Abstract

This essay examines the construction of the "safari adventure" through the motion picture films of amateur, semi-professional and professional filmmakers in Africa during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. It is argued that new forms of transportation and cinematic technologies (especially color and sound) created new modes of mobility and visuality on safari that allowed for the reinvention and recycling of narrative tropes and stereotypes of Africa. The archival films considered in this essay illustrate the creation of imaginary geographies of Africa in the popular medium of film and demonstrate persistent western fascination with the exotic and cultural difference.

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