structural part of state building in early modern China.As a result, the intimate links between early modernChinese ‘‘internal orientalism,’’ and the emergence andspread of modern Chinese nationalism(s) in the 20thcentury become more evident (see also Louisa Schein,‘‘Gender and Internal Orientalism in China,’’ ModernChina 1997:69–98). Taken together, both of Hostetler’smonographs work to challenge the Eurocentric basis ofcolonial studies that followed the pioneering work ofEdward Said’s Orientalism (1979). As Hostetler notes,‘‘the very possibility of ‘‘non-Western’’ colonialism isonly beginning to be considered’’ (l), and ‘‘illustratedethnographic albums are part and parcel of an ethnog-raphy of expansion that emerged worldwide during theearly modern period’’ (lxi).

Hostetler’s insightful use of this Miao album atteststo the salience of recently emerging studies of non-Western colonialisms. Further, this innovative analysishighlights the importance of the visual in representa-tions aimed at knowing and ultimately controllingminority border communities. The rich illustrationsprovide visual ethnographic detail which is difficult toachieve in written accounts and also draw the reader’sattention to debates about ethnographic representation.By its nature, each entry holds valuable historic andethnographic detail about the subjects, authors, andviewers of the albums in the 18th century. Every entryalso raises questions about the extent to which membersof the ethnic groups that are represented influencedthese observations.

Lacking in Hostetler’s analysis is an examination ofthe fact that Miao albums were commissioned not byHan officials, but by the Manchu rulers of the Qing Dy-nasty. While the Manchu generally promoted Confucianvalues and enlisted ethnically Han magistrates to governand report on the border regions of the empire, they of-ten strategically emphasized their own ethnic distinctionfrom the majority Han. Along the Qing empire’s territo-rial borders, this emphasis on ethnic distinction wasoften exemplified by a promotion of ethnic affinitybetween the Manchu and other frontier peoples. TheManchu based this ethnic affinity on issues such as re-ligious differences, which offered a distinct contrast tothe Confucian cultural value system of the majority Han.Relations among Manchu, Mongols, and Tibetans in thenorthern and western frontier areas offer some of thebest examples of Manchu camaraderie with frontierpeoples. Such examples illustrate that the Manchu-ruledQing state appears in many ways to have cajoled coop-eration from minority ethnic groups, rather thanpromoting forceful assimilation. The Miao albums canbe viewed as a valuable example of this less overtly ag-gressive project that aimed to consolidate and legitimate

Manchu rule. A more detailed examination of this facetis warranted.

The Art of Ethnography provides fertile groundworkfor continued research into the internal colonial prac-tices of the Qing empire, as well as other non-Westernethnographic practices of the early modern period.Hostetler’s analysis is therefore not only valuable in thecontext of Chinese studies, but also offers an insightfulplatform for support analyses in much broader contexts.This work succeeds in raising significant questions aboutthe connections between ethnic awareness and the riseof modern nationalism, both inside and outside of China.

From historical and postcolonial studies to anthro-pological and museum studies, Hostetler and Deal’screative and critical use of this 18th-century Miao albumwill be widely valued. The monograph provides both amethodological and theoretical basis for analyzing andunderstanding the worldwide colonial encounter, theconstruction of ethnicity, the ethnographic representa-tion of the Other, and the making of multi-ethnic statessince the early modern period.

Visualizing Anthropology

Anna Grimshaw and Amanda Ravetz, eds. Bristol, UK:Intellect Books, 2005.

Yeoh Seng-GuanMonash University

The key contention of this compact collection of essaysis that there continues to be an unfruitful chasm between‘‘anthropologies of the visual’’ and ‘‘visual practice it-self’’ (1). The provenance of visual anthropology goesback to the origins of ‘‘salvage anthropology,’’ with theubiquitous use of the camera to visually document thematerial cultures and practices of unfamiliar and exoticpeoples in the colonies. However, the editors claim thatthe fieldworker’s body mimicked the photographicprocess itself during the professionalization of anthro-pology as an academic discipline. The subsequentdenigration of the visual is thus correlated with thestrategy of asserting ethnographic authority throughwritten text.

This legacy has spilled over into contemporary vi-sual anthropology, which until recently has continued tobe theoretically framed by the discursive concerns ofacademia in contrast to the epistemological possibilitiesof visual techniques and forms. This has resulted in‘‘films about anthropology’’ rather than ‘‘anthropologi-cal films.’’ Echoing David MacDougall, a key proponent

Book Reviews 77

of visual anthropology, Anna Grimshaw and AmandaRavetz characterize the latter as a process of inquiry inwhich ‘‘knowledge is not prior but emerges through thevery grain of film-making’’ (3). As is well known, thisis a methodological stance typified in ‘‘observationalcinema,’’ which assumes the possibility that the ‘‘film-maker and subject exist in a shared physical and imagi-native space, one that encompasses but is not necessarilysynonymous with the events that are filmed’’ (7).

