Film et texte, émotion et cognition: Vers une description dense des esclavages et post-esclavages

This article discusses the complementary relation between film writing and text writing in the study of slaveries and post-slaveries. Taking its point of departure in a movie on post-slavery northern Benin, the author argues that film making is a rhetoric strategy that allows researchers to convey the complexity of slavery and post-slavery situations to academic and lay audiences. Emotions in film help bridging the gap between the viewer and the described social situation. Moreover the author endorses the view that movie making is a relevant research method. Firstly, the presence of the camera in itself generates a forum to voice the claims of voiceless people contesting their marginalisation. Secondly, the production of audiovisual data allows reflexivity. Thirdly, films offer a great potential to convey the emotional dimension of slavery, a dimension too often left apart in academic texts. The author concludes that “thick description” might be better achieved through a balanced combination between audio-visual and text.