5 - Aesthetic of Innocence: Experiencing Self-filming by the San of Zimbabwe
Corresponding Author(s) : Oswelled Ureke
Africa Development,
Vol. 46 No. 1 (2021): Africa Development
Abstract
This article discusses the process and outcome of a participatory video
production endeavour in which selected members of the Twai Twai San
community in Zimbabwe were taught to operate video cameras and mobile
phones for the purpose of documenting their realities. The study was aimed
at finding out the nature of audio-visual narratives that the marginalised
community would create if empowered to do so. The article pays particular
attention to representations of the self by the San community, the underlying
power dynamics and socio-technical concerns of the production process. A
combination of participatory action research and filmmaking methodology was
employed for the study. Data for the study were collected through interviews
and focus group discussions with the filmmakers and some members of the
community. The article also benefits from the authors’ observations of the
film production process, which is critical in the analysis of the completed
ethnographic video-films The Golden Story of Makhulela and The San of Twai
Twai. The study established that the films made by the San youths projected
the ways in which they perceived themselves as a community. As such, the films
were some form of self(ie)-representation. This perception of themselves could
be the chief reason behind the film techniques employed and narratives chosen
by the San youth as well as the aesthetics of the video-films. It was also found
in the study that video-film could play a critical role of preserving or archiving
Tyua language, which is slowly dying among the San.
Keywords
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- Adichie, C.N., 2017, Dear Ijeawele: A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, London: Fourth Estate.
- Barnard, A., 2007, Anthropology and the Bushman, Oxford: Berg.
- Blazek, M., 2016, ‘Participatory Video with Children and Young People’, in R. Evans, L. Holt and T. Skelton, eds, Methodological Approaches, Vol. 2 of Skelton, T., ed., Geographies of Children and Young People, Singapore: Springer.
- Branigan, E., 2006, Projecting a Camera: Language-Games in Film Theory, New York, NY: Routledge.
- Boas, F., 1962, Anthropology and Modern Life, New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company. Chevalier, J.M. and Buckles, D.J., 2013, Participatory Action Research: Theory and Methods of Inquiry, London: Routledge.
- Ureke, Mhiripiri, Mubayiwa & Midzi: Aesthetic of Innocence 115
- Cruz, E.G. and Thornham, H., 2015, ‘Selfies beyond self-representation: the (theo- retical) f(r)ictions of practice’, Journal of Aesthetics and Culture 7 (1): 1-10.
- de Brigard, E., 1995, ‘The History of Ethnographic Film’, in P. Hockings, ed., Prin- ciples of Visual Anthropology, New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyer.
- Durington, M. and Ruby, J., 2011, ‘Ethnographic Film’, in M. Banks and J. Ruby, eds, Made To Be Seen: Perspectives on the History of Visual Anthropology, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Edmonds, F., 2014, ‘Digital Storytelling and Aboriginal Young People: An Explo- ration of Digital Technology to Support Contemporary Koori Culture’, in M. Berry and M. Schleser, eds, Mobile Media Making in an Age of Smartphones, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Friedman, J.M., 1973, ‘The motion picture rating system of 1968: a constitutional analysis of self regulation by the film industry’, Columbia Law Review 73 (2): 185-240.
- Gillis, A. and Jackson, W., 2002, Research Methods for Nurses: Methods and Interpreta- tion, Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.
- Grier, S.A., 2001, ‘The Federal Trade Commission’s report on the marketing of violent entertainment to youths: developing policy-tuned research’, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 20 (1): 123-32.
- Gross, L., 1980, ‘Sol Worth and the study of visual communication’, Studies in Visual Communication 6 (3): 2-19.
- Hall, S., 1980, ‘Fetishism in film “theory” and “practice”’, Australian Journal of Screen Theory 5 (6): 48-66.
- Heider, K.G., 2006, Ethnographic Film, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Hitchcock, R.K. and Nangati, F.M., 2000, ‘People of the two way river: socio-economic change and natural resource management in the Nata River Region’, Botswana Notes and Records 35: 85-105.
