A critical examination of the films of Oscar Micheaux. One of the most original and successful filmmakers of all time, Oscar Micheaux was born into a rural, working-class, African-American family in mid-America in 1884, yet he created an impressive legacy in commercial cinema. Between 1913 and 1951 he wrote, directed, and distributed some forty-three feature films, more than any other black filmmaker in the world, a record of production that is likely to stand for a very long time. Micheaux's work was founded upon the ...
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A critical examination of the films of Oscar Micheaux. One of the most original and successful filmmakers of all time, Oscar Micheaux was born into a rural, working-class, African-American family in mid-America in 1884, yet he created an impressive legacy in commercial cinema. Between 1913 and 1951 he wrote, directed, and distributed some forty-three feature films, more than any other black filmmaker in the world, a record of production that is likely to stand for a very long time. Micheaux's work was founded upon the concern for class mobility, or uplift, for African Americans. Uplift provided the context for Micheaux's extensive commentary on racist cinema, such as D. W. Griffith's 1915 blockbuster, The Birth of a Nation, which Micheaux "answered" with his very early films Within Our Gates and Symbol of the Unconquered. Uplift explains Micheaux's use of "negative images" of African Americans as well as his multi-pronged campaign against stereotype and caricature in American culture. His campaign produced a body of films saturated with a nuanced intertexual "signifying," boldly and repeatedly treating controversial topics that face white censorship time after time, topics ranging from white mob and Klan violence to light-skin-color fetish to white financing of black cultural productions.
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Add this copy of Straight Lick: the Cinema of Oscar Micheaux to cart. $21.50, like new condition, Sold by George Houle rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Palm Springs, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Bloomington, Indiana University Press [2000]..
Edition:
2000, Bloomington, Indiana University Press [2000].
Publisher:
Bloomington, Indiana University Press [2000].
Published:
2000
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
9835561267
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. First edition. 8vo. 6 page introduction by the author. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Dust jacket (unclipped). Fine. 295 pages + i-xvi. No signatures or bookplates. Provenance: from the estate of Charles Williamson.
