It's an older text, but Bill Nichols' IDEOLOGY AND THE IMAGE had a useful section on ethnographic film and the context of the book as a whole might be helpful to your student. Don Larsson ___________________________________________________ "Only connect!" --E.M. Forster Donald F. Larsson, Professor English Department, Minnesota State University, Mankato Mail: 230 Armstrong Hall, Minnesota State University Mankato, MN 56001 Office Phone: 507-389-2368 ________________________________________ From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank, Michael [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 11:01 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [SCREEN-L] query on documentary i have a student who wants to do an extended term paper on "documentary and representation" -- a topic about which i know precious little since all my work is on fiction film . . . i'm wondering if anyone on the list can direct me to some useful introductions to the topic or explorations of it accessible to a general reader i should point out that my student, although very bright and dedicated, is studying business -- and is taking my cinema class simply to satisfy a requirement -- which means that she has no background in these areas, or even in the conventions of liberal arts inquiry . . . so i'm hoping for something that, while not dumbing down a complex topic, is written so that with effort beginners can make sense of it thanks in advance for suggestions mike ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask] ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org