title: Diasporic audiences and non-resident media: The case of Indian films

authors: Athique, Adrian M.

subjects: globalisation

abstract: This article seeks to demonstrate how various overlapping claims made by politicians, film producers and academics regarding diasporic audiences have constructed a particular model of cultural transmission emerging from a globalised mediasphere. Taking the case of popular Indian films and their global circulation, this article goes on to challenge the dominant ethnocultural explanations of popular culture and its circulation. Following a consideration of the empirical and epistemological faultlines arising from that paradigm, it is claimed that the tidy equation of media dispersal with migrant ethnicities is not only problematic in this specific case, but also that it provides for misleading conclusions about the relationship between cultural identity and media consumption. On reflection, it is argued that the epistemological foundation of global audience studies must provide for a greater recognition of the subjective and demographic diversity of audiences as well as the inherent hybridity and multiplication of media sources in everyday experience.

text: Diasporic audiences and non-resident media: The case of Indian films This article seeks to demonstrate how various overlapping claims made by politicians, film producers and academics regarding diasporic audiences have constructed a particular model of cultural transmission emerging from a globalised mediasphere. Taking the case of popular Indian films and their global circulation, this article goes on to challenge the dominant ethnocultural explanations of popular culture and its circulation. Following a consideration of the empirical and epistemological faultlines arising from that paradigm, it is claimed that the tidy equation of media dispersal with migrant ethnicities is not only problematic in this specific case, but also that it provides for misleading conclusions about the relationship between cultural identity and media consumption. On reflection, it is argued that the epistemological foundation of global audience studies must provide for a greater recognition of the subjective and demographic diversity of audiences as well as the inherent hybridity and multiplication of media sources in everyday experience.

year: 2011

title: Human visual-vestibular interaction during curvilinear motion in VR

authors: Garnett, Aden C.

abstract: When people move through the world they use retinal image motion to form an estimate of self-motion, although how this is achieved is not yet fully understood. Furthermore, the process is not fool-proof and many conditions create incorrect percepts of self-motion. In particular, experiencing rotation makes it difficult for humans to correctly perceive heading during movement from visual input alone. 

Here we re-examined human perception of rotation during true and simulated curvilinear motion. Broadly, this was done by simulating movement along various paths using currently available head-mounted stereoscopic virtual reality displays. These displays overcome many of the shortcomings of historical equipment but also represent a significant departure from established setups. As such, the first two experiments, presented together in Chapter 2, replicated experiments from Banks, Ehrlich, Backus, and Crowell (1996) and Crowell, Banks, Shenoy, and Andersen (1998). This was to aid in determining the suitability of consumer-grade virtual reality headsets for self-motion perception research and to provide a point of comparison between this thesis and historical works. 

Following confirmation that the VR devices were suitable for research we developed a virtual line-based bendable response tool. This tool made use of tracked hand controllers to facilitate fast and intuitive reporting of self-motion perception without confounding heading and rotation perception errors. Using this tool we confirmed reports of curvilinear motion perception during linear travel with rotation. We then measured perception of heading and curvature during travel on linear paths of increasingly eccentric heading, finding that eccentric headings elicited perceptions of curvature. We also measured perceptions of travel along curvilinear paths so that a model of human visual-vestibular interaction \cite{perrone2018visual} as it applies to heading perception could be tested against participant performance. Finally, predictions from this model prompted us to measure curvilinear path perception while using a rotating chair that allowed us to provide a rough congruent vestibular signal.

Overall, we found consistent large individual differences in perception across all motion types, although each individual's perceptions were internally consistent. Furthermore, we found that participants perceived curvature while travelling on not only curvilinear paths, but also on linear paths with rotation and linear paths with eccentric headings. The tested model, as implemented, matched participant results well, proving able to explain the majority of the individual differences. Finally, we found that providing a rough congruent vestibular signal resulted in participants perceiving less curved paths compared to when the vestibular signal indicated no rotation.

text: Human visual-vestibular interaction during curvilinear motion in VR When people move through the world they use retinal image motion to form an estimate of self-motion, although how this is achieved is not yet fully understood. Furthermore, the process is not fool-proof and many conditions create incorrect percepts of self-motion. In particular, experiencing rotation makes it difficult for humans to correctly perceive heading during movement from visual input alone. 

Here we re-examined human perception of rotation during true and simulated curvilinear motion. Broadly, this was done by simulating movement along various paths using currently available head-mounted stereoscopic virtual reality displays. These displays overcome many of the shortcomings of historical equipment but also represent a significant departure from established setups. As such, the first two experiments, presented together in Chapter 2, replicated experiments from Banks, Ehrlich, Backus, and Crowell (1996) and Crowell, Banks, Shenoy, and Andersen (1998). This was to aid in determining the suitability of consumer-grade virtual reality headsets for self-motion perception research and to provide a point of comparison between this thesis and historical works. 

Following confirmation that the VR devices were suitable for research we developed a virtual line-based bendable response tool. This tool made use of tracked hand controllers to facilitate fast and intuitive reporting of self-motion perception without confounding heading and rotation perception errors. Using this tool we confirmed reports of curvilinear motion perception during linear travel with rotation. We then measured perception of heading and curvature during travel on linear paths of increasingly eccentric heading, finding that eccentric headings elicited perceptions of curvature. We also measured perceptions of travel along curvilinear paths so that a model of human visual-vestibular interaction \cite{perrone2018visual} as it applies to heading perception could be tested against participant performance. Finally, predictions from this model prompted us to measure curvilinear path perception while using a rotating chair that allowed us to provide a rough congruent vestibular signal.

