Feminist simulations: deep in the dream of a game
- Authors: Mackintosh, Tayla
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Video games in art , Crocheting , Minecraft (Game) , Feminism in art , Simulation games , Handicraft in art , Autoethnography , Intersectionality (Sociology)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425333 , vital:72230
- Description: This study delves into how the worlds of computer gaming and fine art intersect, employing DIY feminism to reflect on the gendered world of gaming and the links between simulation, reality, and fantasy within the game of Minecraft. I argue for a feminine craft (crochet) to challenge masculine gaming oppressions and the lack of representation, acceptance, and visibility for women in gaming culture. My research question is taken from the End Poem seen when the player has beaten the game's main boss. There is a line within the poem that asks, “But what true structure did this player create, in the reality behind the screen?” (End Poem, 2022). This is the question I have sought to answer within this study, by exploring a methodological approach that combines autoethnography and phenomenology to create a reflexive personal narrative. , Thesis (MFA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Fine Art, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
Storytelling through video game artworks – Twee kante van ’n storie
- Authors: Randall, Tasmin Tania
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Colored people (South Africa) Ethnic identity , Colored people (South Africa) in art , Storytelling in art , Digital art , Browser game , Art Video games , Autoethnography , Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art , Discrimination based on hair texture , Swag
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425355 , vital:72232
- Description: This mini-thesis serves as a supporting document for my Master of Fine Art (MFA) exhibition, ‘Twee Kante van ‘n Storie’. The exhibition explores my culture and experiences as a ‘Coloured’ woman in Makhanda through storytelling. I use the term ‘Coloured’ with quotation marks to remain respectful to those who do not wish to reclaim the term. My minithesis analyses how video games as artworks can be a mode of storytelling and can encourage sociocultural awareness. In my research, I use storytelling as a tool and autoethnography as a methodology to both discuss and influence my practice. For my MFA installation, I have created a digital interactive website that uses the same language as a video game. Throughout my process, I have used two video games, That Dragon Cancer and Boet Fighter, as case studies, in order to help the building and creation of my autoethnographic art video game. My art video game explores my experiences of my culture and living in a small town. Through the creation of four fictionalised characters, which are loosely based on true life experiences and first-hand observations, I can reveal and unpack cultural experiences and biases that I have observed over the years. Each character in the game grapples with one of three prominent themes; stereotypes, ‘swagger’ and texturism. Furthermore, through using autoethnography as a methodology and the researcher as the phenomenon (Ellis, 2004: 45). This study contributes to the gap in ‘Coloured’ cultural diversities that exist outside the lens of the Western Cape experience. This is a perspective not commonly found within academia. , Thesis (MFA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Fine Art, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
Archontic Aporias: the mediums of memory
- Authors: Arbuckle, Julia Ruth
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Practice research , Eastern Cape (South Africa) History , Autoethnography , Information storage and retrieval systems Memory , Archives South Africa Eastern Cape , Aporia , Memory in art , Archives in art
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408727 , vital:70520
- Description: Contextualising my research within the Eastern Cape as a descendant of 1820 settlers, I question the modalities of historical recollection by introducing memory as a viable mode of archival production alongside that of the archive. Through interrogating Eastern Cape archival institutes and employing an autoethnographic approach to my familial archives, I show that archival curation affects the gaps, schisms, and interpretations of archives as much as the ‘unreliability’ of memory. I rely on definitions from Jacques Derrida and literature from Achille Mbembe and Verne Harris, as well as reflexive methodologies, to engage the ways of remembering the past and methods of storytelling. With this undertaking, I expose the aporias within archival processes. This written component is part of broader research that encompasses theoretical study and a practice-based Fine Arts research project culminating in an exhibition that shares themes of memory, archive, trauma, and curatorial and personal heritage management. This research engages in case studies of artworks by Angela Deane and Maureen de Jager to contextualise and position the creative process. , Thesis (MFA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Fine Art, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-03-30
