out from pit of hell. Matriarchs like Nana and Mother of River tell their offspring that they were reluctant passengers on Atlantic Ocean, but they have retained their pride. Their collective heads bloodied but unbowed, their spirit bruised but not broken, they show their progeny that they have heritage that they can be proud of. Melville Herskovits has opined that enduring nature of African customs in America is result of role of some intransigent priests taken as slaves and transported to America as result of African dynastic quarrels. These priests helped to keep constituent elements of African culture vibrantly alive (cited in Humm 1997, 130). Priestly characters have intense spiritual and iconic import in films. …
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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