Overall, we found consistent large individual differences in perception across all motion types, although each individual's perceptions were internally consistent. Furthermore, we found that participants perceived curvature while travelling on not only curvilinear paths, but also on linear paths with rotation and linear paths with eccentric headings. The tested model, as implemented, matched participant results well, proving able to explain the majority of the individual differences. Finally, we found that providing a rough congruent vestibular signal resulted in participants perceiving less curved paths compared to when the vestibular signal indicated no rotation.

year: 2020

title: Mā Muri Ko Mua: An introduction to the issues associated with the translation of the Pene Haare manuscript

authors: Tipene, Jillian

subjects: translation

abstract: Keywords: translation; translation theory; translation practice; Ngakuru Pene Haare; Te Rarawa; manuscript; Māori-English translation; ethically grounded translation.

In September 2007, a copy of a typewritten transcript of a manuscript dated 1923 and written by Ngakuru Pene Hare was given to a member of staff of the University of Waikato by Stephen Burke and Bella Wade, descendants of the author, who requested that the University provide a scholarly treatment and translation into English of the text. Also provided later were copies of letters written by the author and a copy of the original handwritten manuscript. The original manuscript, written in the Te Rarawa ki Hokianga dialect of te reo Māori of the author's time, consists of 239 leaves and contains accounts of at least 62 Ngāpuhi battles, most of which took place between 1820 and 1840. 

The research reported here seeks to identify issues and problems that must be addressed if a competent and ethically-grounded translation is to be produced.  Among the issues and problems identified are a number of critical ones. These include the paucity of information that is publicly available about the author, the context in which he lived and worked and the events about which he wrote. Also identified as being problematic are aspects of the text itself. Thus, for example, many of the conventions associated with contemporary writing in Māori (such as paragraphing and the signalling of word and sentence boundaries) are applied only sporadically. Some of the words and expressions used are archaic and/or esoteric, and symbolism that is deeply culturally-embedded characterises much of the text. Also of significance is the impact of writing on conventions associated with the oral transmission of information. The author's intention in producing the text is also identified as being of fundamental importance in relation to the process and product of translation, as are issues associated with the putative readership of that translation. Of paramount importance is the sacred and sensitive nature of the text itself and much of its content. 

In addressing these issues, a wide range of sources are drawn upon. These include the text itself and the transcription of the text, letters and other material written by, or directly influenced by the author, photographs that reveal important information about him, and a wide range of sources of information and opinion (written and oral) about the author and/ or the times and places in which he lived and the events about which he wrote. Also drawn upon is literature in the areas of linguistics and discourse analysis and the theory and practice of translation, including literature written by the growing number of Māori scholars who have focused on issues associated with translation involving Māori and English.

Among the recommendations made are that the translation, a gloss translation that includes explanatory notes, be undertaken, with tikanga Māori as guiding principles, under the mentorship of knowledgeable elders and in consultation with those to whom the manuscript belongs.

text: Mā Muri Ko Mua: An introduction to the issues associated with the translation of the Pene Haare manuscript Keywords: translation; translation theory; translation practice; Ngakuru Pene Haare; Te Rarawa; manuscript; Māori-English translation; ethically grounded translation.

In September 2007, a copy of a typewritten transcript of a manuscript dated 1923 and written by Ngakuru Pene Hare was given to a member of staff of the University of Waikato by Stephen Burke and Bella Wade, descendants of the author, who requested that the University provide a scholarly treatment and translation into English of the text. Also provided later were copies of letters written by the author and a copy of the original handwritten manuscript. The original manuscript, written in the Te Rarawa ki Hokianga dialect of te reo Māori of the author's time, consists of 239 leaves and contains accounts of at least 62 Ngāpuhi battles, most of which took place between 1820 and 1840. 

The research reported here seeks to identify issues and problems that must be addressed if a competent and ethically-grounded translation is to be produced.  Among the issues and problems identified are a number of critical ones. These include the paucity of information that is publicly available about the author, the context in which he lived and worked and the events about which he wrote. Also identified as being problematic are aspects of the text itself. Thus, for example, many of the conventions associated with contemporary writing in Māori (such as paragraphing and the signalling of word and sentence boundaries) are applied only sporadically. Some of the words and expressions used are archaic and/or esoteric, and symbolism that is deeply culturally-embedded characterises much of the text. Also of significance is the impact of writing on conventions associated with the oral transmission of information. The author's intention in producing the text is also identified as being of fundamental importance in relation to the process and product of translation, as are issues associated with the putative readership of that translation. Of paramount importance is the sacred and sensitive nature of the text itself and much of its content. 

In addressing these issues, a wide range of sources are drawn upon. These include the text itself and the transcription of the text, letters and other material written by, or directly influenced by the author, photographs that reveal important information about him, and a wide range of sources of information and opinion (written and oral) about the author and/ or the times and places in which he lived and the events about which he wrote. Also drawn upon is literature in the areas of linguistics and discourse analysis and the theory and practice of translation, including literature written by the growing number of Māori scholars who have focused on issues associated with translation involving Māori and English.

Among the recommendations made are that the translation, a gloss translation that includes explanatory notes, be undertaken, with tikanga Māori as guiding principles, under the mentorship of knowledgeable elders and in consultation with those to whom the manuscript belongs.

year: 2009