Chave Chemutengure Vhiri Rengoro : Husarungano Nerwendo Rwengano Dzevashona
- Authors: Mabasa, Ignatius T
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Ethnology -- Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe -- Folklore , Shona (African people) -- Folklore , Ethnoscience , Decolonization in literature , Decolonization -- Africa , Autoethnography , Chemutengure , Subaltern
- Language: Shona
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PHD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174198 , vital:42454 , http://doi.org/10.21504/10962/174198
- Description: Tsvakurudzo ino inyaya yangu sasarungano nemunyori weChiShona, asiwo iri nyaya yevanhu veChiShona. Inyaya yekurerwa kwandakaitwa nengano, ndikaona ngano dzakandirera dzichipinzwa muzvikoro, dzichisangana nechirungu, dzichifambidzana nechirungu, nekuzopedzisira dzazvara mimwe misambo yengano. Basa rino maonero angu ndichishandisa nzira yetsvakurudzo inonzi husarungano, kureva muono wasarungano. Izvi zvinoreva kududzira nekutsanangura, kufungisisa nekupenengura humhizha hunowanikwa mutsika nemagariro angu, sasarungano ari kupfuurira mberi nekuita ngano munyika yazara chirungu. Naizvozvo, ini ndini musoro wenyaya yandiri kutaura, asiwo ndirini zvakare muiti wetsvakurudzo. Ndichishandisa zvandakasangana nazvo, nezvandinofunga nekuona sasarungano – ndinodzokera kuchimbo chinotaura nyaya yevaShona pakapinda vachena munyika yeZimbabwe. Ndinotsanangura zvinoreva Chemutengure, uye nekukosha kwacho mukufambisa ruzivo, mashoko nekutsanangura hupenyu hwedu sevanhu vatema vakanga vakadzvanyiriwa. Chemutengure mafungiro, imhenenguro, iyambiro nehungwaru. Ndinotsanangura ruzivo rwevanhu vangu nekushanduka kwarwo kwakakonzerwa nechirungu. Ndinoita izvi ndichipenengura ngano, mabhuku, nziyo, mafungiro nezvimwe zvimutengure zvakatakura ngano. Otoetinogirafu iyo yandichapa zita rekuti husarungano imhando yekuvhiya uchiita tsvakurudzo, uye inowanikwa pakati pehumhizha hwekunyora nyaya nekupenengura zvine chekuita nehumhizha hwetsika nemagariro evanhu. Husarungano hunovhurira musiwo vanhu vanowanzovharirwa kunze netsvakurudzo dzinoitwa mumayunivhesiti dzine mitauro isiri yavo uyewo dzimwe nguva isinganzwisisike zviri nyn’ore. Husarungano hunoshandisa rondedzero nengano kuti zvinhu zvinosanganisira hukama nezvakasanganikwa nazvo nevanhu zvinzwisisike, panguva imwechete pachiumbwa hukama pakati penguva dzakare nazvino, hukama pakati pevanoita tsvakurudzo nevavari kuita tsvakurudzo pamusoro pavo, hukama pakati pevanyori nevaverengi, vanasarungano nevateereri vengano (Adams nevamwe, 2015). Tsvakurudzo ino haisi kuzopedza zvese zvinofanira kutaurwa pamusoro pengano, tsika nemagariro evanhu vatema, kunyorwa kwemabhuku nezvimwe zvakawanda zvainobata nekutarisa, asi riripo kuratidza simba nehupfumi huri muruzivo rwevaShona rwuri kurariswa muberere memba, chirungu chichirariswa mumba. Shanduko yandiri kutarisa mubasa rino inoda kuti isu vanhu vatema tisarambe tichiverengera kuti tirongeke nekuronga mafambiro nemararamiro achaita ruzivo rwedu munyika iri kukoshesa ruzivo, maitiro nezvinhu zvinogadzirwa nevarungu. Kana tikasaronga kuti tipembedze nekuwanisa ruzivo rwedu mukana, tichaita mufakose – kurasikirwa nezvedu, nekusakwana kana kunyatsonzwisisa zvevamwe zvatiri kukoshesa. Ruzivo rwandakashandisa mubasa rino rwunosanganisira zvakaitika kwandiri kubva pandakatanga kuziva ngano dzandakaudzwa nambuya vangu, kubatsirwa kwangu nengano kuchikoro, kuve munyori wemabhuku, nekuenda kwangu mhiri kwemakungwa sasarungano. Zvakarewo ndiri kutarisa ngano dzakaunganidzwa nekunyorwa nemamishenari, ngano dzakanyorwa kare muNative Afffairs Department Annual (NADA), ngano dzakaitwa senziyo, ngano dzakaitwa neLiterature Bureau, nengano dzandave kuita dzemanon-governmental organisations (NGO), panhepfenyuro, paTwitter nezvimwe zvimutengure zvakasiyana-siyana. Hupfumi huri mungano, mazano ekuri kuenda ngano dzedu, nezvinoreva chemutengure senzira yemafungiro zvinobuda mutsvakurudzo ino. Chitsauko 1 ndicho chinozama kutevedza nzira yekuita tsvakurudzo inozivikanwa, asi Chitsauko 2 inyunyuto inoburitsa mukundo une chirungu sekuunzwa kwachakaitwa naCecil John Rhodes. Chitsauko 3 chinotambanudza nekujekesa kukosha kwechimbo Chemutengure, uyewo nekuti sezano, chemutengure chinotibata sei nhasi uno. Chitsauko 4 chinoronda nzira dzakafamba nadzo ngano dzekunze dzichipinda matiri, uyewo nezvakaitwa nengano dzedu pamusoro peshanduko yakanga yauya. Chitsauko 5 chinopa mienzaniso yezviteshi zvakamira ngano dzevatema padzakabva mumisha dzichienda kuzvikoro kusvika dzazove muzvimwe zvimutengure zvakadziendesa kure nasarungano. Chitsauko 6 chinotarisa dambudziko rine chirungu muhupenyu hwevanhu vatema, nekukosha kwekudada nerudzi rwedu. Chitsauko 7 chinopeta basa chichipa mazano, chichiratidza kuti ngano hadzifanire kufa nekuti dzakagara dzine simba rekufambirana