Navigating Narratives
Asynchronous Session
Oppositional Gaze in Indonesian Cinema: An Ethnographic Analysis of Papuan Representation in ORPA View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Azalia Muchransyah, Nick Soedarso
The Indonesian film ORPA, Theo Rumansara's directorial debut, offers a groundbreaking perspective on Papua, distinct from prevalent media portrayals. This research employs an interpretive, ethnographic approach to analyze the film's cultural and societal implications. Grounded in bell hooks' oppositional gaze theory, the study investigates how ORPA challenges dominant narratives, utilizing visual storytelling to disrupt stereotypes and prompt critical reflections on identity and agency. The methodology comprises three steps: a formal analysis of the film, an examination of ORPA film reviews in the media, and interviews with the director and producer. This research shows how the oppositional gaze in ORPA towards the Java-centric Indonesian cinema is expanded by the film's creative process, which emphasizes a blend of experienced professionals and local talents, fostering a culturally authentic aesthetic. ORPA is a powerful cinematic tool for cultural critique, employing the oppositional gaze to subvert prevailing narratives in Indonesian cinema. By intertwining cultural specificity with universal themes, ORPA transcends geographical and cultural boundaries, offering a poignant example of cinema's potential to foster empathy, understanding, and critical reflections on societal norms and agency.
Materializing the Wendish Migration Germany to Australia in the 19th Century: The Story of a Passengers’ Contract Ticket to Australia View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hok Nang Tam
In this paper, I examine a mid-19th-century Passengers’ Contract Ticket at the Wendish Museum Cottbus in Germany through the lens of new materialism. Underpinned by Tim Ingold’s notions of wayfaring and meshwork, the study focuses on gaining a better understanding into the contingent ensemble of things and events that made the search for a new home achievable to the Wendishi people. It employed a mixed approach to gather data, incorporating both primary sources, including the collections of Wendish Museum Cottbus, National Library of Australia's Trove Archives and the Wendish Heritage Society in Australia, as well as secondary sources, such as previously published articles, books, journals and websites related to the Wendish migration. The analysis of the data included a literature review and archival analysis to provide a clear historical background and key determinants of the migration of Wendish people in the 19th century. Through these analyses, I explore how the migration of Wendish people was shaped by the interplay of political, socio-economic, technological, and material forces and how knowledge of a place was formed. By examining the lines on the ticket, this paper concludes that the ticket reveals the interconnections between the movements of both human and non-human entities across the continents. The migration of Wendish people can be considered as a line-making and story-telling endeavor, and the travelling paths and life stories of the ticket owner’s family and their forerunners can be regarded as lines of wayfaring.
Between “American Dreams” and Nightmares: Exploring Loss, Dislocation, and Possibility in Migration Narratives View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jared Keyel
Migration is a complex phenomenon. Indeed, it is difficult to determine a grand narrative of migration given the overlapping and conflicting experiences of individuals who leave their homes for another. In the United States context, one important theme through which it is possible to explore such tensions is the notion of the “American Dream.” Drawing on a set of 14 interviews with immigrants, broadly defined, to the US from the Middle East and North Africa, this essay explores how participants articulated their interpretations of life in the US as either confirming or undermining belief in that dream. Across interviews, some participants articulated their experience of immigrating to the US as fulfilling the promise of the American Dream while others conceived of migration as an "uprooting" that involves "mourning" the loss of one home while finding another. For some, issues such as discrimination against immigrants, social and economic hardship, and the recognition of the US’s geopolitical role in the world that causes mass displacement punctured the widely circulating notions of the US as a “land of opportunity.” In addition to examining interviewees’ contrasting conceptions of migration to the US, this essay closes by wrestling with the challenges of accurately representing the breadth of research participants’ experiences, even when those interpretations perpetuate problematic discourses such as the American Dream.
Unintended Consequences Unveiling the Positive Dynamics of Misinformation on Instagram Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis: "Beyond Misinformation: The Paradox of Community Resilience and Emotional Support on Social Media" View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Reza Tavalla
This study investigates the unforeseen ramifications of misinformation on the social media platform Instagram throughout the ongoing epidemic, with a specific emphasis on the context of Iran. The study demonstrates that misinformation can, in fact, promote communal cohesiveness and emotional assistance, particularly in situations when traditional media is not believed. The investigation utilizes qualitative interviews to reveal the varying responses of various genders to disinformation and evaluates its wider social consequences. The results indicate that, within some circumstances, the dissemination of false information can have a beneficial impact on public opinion and collective actions. This statement presents a critique of the prevailing narrative pertaining to digital disinformation, advocating for a more sophisticated approach in crisis communication and public health policies. The study holds great importance for individuals in the fields of crisis communication, public health, and media studies, as it emphasizes the intricate influence of disinformation on the formulation of public reactions in times of calamities.
