Local and Universal: The Canadian Inuit and the Irish Aran Islanders in the Films of Robert J. Flaherty”

Abstract The article considers the question of locality and universality regarding two locations and populations: the Inuit of the Canadian North, and the Aran Islanders living off the western coast of Ireland. These locations provide the setting for Robert J. Flaherty’s documentary films Nanook of the North (1922) and Man of Aran (1934). The two films attempt to reveal …