nenguva. , This research is my story as a Shona folklorist and creative writer, but it is also the story of the Shona people. It is a story of how I am “a child” of storytelling, and how the stories that raised me got appropriated and incorporated into the colonial school system where they converged and mixed with western forms of storytelling to create hybrids. As a storyteller I use autoethnography – which offers an insider’s perspective - to interpret and explain, to reflect and analyse the art of storytelling in my culture. The alienation of indigenous knowledge and cultural practices – specifically storytelling, is what necessitates the use of autoethnography for this study. Autoethnography is a qualitative research method of writing and storytelling where the researcher is the subject and the researcher's experiences are the data. I, being a Shona storyteller and creative writer, will systematically journey back and analyse personal experiences in order to make sense of the Shona people’s cultural experiences. The research process will see me running away from depending on other people’s records about my people’s cultural history. Instead, I traverse back in time to consult and extract a theory from the Shona song called Chemutengure from around 1890 that tells the story of British colonisation from the perspective of the colonised. I theorise and explain Chemutengure’s pedagogical and epistemological significance in critiquing the plight of Africans suffering contact-induced change. I apply the Chemutengure theory to folktales, books, songs, paradigms and other agents that played an active role in producing new forms of storytelling and worldviews. Autoethnography is a type of research method that blends engaging creative writing and analysis of cultural experiences. It opens doors of research to the subalterns who are usually shut out by research that is done in universities. “Rather than producing esoteric, jargon-laden texts, many auto-ethnographers recognize a need to speak also to nonacademic audiences,” (Adams et al, 2015: 42) employing narrative and story-telling to give meaning to identities, relationships, and experiences, and to create relationships between past and present, researchers and participants, writers and readers, tellers and audiences, (Adams et al, 2015:23). This research will not exhaust all that needs to be explored and said about Shona folktales, creativity and culture, or its literature and the many cultural aspects it looks at. Rather, it seeks to highlight, decolonize and deconstruct colonial mentalities, while emancipating the Shona worldview that has been put on leash by colonialism and western capitalistic tendencies. The study also looks at positive change that occurs when cultures inform one another, but without turning a blind eye to the lack of mutuality and how the logic of capitalism has left Africa hemorrhaging ideologically. Drawing from personal experiences when I listened to my grandmother’s stories, the study looks at the influence of folktales on my creative writing career. I reflect on my experiences as a Fulbright Scholar, as well as my Canadian experiences as storyteller and writer-in-residence at the University of Manitoba. Besides analysing stories written by missionaries in early Shona school readers, I also discuss folktales published in the Native Affairs Department Annual (NADA); the folktales performed as songs; the comic tales published by the Literature Bureau; tales developed for private institutions, government and non-governmental organisations; stories on radio, Twitter and many other forms. Besides giving the subaltern a voice, this research attempts to artistically demonstrate the power and versatility of the Shona folktale, as well as the genre’s potential for growth and development. Chapter 1 introduces the autoethngraphy method as well as what I hope to achieve through the methodology and style of writing. Chapter 2 is a conversation between a representative of the colonised and Cecil John Rhodes the imperialist. Besides pointing out imperialism’s damage to indigenous identities, the chapter discusses how Africa and Europe’s paradigms are diametrically conflicting. Chapter 3 introduces, explains and analyses the song/theory Chemutengure, and how it applies to the condition of the native in postcolonial Africa today. Chapter 4 tracks the trajectory of foreign tales in Zimbabwe, and how they influenced native folktales. The response of local tales is also critiqued. Chapter 5 looks at the milestones in the structural transformation of indigenous folktales, and how they were appropriated and hitched a ride in the wagon of change. Chapter 6 is a reflection on the impact of westernisation and globalisation in the lives of Africans, and how confused the native has become without his cultural anchor. Chapter 7 concludes by acknowledging the inevitability of change, and suggests how cultural practices and perspectives must respond to social change so as to remain relevant.
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- Date Issued: 2021