Introduction

Scott C.M. Bailey

     The authors of the articles in this special edition share a common intellectual belief in the idea that historical films play an important role in shaping individual and collective ideas about world history. We also are in agreement that an important role for historians as scholars and educators is to create a better understanding and analysis of how images which are portrayed on film shape our collective understandings of the global past. It is not assumed that historical films can offer perfect replications of the past, but that they are important texts or visual sources that should be analyzed and interpreted, just as historians have for so long done with written texts. At the same time, it is recognized that there is a certain degree of complexity involved in the analysis of world history films which makes the enterprise of intellectually stimulating and even daunting. The articles contained here provide a range of subject matter and historical/filmic interpretations and will provide useful examples of how world history films can be utilized both for scholarly analysis and for educational purposes. Many, if not all, of the articles can be read both by those who are interested in the topic for their scholarly research and for those contemplating using films as an important part of world history classes.

     In the first paper, I present some ideas on how world history educators who are contemplating creating new courses on world history films can begin the process of creating their syllabus, by providing some examples from my own teaching, as well as some suggestions on classroom activities, discussion questions, and assessments for such a course. The second article by Peter Burkholder provides a primer on how historians should approach the analysis of historical films, including what the typical elements or conventions of historical filmmaking consist of and he also explains how films must be approached differently from written historical sources. Desmond Cheung's piece examines the portrayal in Chinese films of China's involvement in World War II and Cheung suggests that films can provide a useful point of reference for the teaching of China's involvement in World War II, while also helping to provide more historical information and context to scholars. Robert Eng examines another genre of historical filmmaking: the made-for-television documentary film. In his article, Eng analyzes two Chinese television documentaries, one from the recent past and one from the 1980s, and the meta-narratives (or grand, overarching narratives intended to explain a society's legitimation through a master idea) contained in them about China's relative position in the world, and in world history. Alex Holowicki's article is an in-depth analysis, using collected written sources and images, of a now-lost 1919 film called Whom the Gods Would Destroy, which was produced to promote the League of Nations. His article points to the potential benefits of analyzing older films for their global historical significance. Todd Scarth's article provides an analysis of the work of the contemporary innovative documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis, whose films are noted for their use of montage and BBC archival footage to construct narratives about recent world history.  Scarth explores how Curtis' films engage with the recent past in an innovative or avant-garde way. Libi Sundermann and Joshua Scullin's essay advocates the educational benefits of the film Pink Floyd: the Wall (1982) and they discuss the film's usefulness for engaging students with twentieth century, and perhaps twenty-first century, world history for its references to the fears associated with ultra-nationalism or fascism. Eric Engel Tuten's paper will also be of use for many who contemplate using films in their teaching. Tuten discusses how he uses the film Waltz With Bashir (2008) in the classroom and he provides detailed examples of how he engages with the students while teaching about the film.

Scott C.M. Bailey is an Assistant Professor of History at Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Japan. He is the author of In the 'Wild Countries' of Central Asia: Ethnography, Science, and Empire in the Russian Empire, which will be published in 2019. He can be reached at sbailey@kansaigaidai.ac.jp