- Kafu., C., 2017, ‘T.V. content rating systems: a review of the literature, current trends and areas of future research’, International Journal of Scientific Research Publications 7 (7): 674- 82.
- Lunch, N. and Lunch, C., 2006, Insights into Participatory Video: A Handbook for the Field, Oxford: Insightshare.
- MacDonald, C., 2012, ‘Understanding participatory action research: a qualitative research methodology option’, Canadian Journal of Action Research 13 (2): 34-50. Madzudzo, E., 2001, ‘Part 3: Zimbabwe’, in S. Robins, E. Madzudzo and M. Brenziger, eds, Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa: An Assessment of the Status of the San in South Africa, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Windhoek: Legal Assistance Centre, pp. 77-106.
- Marshall-Thomas, E., 1989, The Harmless People, New York, NY: Vintage Books.
- Mhando, M., 2005, ‘Participatory video production in Tanzania: an ideal or wishful thinking?’, Tanzanet Journal 5 (1): 9-15.
- Mhiripiri, N.A., Ureke, O., Mangwana, M.M., 2020, ‘The Discursive Dynamics of Action-Research and Zimbabwean San People’s Production of Audio-Visual Stories’, Africa Development XLV (4): 77-106, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Africa Development, Volume XLVI, No. 1, 2021
- Monaco, J., 2009, How to Read a Film: Movies, Media and Beyond, Oxford: Oxford University Press Mudimbe, V.Y., 1988, The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge,
- Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
- Nichols, B., 2001, Introduction to Documentary, Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
- O’Regan, T., 1996, Australian National Cinema, London: Routledge.
- Schiwy, F., 2009, Indianizing Film: Decolonization, the Andes and the Question of Technology, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
- Schumaker, L., 2001, Africanizing Anthropology: Fieldwork, Networks and the Making of Cultural Knowledge in Africa, Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press. Rettberg, J.W., 2018, ‘Self-representation in Social Media’, in J. Burgess, A. Marwick, and T. Poell, eds, The Sage Handbook of Social Media, Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
- Tomaselli, K.G., 1993, ‘Encounters in the Kalahari: some points of departure’, Visual Anthropology Review 7 (2): 50-66.
- Walker, G., 2018, Movie-making as Critical Pedagogy: Conscientization Through Visual Storytelling, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Wong, L., 2000, Shootback: Photos by Nairobi Kids from the Slums, London: Booth- Clibborn Editions.
- Zhou, M., 2014, ‘The Persistence of Extreme Poverty Among Ethnic Minorities in Zimbabwe: A Case of the San Community in Tsholotsho District, Matabeleland North’, Honours dissertation, Midlands State University, Gweru.
References
Adichie, C.N., 2017, Dear Ijeawele: A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, London: Fourth Estate.
Barnard, A., 2007, Anthropology and the Bushman, Oxford: Berg.
Blazek, M., 2016, ‘Participatory Video with Children and Young People’, in R. Evans, L. Holt and T. Skelton, eds, Methodological Approaches, Vol. 2 of Skelton, T., ed., Geographies of Children and Young People, Singapore: Springer.
Branigan, E., 2006, Projecting a Camera: Language-Games in Film Theory, New York, NY: Routledge.
Boas, F., 1962, Anthropology and Modern Life, New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company. Chevalier, J.M. and Buckles, D.J., 2013, Participatory Action Research: Theory and Methods of Inquiry, London: Routledge.
Ureke, Mhiripiri, Mubayiwa & Midzi: Aesthetic of Innocence 115
Cruz, E.G. and Thornham, H., 2015, ‘Selfies beyond self-representation: the (theo- retical) f(r)ictions of practice’, Journal of Aesthetics and Culture 7 (1): 1-10.
de Brigard, E., 1995, ‘The History of Ethnographic Film’, in P. Hockings, ed., Prin- ciples of Visual Anthropology, New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyer.
