Social Historical Research on British Silent Films

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26370196
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Art at large
• Research Institution: Nagoya Future Culture College
• Principal Investigator: Yoshimura Izumi (吉村いづみ) 名古屋文化短期大学, その他部局等, 教授 (60352895)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 佐藤 元状 慶應義塾大学, 法学部(日吉), 教授 (50433735)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TOMINAGA MASAFUMI 名古屋文化短期大学, 生活文化学科, 教授 (80409747)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: イギリス映画 / ナショナリズム / 映画政策

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated British films made between 1896 and the 1920s from the view point of nationalism. We found that the films made during this period involved constructing a national identity. For example, early films which recorded Royal events, parades, and battles of the Boar War created a sense of patriotism for the British Empire. Many commercial films were influenced by foreign policies adopted in the course of the first World War, and propagandistic films were produced in connection with the ministries and government offices during the war. Film censorship also began to take hold, with the aim of maintaining‘respectability,' respectable value for the British middle class.　The themes and scenes rejected by the censorship institution also provided the basis of what defined 'Britishness’ during this period.

Free Research Field

映画史、文化研究