Deger, Jennifer (2006) Shimmering Screens: making media in an Aboriginal community. Visible Evidence, 19 . University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

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Abstract

How does the introduction of modern media influence a community? How does technology coexist with tradition? How do reality and imagination converge in the creation of documentary? Jennifer Deger addresses these questions in her compelling study of one aboriginal community's relationship with media.

Deger spent several years working with the Yolngu community in Gapuwiyak, a remote Aboriginal community in Australia, both as an ethnographic researcher and as a collaborator in the production of media. Shimmering Screens explores the place of technology in Gapuwiyak through discussions about the influence of mainstream television, the changing role of photography in mortuary ceremonies, and the making of local radio and video. A rich ethnographic study, this book examines the productive, and sometimes problematic, conjunctions of technology, culture, and imagination in contemporary Yolngu life.

Deger offers a new perspective to ongoing debates regarding "media imperialism." Reconsidering established assumptions about the links between representation, power, and "the gaze," she proposes the possibility of a more culturally specific and, ultimately, a more mutual relationship between subject, image, and viewer.

Item ID:	34188
Item Type:	Book (Research - A1)
ISBN:	978-0-8166-9901-8
Keywords:	visual anthropology, Indigenous media, Aboriginal aesthetics, visual culture, collaborative research, experimental ethnography
Date Deposited:	05 Feb 2015 05:20
FoR Codes:	16 STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY > 1601 Anthropology > 160104 Social and Cultural Anthropology @ 30% 19 STUDIES IN CREATIVE ARTS AND WRITING > 1902 Film, Television and Digital Media > 190204 Film and Television @ 40% 16 STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY > 1699 Other Studies in Human Society > 169902 Studies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Society @ 30%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9501 Arts and Leisure > 950104 The Creative Arts (incl. Graphics and Craft) @ 30% 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970116 Expanding Knowledge through Studies of Human Society @ 40% 89 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SERVICES > 8904 Media Services > 890402 Film and Video Services (excl. Animation and Computer Generated Imagery) @ 30%
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