HIS219: Decolonization: History Through Film
Welcome to the library research page for HIS219: Decolonization: History Through Film.
Welcome to the library research page for HIS219: Decolonization: History Through Film.Can film provide valid insight into our past? How do we understand film as historical artifact? Films in this course will examine aspects of colonial rule in Asia and Africa from the end of the First World War to the late 20th century. There will be an emphasis on the struggle for liberation from the grip of colonial empires and the neo-imperialism practiced by the superpowers during the Cold War.
Explore this page for useful resources and tools that will help you navigate this course.
The cartographic projection used for this image exaggerates the land mass of Canada relative to more equatorial locations. What does this image say about Victorian Canada?
Original source: Library and Archives Canada.
Key Indexing Resources for Historical Aspects
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Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowThis database contains abstracts of articles from journals relating to the history of the world (excluding Canada and the US) from 1450 to the present. Also included are abstracts of important books in this field.
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America : History & Life This link opens in a new windowAmerica History and Life contains citations, with abstracts to social science and humanities literature on all aspects of U.S. and Canadian history, culture and current affairs from prehistoric times to the present.
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Politics Collection This link opens in a new windowThis collection provides access to renowned databases such as PAIS and WPSA, covering the international literature in political science and public administration/policy, along with related fields. Together, they provide abstracts, indexing and full text coverage of journal articles, country reports, dissertations, think-tank reports, working papers, government documents and more, including full-text from many leading political science and international relations journals.
Key Indexing Resources for Film and Television Aspects
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FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowThe International Index to Film Periodicals offers in-depth coverage of the world's foremost academic and popular film journals. This database contains FIAF's “Treasures from Film Archives”; a detailed index of the silent-era film holdings of archives from around the world, a selection of Reference volumes and the linked full-text of over 60 journals from 1972 to the present day.
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MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowThe MLA International Bibliography, produced by the Modern Languages Association of America, is the fundamental research tool for the humanities. The database is an index of international scholarly materials on modern language, literature, linguistics, and folklore. The citations are from over 4,000 journals and series, monographs, working papers and conference proceedings.
See Also the TMU Library LibGuide for Film Studies
Digital Collections (Access for TMU Community Members Only)
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Black Studies Center This link opens in a new windowBlack Studies Center brings together essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. It is comprised of several cross-searchable, component databases, which include:
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Empire Online This link opens in a new windowThis resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
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China: Trade, Politics and Culture, 1793-1980 This link opens in a new windowManuscript material relating to the activities and observations of British and American diplomats, missionaries, business people and tourists in China from 1793 to 1980, together with rare periodicals, colour paintings, maps, photographs and drawings. All of the manuscript material has been indexed by person, place and subject. An interactive map encourages searches by city and region.
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Oral History Online This link opens in a new windowOral History Online provides in-depth indexing to more than 2,500 collections of Oral History in English from around the world.
The collection also provides keyword searching of more than 271,000 pages of full-text by some 9,000 individuals from all walks of life. It also contains pointers to some 3,000 audio and video files and over 17,000 bibliographic records.
Open Access (Free) Digital Resources
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Colonial Cinema ArchiveA digitized archive of the magazine published by the UK's Colonial Film Unit (1939-1955), a government unit set up by the Ministry of Information to produce, distribute and exhibit films throughout the British Empire. Hosted by the Cinema St. Andrews website maintained by the Dept. of Film Studies at St. Andrew's University, Scotland.
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Media History Digital LibraryThis is a non-profit initiative, led by David Pierce and Eric Hoyt, dedicated to digitizing historic books and magazines about film, broadcasting, and recorded sound for broad public access.
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South Asia Open Archives (SAOA)Much of the material in this collection predates the time of decolonization. However, it does include documents from Indian Censuses.
TMU Libraries--Books, E-books and Video/Audio Formats
Omni replaces the traditional catalogue that used to search for books, e-books, dvds, and other resources except for journal articles. Now, Omni can be used to look for known books, or when using the default (a keyword) search to find some relevant titles for an assignment. Whether using a Simple or Advanced search, you can use the filters on the left to limit to Resource Type: Book chapters, or, Books & eBooks. You can use the Browse Search with the drop down option for Library of Congress Subject Heading. This type of search is ideal for finding Books and Ebooks in our collection. It will display a selective index of subject headings most relevant to your search When you find book records, you can use the Subject terms in the record to link to similar items. If you want to find books, e-books and articles at the same time, consider using Omni, Advanced Search and Subject Contains ...
Some useful subject searches using Omni Browse Searching & Library of Congress Subject Heading:
Decolonization
Historical films History and criticism
History in motion pictures
Motion pictures and history
Nationalism
Postcolonialism
Self-determination, National
[Name of a country or geographic region] Colonization
[Name of country] History Autonomy and independence movements
[Name of a country or geographic region] History [may have subdivisions for time period, type of content etc.]
