D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation : art, culture and ethics in black and white / edited by Jenny Barrett, Douglas Field and Ian Scott.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Barrett, Jenny, 1968- editor.

Field, Douglas, 1974- editor.

Scott, Ian, 1965- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Griffith, D. W. (David Wark), 1875-1948--Influence.

Griffith, D. W.

Birth of a nation (Motion picture : 1915).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 258 pages) : illustrations; digital file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press, 2022.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

data file

Biography/History:

Jenny Barrett is Senior Lecturer in Film at Edge Hill University

Douglas Field is Senior Lecturer in Twentieth Century American Literature at the University of Manchester

Ian Scott is Professor of American Film and History at the University of Manchester

Summary:

More than a century after its release in 1915, D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation remains one of the most controversial films in cinema history. Drawing together a range of scholars and practitioners, this volume reveals a continued fascination in this film as a gauge of American racism and a milestone of early cinema that allows us to recognise the complex relationship between art, culture and ethics. Through stimulating analyses and new research on its reception, both on its release and one hundred years later, this book offers fresh, engaging perspectives on Birth. Topics include the presence of African American actors in the film, the craft of Griffith's racist dialectics, public reception of the film in the state of Virginia and re-reading promotion of the film as 'fake news'. It traces Birth's legacies through historical and contemporary cinema and art, demonstrating that its significance has not diminished. Vivid relationships are drawn between the film and the art of Kara Walker and Kehinde Wiley. Traditions are found both upheld and challenged in film works by Oscar Micheaux, Matthew McDaniel, DJ Spooky, Nate Parker and Quentin Tarantino. In the context of ongoing struggles over racial inequities in the twenty-first century, with white supremacist activity very much a part of the contemporary world, this book thus offers relevant and productive routes into the study of Griffith's film.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Figures

List of contributors

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 Black faces in The Birth of a Nation

2 The afterlife of stereotype

3 Kunle Olulode in conversation

4 Desegregating the screen

5 Examining the 'White Saviour' in The Birth of a Nation

6 A rope with two ends

7 The birth of an origin

8 The Birth of a Nation, Black documentary and the 1992 L.A. uprisings

9 'Go see it because it will make a better American of you'

10 Standing their ground

11 The Birth of a Nation

Afterword

Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 27 Feb 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher-supplied metadata and e-publication viewed on April 3, 2023.

ISBN:

9781526164469

1526164469

OCLC:

1467879571