'Grands Enfants', or Potential Rebels? Newsreel Censorship in the Belgian Congo (1952–56).
The colonial government in the Belgian Congo feared the potentially subversive impact of cinema on the indigenous population, and consequently censored films from 1917 until decolonisation in 1960. This article examines the film censorship policies and practices in the Belgian Congo during the 1950s...
| Publicado en: | Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 140 - 165 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Mar2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=191578348&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 191578348 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01439685 HFT jtl: Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television issn: 01439685 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2026 vid: 46 iid: 1 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 191578348 10.1080/01439685.2025.2545872 ppf: 140 ppct: 25 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.2MB tig: atl: 'Grands Enfants', or Potential Rebels? Newsreel Censorship in the Belgian Congo (1952–56). aug: au: Willems, Engelart Biltereyst, Daniel su: Motion picture censorship Political persecution Colonial administration State power Colonies Decolonization Anti-imperialist movements Filmmaking Congo (Democratic Republic) sug: subj: Congo (Democratic Republic) Motion picture censorship Political persecution Colonial administration State power Colonies Decolonization Anti-imperialist movements Filmmaking ab: The colonial government in the Belgian Congo feared the potentially subversive impact of cinema on the indigenous population, and consequently censored films from 1917 until decolonisation in 1960. This article examines the film censorship policies and practices in the Belgian Congo during the 1950s, specifically from 1952 to 1956, four years prior to Congo's independence. Archival material from the Africa Archives and 206 physically excised segments found in newsreels and fiction films formed our empirical base. Nearly half of all removals erased images of violence and armed rebellion, while another 39% suppressed strikes, demonstrations, or interracial solidarity. The pattern exposes a transition from paternalist tutelage toward anticipatory repression designed to pre‑empt anti‑colonial mobilisation. Case studies on newsreels covering the Algerian War, Korean POW exchanges, and the Indochina conflict reveal a consistent excision of scenes that exposed European vulnerability or represented collective resistance. These findings complicate the familiar 'infantilisation' thesis: censors simultaneously positioned Congolese viewers as naïve 'grands enfants' and as politically savvy subjects who had to be contained. By mapping that doubleness, the study shows that censorship did more than react; it actively produced the visual language of Belgian imperial power and its epistemic anxieties on the eve of independence. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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