The Colonial Department

← The Colonial Department9 mei · 16 min

S8E4: Edison’s Cameras, Manila’s Trenches

S8E4: Edison’s Cameras, Manila’s Trenches9 mei16 min

<html><p>Yes, Edison as in Thomas Edison, the light bulb guy. At the turn of his century, the tech wizard of Menlo Park produced thousands of movies as a showcase for his company’s vitascopes. Among those movies are five films about the Philippine-American War, produced in a flurry all throughout June of 1899. </p><p>It turns out that the boom of cinema dovetailed neatly with America’s growing imperial ambitions. But what made this faraway war so compelling for wide-eyed audiences captured by the magic of the silver screen?</p><p></p><p>Support us on Patreon: <u><a href="https://patreon.com/thecolonialdept" target="_blank">patreon.com/thecolonialdept</a></u></p><p>Follow us on IG:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/" target="_blank"> </a><u><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecolonialdept/" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a></u></p><p>Follow us on TikTok:<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecolonialdept" target="_blank"> </a><u><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecolonialdept" target="_blank">@thecolonialdept</a></u></p><p>Email us: <u><a href="mailto:thecolonialdept@gmail.com" target="_blank">thecolonialdept@gmail.com</a></u></p><p></p><p>References:</p><p>Rafael, Vicente (2016). <em>Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language Amid Wars of Translation. </em>Ateneo de Manila University Press.</p><p>Palis, Joseph (2009). “The ethnographic spectacle of the ‘other’ Filipinos in early cinema.” <em>GeoJournal, 74</em>, pp. 227-234.</p><p>Robbins, Dylon Lamar (13 July 2017). “War, Modernity, and Motion in the Edison Films of 1898.” <em>Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies, 26</em>(3). <u><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569325.2017.1292222#d1e122" target="_blank">https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569325.2017.1292222#d1e122</a></u></p><p>Brewer, Susan A. (1 October 2013). “Selling Empire: American Propaganda and War in the Philippines.” <em>Asian Pacific Journal, 11</em>(40). <u><a href="https://apjjf.org/2013/11/40/susan-a-brewer/4002/article" target="_blank">https://apjjf.org/2013/11/40/susan-a-brewer/4002/article</a></u></p><p>Walker, Malea (6 February 2024). “The Spanish American War and the Yellow Press.” <em>Library of Congress Blogs. </em><u><a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2024/02/the-spanish-american-war-and-the-yellow-press/" target="_blank">https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2024/02/the-spanish-american-war-and-the-yellow-press/</a></u></p><p>“Advance of Kansas Volunteers at Caloocan.” <em>Library of Congress</em></p><p>“History of Edison Motion Pictures.” (undated) <em>Library of Congress </em></p><p>Blinkhorn, Martin (1980). “Spain: The ‘Spanish Problem’ and the Imperial Myth.” <em>Journal of Contemporary History, 15</em>(1), pp. 5-25.</p><p>Paterson, Thomas G. (1996). “United States Intervention in Cuba, 1898: Interpretations of the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War.” <em>The History Teacher, 29</em>(3), pp. 341-361.</p><p>Ocampo, Ambeth (19 March 2013). “Treasure trove in thick books.” <em>Philippine Daily Inquirer.</em></p><p>Ocampo, Ambeth (21 March 2013). “An Igorot in the Philippine-American War.” <em>Philippine Daily Inquirer.</em></p><p>Legarda, Benito J., Jr. (2001). <em>The Hills of Sampaloc: The Opening Actions of the Philippine-American War, February 4-5, 1899. </em>The Bookmark, Inc.</p><p>Angeles, Jose Amiel P. (2013). <em>As Our Might Grows Less: The Philippine-American War in Context [Ph.D. dissertation]. </em>Department of History, Graduate School of the History of Oregon.</p></html>