Despite the many merits of ‘‘observational cinema,’’the editors suggest the timeliness of forging new path-ways given the recent theoretical turn toward what maybe called simply ‘‘an anthropology of the senses,’’ as wellas less angst over interdisciplinary borrowings. Morespecifically, they encourage more experimentation, col-laborative effort, and a greater traffic of ideas withpractitioners like artists, writers, photographers, andfilmmakers in order to explore the aesthetic possibilitiesof image-based forms and the ‘‘intelligence of sight.’’ Inthe final analysis, the editors hope that these kinds ofventures may help to constitute visual anthropology as a‘‘radical form of ethnographic enquiry’’ (15).

This hybrid posture is consciously reflected in thespectrum of authors contributing to the book. However,those hoping for treatises, formulaic recipes, or even acatalog of teaching practices in Visualizing Anthropol-ogy would have to look elsewhere. What is offeredinstead is a collection of succinct philosophical and re-flexive pieces on each contributor’s mode of visualengagement with the world. A number of salient themesrun throughout the chapters, including the quest to betrue to the social realities of one’s research subjects, to bemindful of the politics of representation, and to cre-atively stretch the ideals of one’s own respective craft.Each essay plots the dilemmas and competing imageriesthat impinge upon and inflect the authors’ past projects.

Five of the 12 authors have been associated with theGranada Centre for Visual Anthropology based at Man-chester University, either as teaching staff or graduatestudents. A number of the latter, such as Julie Mogganand Rachel Robertson, have gone on to work in the me-dia industry and pen critical reflections on the uneasyrelations between the utopian-like principles of ‘‘obser-vational cinema’’ and the pragmatic demands of theindustry. Similarly, other contributors, primarily fromthe fields of fine arts, film, and social anthropology,provide illuminating accounts of their experiences in thecomplex, messy, oftentimes intuitive, and experientialpractices of visual makingFwhether in the contexts of adocumentary video installation (Inga Burrows), a con-sultant on a movie set (Arnd Schneider), or revisiting afieldwork site with new interdisciplinary sensibilities(Amanda Ravetz). In the case of Judith Okely’s chapter,

her own memories become the site for an ‘‘ethnographyin action’’ as she and her co-traveler are filmed subver-sively remembering reenacting repressive bodilydisciplines at their elitist former alma mater. If some ofthe chapters lend themselves to an overly serious tone,Margaret Loescher’s piece reminds us of the liberatingelement of playful creation as evidenced by the city kidsshe researched and filmed. The traffic in visual perspec-tives is not all one-way. Essays by Roanna Heller andAmanda Ravetz point to ethnographic fieldworkFtheenduring strength of anthropologyFin enriching artis-tic expressions through an attention to long-terminvolvement and encounters.

Reading Visualizing Anthropology has proved illu-minating in interrogating my own recent work. With noformal training, I consider myself a neophyte to the fieldof visual anthropology, though I have recently engagedwith it via a project I conducted in the mountain resort ofBaguio City, in the Cordilleran region of the Philippines.In this fieldwork stint, I produced my first two ethno-graphic videos of contrasting durations and styles. Thelonger documentary, Sidewalk Capitalism: Being aStreet Vendor in Baguio City (Y. Seng-Guan. 70 min.Malaysia, 2006) focuses on the daily routines, anxieties,and challenges faced by selected sidewalk vendors inBaguio City. Their narratives were supplemented by thecommentaries of local community leaders, social activ-ists, and a key city official involved in punitive actionsagainst these vendors. A much shorter piece, The Gladi-ator Cock (Y. Seng-Guan. 10 min. Malaysia, 2006), wasthe outcome of an afternoon spent in a cockfightingarena toward the end of my fieldwork.

My interest in the making of these ethnographicdocumentaries was sparked by a growing desire to ex-periment with a technology and medium which seem tooffer greater accessibility in showing the subject matterof the production of capitalist space, urban poverty, andrights to the city. Before the project, I quickly learned thetechniques of camerawork and nonlinear digital editingthrough activist friends working in a communication-based NGO oriented toward promoting communitymedia and human rights standards in Malaysia and theSoutheast Asian region. Their pedagogical concerns ofgiving voice to the marginalized and facilitatingempowerment through popular media inflected themaking of Sidewalk Capitalism. This is partly reflectedin a blog that I maintained for the duration of my field-work (http://insearchofbaguio.blogsome.com). WhileSidewalk Capitalism deployed the strategy of talkingheads to orientate the viewer toward the life-worldsof my informants, The Gladiator Cock had minimalcommentary. After reading Visualizing Anthropology,I see avenues for reframing both projects, as editors

78 VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY REVIEW Volume 25 Number 1 Spring 2009

Grimshaw and Ravetz programmatically put it, into‘‘more visual’’ terms. That visual translation would beno less challenging as far as the demands and dilemmasof anthropological fieldwork, but would now involvemore innovative modes of visual interpretation andpresentation.

