In addition to geographically and ethnically different audiences, you 

can also consider historically different ones. The "active" audience is 

the typical audience before twentieth century US media audiences and the 

passive audiecne is mostly a construction of researchers. You probably 

know about sociability of nickelodeon audiences, but that is replicated 

in Italian puppet theaters of early 20th c in NYC, in drama theater of 

the Jacksonian era, in Elizabethan theater, in 18th c Parisian theater, 

etc. etc.



See Richard Butsch Making of American Audiences, Lawrenve Levine High 

Brow Low Brow, Bruce Mcconachie Melodramatic Formations, Marc Baer 

..Georgian Theater..., Jeff Ravel  The Contested Parterre,  etc etc  

(more if you wish).



Jimenez, Marilyn wrote:



>  I do not know of any essays on the topic, but you do not have to go to Puerto Rico or Lagos to witness very different forms of spectatorship.  Visit any inner city movie theater, and you will see Latino or Black audiences talk to the screen. For Latinos specially going to the movies is a 'family affair;' young children will run down the aisle, a picnic basket

>full of rice and beans occupies a seat etc.  People also often walk in in the middle of the film.

>-----Original Message-----

>From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List on behalf of Margot Bouman

>Sent: Mon 2/12/2007 3:35 PM

>To: [log in to unmask]

>Subject: [SCREEN-L] Spectatorship in Puerto Rico, Lagos, Mumbai...

> 

>Hi all:

>   

>  In an essay published in the 2002 Documenta catalogue, Michael Nash pointed out that, "much writing on video and film in the gallery can too easily gloss 'sitting in a cinema' with 'passivity,' or 'mobility' with 'freedom'.." As Nash goes on to elaborate, going to the movies in Puerto Rico, Lagos or Mumbai is to encounter a very different, active, call-and-response approach to spectatorship. 

>   

>  Can someone point me to writings on spectatorship practices in Puerto Rico, Lagos, Mumbai or elsewhere?  A description of the practices of Italian viewing audiences by Umberto Eco is widely circulated, but I have yet to find articles that focus on the groups that Nash listed.

>   

>  Thanks,

>  Margot

>

> 

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