Regards comparés. The images of the third colonial period of Java

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse the chronicles of home films in Java in terms of Péter Forgács realized in the third colonial period included in the film installation entitled Looming Fire. Stories from the Dutch Indies (2013). The detailed analysis of the connections between micro- and macrohistory presents an in-depth study of film transformations looking for the relationship between colonizers and indigenous inhabitants living in Java. Among the most important social mechanisms between them are mimicry and cultural métissage. Accompanied by a strongly outlined representation plan of the colonial elites and royal families, the film episodes reveal the backstage of physical work performed on plantations and factories by indigenous people. The author pays particular attention to the specificity of elite meetings in the salons and the ethnic customs of the Javanese people cultivating their tradition.