ABSTRACT

This article is drawn from a larger action research study that seeks to explore the extent to which “ordinary” citizens, on the margins, can actively access and use digital platforms for self-expression and self-representation. This paper, in particular, discusses insights gleaned from a collaborative participatory research project, with a focus group from the Abakuria community in Kenya, on adapting digital storytelling as a research method for an African context. Two overarching strands inform this work. The first is epistemic, guided by critical discourses on African folklore and African ontologies on personhood. Here, works by Bukenya, Finnegan, Courlander, Mbiti, Menkiti, Nyamnjoh and Wiredu, among others, provide a launching pad for the engagement. The argument is that an iteration of digital storytelling that is relevant and effective in an African context needs anchoring on an episteme that is intrinsically African. The second strand focuses on the process that this adaptation takes. Here, Participatory Action Research principles and processes are a central cog. The assertion is that an iteration of digital storytelling that is appropriate and effective for an African context needs to be participatory, emancipatory, transformative, self-critical and empowering, tenets encapsulated in Participatory Action Research.

摘要

本文摘自一项规模较大的行动研究，该研究旨在探索边缘“普通”公民可以在多大程度上积极参与访问和使用数字平台进行自我表达和自我表现。特别是，本文讨论了一项合作参与式研究项目中的见解，该研究项目来自肯尼亚Abakuria社区的一个焦点小组，致力于将数字故事作为一种适应非洲背景的研究方法。有两个总体方面指导这项工作。第一个是认识论的，以关于非洲民间文学艺术和关于人格的非洲本体论的批判性论述为指导。在这里，Bukenya，Finnegan，Courlander，Mbiti，Menkiti，Nyamnjoh和Wiredu等人的作品为此次活动提供了启动平台。这种观点认为，在非洲背景下有意义且有效的数字叙事迭代需要基于本质上是非洲的认知。第二部分着眼于这种适应过程。在这里，参与式行动研究的原则和过程是一个中心齿轮。断言是，针对非洲背景的数字叙事迭代是适当且有效的，需要包含在参与式行动研究中的参与性，解放性，变革性，自我批评性和授权性原则。