[Name of country or geographic region] Politics and government
Algeria History Revolution, 1954-1962
Africa Politics and government 1960-
Great Britain Foreign relations 1945-1964
India History Autonomy and independence movements [searches for these terms in advanced search: subject contains]
Indochinese War, 1946-1954 United States
Punjab (India) History Partition, 1947
United States Foreign relations 1953-1961
United States Foreign relations Vietnam
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Sources
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Mass media and the war
The Name of the film as a subject heading or in subject contains
Battle of Algiers (Motion Picture) [searches for these terms in advanced search: subject contains]
Battaglia di Algeri (Motion Picture) [searches for these terms in advanced search: subject contains]
The Name of a person searched as a subject
Jinnah, Mahomed Ali, 1876-1948
Mountbatten of Burma, Louis Mountbatten, Earl, 1900-1979
Mountbatten of Burma, Edwina Ashley Mountbatten, Countess, 1901-1960
Keyword/default search for name of a person
Saadi Yacef (former FLN commander)
Zohra Drif (married name is Zohra Drif-Bitat)
Keyword/default search for topic
A Sampling From the Collection
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Decolonization
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Call Number: Also available as an e-bookISBN: 9780199340491Publication Date: 2016 -
Films for the Colonies
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Call Number: PN1993.5.G7 R45 2019ISBN: 9780520300392Publication Date: 2019 -
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The Franco-Algerian War Through a Twenty-First Century Lens
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Call Number: E-Book, Online; Access restricted to TMU communityISBN: 9781474262811Publication Date: 2019 -
History Goes to the Movies
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Call Number: PN1995.2 .H84 2007ISBN: 9780415328289Publication Date: 2006 -
History on Film/Film on History
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Call Number: PN1995.2 .R667 2012ISBN: 9781408282557Publication Date: 2012 -
The Last Thousand Days of the British Empire
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Call Number: DA16 .C53 2007ISBN: 9780713998306Publication Date: 2007 -
Past Imperfect: Time and African Decolonization, 1945-1960
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Call Number: E-Book, OnlineISBN: 9781800345461Publication Date: 2021 -
Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. 2nd ed.
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Call Number: Online versionISBN: 9780415428569Publication Date: 2008 -
Race, Class, and the Politics of Decolonization
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Call Number: Ebrary online bookISBN: 9781137540775Publication Date: 2015 -
Sovereignty and Struggle
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Call Number: DT30.5 .R495 2015ISBN: 9780199915125Publication Date: 2014
Finding Primary Sources
To find primary sources try using Omni, Advanced Search, Subject contains ...
Use keywords for your topic or historic person along with one of the following words:
- archives
- charters
- correspondence
- diaries
- documents
- interviews
- letters
- manuscripts
- notebooks
- oratory
- pamphlets
- personal narratives
- pictorial works
- sources [this term is often used for collections of primary sources]
- speeches
Examples of Omni, Advanced, Subject contains searches:
Historical Films Including Newsreels, Radio and Other Media
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AP ArchiveThis film and video archive of The Associated Press includes over 1.7 million global news and entertainment video stories dating back to 1895, sourced both from AP's own coverage and from our premium content partners. It includes the British Movietone collection of newsreels from 1895-1986.
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British Movietone Archive (via YouTube)Perhaps the world's largest newsreel archive spanning 1895-1986, this site is rich in coverage of news events, celebrities, sports, music, social history, science, lifestyle and quirky.
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British Film Institute (BFI) YouTube ChannelPresents content from the BFI's impressive archive of film, video and television programs.
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British PathéBritish Pathé is a dynamic cross-media company and a market leader in the licensing of footage to the broadcast industry. The company is a major supplier to production companies, museums and advertisers worldwide
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British Pathé YouTube ChannelNow considered to be the finest newsreel archive in the world, British Pathé is a treasure trove of 85,000 films unrivalled in their historical and cultural significance.
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Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British EmpireThis website holds detailed information on over 6000 films showing images of life in the British colonies. Over 150 films are available for viewing online. You can search or browse for films by country, date, topic, or keyword. Over 350 of the most important films in the catalogue are presented with extensive critical notes written by our academic research team.
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Moving Image Archive (Internet Archive)This rapidly growing library of digital films, movies and video can be limited to categories including News & Public Affairs, and Television Archive News Search Service
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UN Radio ClassicsAn online archive of documentary and dramatic programmes that offer a unique way of experiencing key historical moments of the United Nations and of the world throughout the second half of the 20th century.
Select Motion Pictures with Decolonization Themes
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A United KingdomCall Number: DVDPublication Date: 2016, released as DVD 2017Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana causes an international stir when he marries a white woman from London in the late 1940s. When they decided to marry, just as apartheid was being introduced into South Africa, it caused an international uproar. However, their passionate romance triumphed over every obstacle and changed the course of African history.
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The Battle of Algiers = Le bataille d'AlgerCall Number: DVDPublication Date: 1967, 2004 releaseDramatization of the conflict between Algerian nationalists and French colonialists that culminated in Algeria's independence in 1962. The DVD set includes documentary films about the historical events and about the making of the film.
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Cry FreedomCall Number: DVDPublication Date: 1987, released as DVD 1999The true story of the friendship between black activist Stephen Biko and white newspaper editor Donald Woods, who was instrumental in bringing Biko's anti-apartheid message to the international community.