Responding to stereotypes through film: The Wapikoni Mobile and self-representations of First Nations youth in Canada
Author
Bedard, Julien Jean Majella
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2019
Submitted on
2019-05-30
Abstract
Denne kandidatafhandling undersøger, hvordan First Nations-unge i Canada bruger Wapikoni Mobile – et rullende filmværksted – til at svare på stereotyper gennem egne kortfilm. Med afsæt i kritiske kulturstudier og socio-konstruktivistiske perspektiver og med Stuart Halls model for kodning/afkodning som analytisk ramme analyseres et korpus på syv Wapikoni-film, der eksplicit tematiserer stereotyper. Filmene læses op imod en kontekstualisering af dominerende stereotyper og oprindelige folks strategier for selvrepræsentation for at forstå de foretrukne betydninger, som de unge filmskabere lægger ind i værkerne. Analysen viser, at de unge genkender stereotypernes indflydelse på deres levede erfaringer og svarer igen ved at centrere sig selv som aktive subjekter, der definerer deres kulturelle identiteter. På tværs af korpuset afmonterer de figuren den ædle vilde og beslægtede koder, bekræfter en lige menneskelighed, placerer First Nations-kulturer i samtidens hverdag samtidig med at de generobrer historien, accepterer mellem-kulturel udveksling uden at se sig selv som korrumperede, afviser fortællinger om forsvinden eller om at være en byrde, og opfordrer majoritetsgrupper til at uddanne sig selv. Overordnet indtager de fleste film en oppositionel position over for dominerende repræsentationer ved at kode First Nations som et selvbestemmende subjekt snarere end som den Anden; én film forhandler elementer af den dominerende diskurs, men omkoder dem positivt. Tre gennemgående temaer – selvbestemmelse, en ny forståelse af forholdet mellem tradition og modernitet, og mangfoldighed – bærer disse positioner. Studiet konkluderer, at disse ungdomsfilm gør krav på det diskursive rum, hvor der fastlægges, hvad der opfattes som sandt om First Nations. En begrænsning er, at korpuset bevidst er udvalgt for dets oppositionelle fokus, og resultaterne kan derfor ikke generaliseres til alle First Nations-perspektiver.
This master's thesis examines how First Nations youth in Canada use the Wapikoni Mobile, a traveling film workshop, to answer stereotypes through self-made short films. Guided by critical cultural studies and socio-constructivist perspectives, and using Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model, the study analyzes a corpus of seven Wapikoni films that explicitly take stereotypes as a central theme. The films are read alongside a contextual review of dominant stereotypes and Indigenous self-representation strategies to understand the preferred meanings the young filmmakers build into their work. The analysis finds that the youth recognize the stereotypes shaping their lived experiences and respond by recentring themselves as active subjects who define their cultural identities. Across the corpus, they dismantle the noble savage trope and related codes, affirm equal shared humanity, place First Nations cultures within contemporary life while reclaiming history, accept intercultural exchange without seeing themselves as corrupted, reject narratives of disappearance or social burden, and call on majority audiences to educate themselves. Overall, most films adopt an oppositional stance toward dominant representations, coding First Nations as a self-determining subject rather than an Other; one film negotiates elements of dominant discourse but reframes them positively. Three cross-cutting themes - self-determination, a reworked relationship between tradition and modernity, and diversity - support these positions. The study concludes that these youth films stake a claim to the discursive space where truths about First Nations are made. A limitation is that the corpus was intentionally selected for its oppositional focus, so findings cannot be generalized to all First Nations perspectives.
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