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Writing Himself Into History: Oscar Micheaux, His Silent Films, and His Audiences
Writing Himself Into History is an eagerly anticipated analysis of the career and artistry surrounding the legendary Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. With the exception of Spike Lee, Micheaux is the most famous—and prolific—African American film director. Between 1918 and 1948 he made more than 40 “race pictures,” movies made for and about African Americans. A man of immense creativity, he also wrote seven novels.
Pearl Bowser and Louise Spence concentrate here on the first decade of Micheaux’s career, when Micheaux produced and directed more than twenty silent features and built a reputation as a controversial and maverick entrepreneur. Placing his work firmly within his social and cultural milieu, they also examine Micheaeux’s family and life. The authors provide a close textual analysis of his surviving films (including The Symbol of the Unconquered, Within Our Gates, and Body and Soul), and highlight the rivalry between studios, dilemmas of assimilation versus separatism, gender issues, and class. In Search of Oscar Micheaux also analyzes Micheaux’s career as a novelist in relation to his work as a filmmaker.
This is a much-awaited book that is especially timely as interest in Micheaux’s work increases.
Pearl Bowser and Louise Spence concentrate here on the first decade of Micheaux’s career, when Micheaux produced and directed more than twenty silent features and built a reputation as a controversial and maverick entrepreneur. Placing his work firmly within his social and cultural milieu, they also examine Micheaeux’s family and life. The authors provide a close textual analysis of his surviving films (including The Symbol of the Unconquered, Within Our Gates, and Body and Soul), and highlight the rivalry between studios, dilemmas of assimilation versus separatism, gender issues, and class. In Search of Oscar Micheaux also analyzes Micheaux’s career as a novelist in relation to his work as a filmmaker.
This is a much-awaited book that is especially timely as interest in Micheaux’s work increases.
280 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2000
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August 14, 2017
What an education this book is! Although dry at times (just like a textbook), this was a history lesson and I felt like a sponge absorbing everything I read.
It took me a while to read it because I wanted to research names, and films, and events and books, and I still feel as if I haven’t dug deep enough. I have just a couple of Oscar Micheaux’s films that are available on DVD, so having gained a bit of knowledge, I went back to study the films more closely (and one of the things I realized is that my copy of Within Our Gates is missing scenes).
A filmmaker, homesteader, novelist, businessman, and promoter of Black life, Oscar Micheaux was a true renaissance man.
I will definitely be referring back to this book. He should be studied in film school if he isn’t already.
It took me a while to read it because I wanted to research names, and films, and events and books, and I still feel as if I haven’t dug deep enough. I have just a couple of Oscar Micheaux’s films that are available on DVD, so having gained a bit of knowledge, I went back to study the films more closely (and one of the things I realized is that my copy of Within Our Gates is missing scenes).
A filmmaker, homesteader, novelist, businessman, and promoter of Black life, Oscar Micheaux was a true renaissance man.
I will definitely be referring back to this book. He should be studied in film school if he isn’t already.
Displaying 1 of 1 review