Durington, M. and Ruby, J., 2011, ‘Ethnographic Film’, in M. Banks and J. Ruby, eds, Made To Be Seen: Perspectives on the History of Visual Anthropology, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Edmonds, F., 2014, ‘Digital Storytelling and Aboriginal Young People: An Explo- ration of Digital Technology to Support Contemporary Koori Culture’, in M. Berry and M. Schleser, eds, Mobile Media Making in an Age of Smartphones, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Friedman, J.M., 1973, ‘The motion picture rating system of 1968: a constitutional analysis of self regulation by the film industry’, Columbia Law Review 73 (2): 185-240.
Gillis, A. and Jackson, W., 2002, Research Methods for Nurses: Methods and Interpreta- tion, Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.
Grier, S.A., 2001, ‘The Federal Trade Commission’s report on the marketing of violent entertainment to youths: developing policy-tuned research’, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 20 (1): 123-32.
Gross, L., 1980, ‘Sol Worth and the study of visual communication’, Studies in Visual Communication 6 (3): 2-19.
Hall, S., 1980, ‘Fetishism in film “theory” and “practice”’, Australian Journal of Screen Theory 5 (6): 48-66.
Heider, K.G., 2006, Ethnographic Film, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Hitchcock, R.K. and Nangati, F.M., 2000, ‘People of the two way river: socio-economic change and natural resource management in the Nata River Region’, Botswana Notes and Records 35: 85-105.
Kafu., C., 2017, ‘T.V. content rating systems: a review of the literature, current trends and areas of future research’, International Journal of Scientific Research Publications 7 (7): 674- 82.
Lunch, N. and Lunch, C., 2006, Insights into Participatory Video: A Handbook for the Field, Oxford: Insightshare.
MacDonald, C., 2012, ‘Understanding participatory action research: a qualitative research methodology option’, Canadian Journal of Action Research 13 (2): 34-50. Madzudzo, E., 2001, ‘Part 3: Zimbabwe’, in S. Robins, E. Madzudzo and M. Brenziger, eds, Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa: An Assessment of the Status of the San in South Africa, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Windhoek: Legal Assistance Centre, pp. 77-106.
Marshall-Thomas, E., 1989, The Harmless People, New York, NY: Vintage Books.
Mhando, M., 2005, ‘Participatory video production in Tanzania: an ideal or wishful thinking?’, Tanzanet Journal 5 (1): 9-15.
Mhiripiri, N.A., Ureke, O., Mangwana, M.M., 2020, ‘The Discursive Dynamics of Action-Research and Zimbabwean San People’s Production of Audio-Visual Stories’, Africa Development XLV (4): 77-106, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Africa Development, Volume XLVI, No. 1, 2021
Monaco, J., 2009, How to Read a Film: Movies, Media and Beyond, Oxford: Oxford University Press Mudimbe, V.Y., 1988, The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge,
Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
Nichols, B., 2001, Introduction to Documentary, Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
O’Regan, T., 1996, Australian National Cinema, London: Routledge.
Schiwy, F., 2009, Indianizing Film: Decolonization, the Andes and the Question of Technology, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Schumaker, L., 2001, Africanizing Anthropology: Fieldwork, Networks and the Making of Cultural Knowledge in Africa, Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press. Rettberg, J.W., 2018, ‘Self-representation in Social Media’, in J. Burgess, A. Marwick, and T. Poell, eds, The Sage Handbook of Social Media, Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Tomaselli, K.G., 1993, ‘Encounters in the Kalahari: some points of departure’, Visual Anthropology Review 7 (2): 50-66.
Walker, G., 2018, Movie-making as Critical Pedagogy: Conscientization Through Visual Storytelling, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wong, L., 2000, Shootback: Photos by Nairobi Kids from the Slums, London: Booth- Clibborn Editions.
Zhou, M., 2014, ‘The Persistence of Extreme Poverty Among Ethnic Minorities in Zimbabwe: A Case of the San Community in Tsholotsho District, Matabeleland North’, Honours dissertation, Midlands State University, Gweru.