Lawrence of Arabia: A Film's Anthropology - Tapa dura

"This distinguished book measures the profound impact David Lean's widescreen masterpiece has had on the author--and on audiences--for almost four decades. . . . An inspiring companion to a film that is equally spellbinding, "Lawrence of Arabia is a fascinating study."--"Filmbill

Combining ethnography, film criticism, and his knowledge of the Middle East, Steven C. Caton presents an examination of the classic film "Lawrence of Arabia". Caton is interested in why this epic film has been so compelling for so many people for more than three decades. In seeking an answer he draws from situations in his own life, biographies of the film's key participants, and analyses of issues relating to class, gender, colonialism, and cultural differences. The result is a book that poses questions of ethnographic representation and the discourse of power. Caton's approach is dialectical, and his readings of the film are situated within different historical periods, from the early 1960s to the present. Among the subjects he highlights are travel and colonialism in fieldwork and filmmaking, orientalism in the representation of the Other, and the film's ambiguous handling of masculinity and homosexuality. Caton looks at his own reactions to the film at various stages in his life and offers an account of the film's reception by today's high school and college students.