Visualizing Anthropology is a welcome addition tothe steadily growing stock of publications on the field.To paraphrase one of the contributors (Pavel Buchler),this book offers persuasive accounts of why visual an-thropologists must be set free to give more creativevisual forms to their research projects, even if their work‘‘makes nothing happen’’ in the first instance.

From Shane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western

Patrick McGee. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007.

Jane M. FergusonThe Australian National University

The Western, as a film genre, has often been consideredto be purely politically conservative. In his book, FromShane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western, PatrickMcGee urges us to reconsider this stance. Revisitingmultiple and diverse exemplars of the Western, theauthor argues that the Western can, and often does,expose the contradictions of capital, even though itinevitably returns to reinforce them as well. Thebook provides close readings of the films Shane, Stage-coach, Heaven’s Gate, and Kill BillFthe latterof which the author briefly and ironically claims is nota Western. Crucial to McGee’s examination of thesefilms is the way in which he brings them into con-versation with each other through the lenses of class,masculinity, and the role of the individual in relation toclass struggle.

One of the most compelling film readings in thisbook is that of the George Stevens film, Shane. Focusinglargely on the class antagonisms illustrated in the film,McGee argues, it is ‘‘the structural violence of the capi-talist social system that Shane cannot transcend, even indeath. At once it makes his coming back impossible andinevitable’’ (19). While on the one hand, we are com-pelled by Shane’s case in that he cannot escape the gripsof capital’s oppression, it is in his very refusal to acceptthe job offered to him by Ryker that he shows that hisvalue will not be reduced to wage labor and hence, tocapitalist exploitation. According to McGee, this thenconstitutes an exposure of the contradictions of capital,even though the antagonisms are never resolved. As the

author continues, this is the influential role of Westernsas a genre, in that they can ‘‘articulate the very con-tradiction they work so hard to disavow’’ (217). It wasbecause of this articulation of class antagonisms withinthe Western that Hollywood leftists took an interest inwriting B-Westerns (32), which raises the possibility thatmany class messages could have been inserted relatively‘‘below the radar’’ in a generally conservative industry.

According to McGee’s readings of these films, al-though the Western exposes these contradictions, theantagonisms are reflexively thrust back upon the indi-vidual, who can be a ‘‘material location for culturalresistance’’ (33). What is of interest in this analysis is thatit filters the problem of class antagonism through thelens of the solitary individual, rather than a class strug-gle or larger organization. Clearly this is not the goal ofthe Western as a genre, but focusing on the individual asthe material location for resistance is a distinct turnaway from solidarity projects. McGee argues that evenMarx himself had ‘‘decided initially to go it alone, toseparate himself from the dominant system of valuespeculiar to his own class and social situation’’ (33).

As mentioned earlier, although McGee argues thatQuentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill is not a Western, a signifi-cant portion of the book’s conclusion is devoted to thefilm. The Western clearly is invoked at a metonymiclevel throughout Kill Bill, but a prior definition of theWestern as a genre appears to be tacitly assumed ratherthan articulated by McGee. Were the non-Western ele-ments of Kill Bill better articulated, this would givethe reader a better understanding of the conventions ofthe genre itself. The inclusion of the film is particularlytimely, however, and relevant to the author’s discussionof how the image of the individual gunfighter shapes ourunderstanding of the nature and role of the politicalsubject in the late 20th century. According to McGee, thepresent culture is one in which the divisions betweencapital and labor are not as apparent as they were pre-viously (111). Therefore, one can extrapolate that theWestern, as a genre, is now faced with a greater chal-lenge in articulating those antagonisms than it was inprevious decades.

In terms of practical applications of the book, FromShane to Kill Bill can also potentially be used in theclassroom. In film or cultural studies courses, McGee’sclose analyses of these Westerns would make for goodcompanion reading alongside screenings of the films.Given that much of the rich discussion of the films seemsto be predicated on the expectation that the reader wouldhave prior familiarity with the plots and characters in therespective films, this book may be less suitable as astand-alone assigned reading in a course. Ultimately,From Shane to Kill Bill is a timely interrogation of a

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