title: Personas revisited: Extending the use of personas to enhance participatory design

authors: Bowen, Judy

subjects: computer science

abstract: Personas are a well-established tool in interactive system development, largely used with designers and developers. They can also be included in work with potential and actual users, particularly in eliciting user needs and concerns. We present three case studies in which personas are part of the research with potential users of interactive systems. Blind participants in research on assistive technologies often spontaneously generated personas who would benefit more from the technology than they themselves would. This was a way of being able to discuss potential needs and concerns, without admitting to having them oneself. Older participants exploring the potential of indoor drones generated personas who were older than themselves and would need the system more. Finally, personas were created to aid discussions with forestry workers about fatigue and safety issues that they might not want to admit to having themselves. From these case studies we draw recommendations for how personas can be deployed in working with potential and actual users of interactive systems in a variety of ways.

text: Personas revisited: Extending the use of personas to enhance participatory design Personas are a well-established tool in interactive system development, largely used with designers and developers. They can also be included in work with potential and actual users, particularly in eliciting user needs and concerns. We present three case studies in which personas are part of the research with potential users of interactive systems. Blind participants in research on assistive technologies often spontaneously generated personas who would benefit more from the technology than they themselves would. This was a way of being able to discuss potential needs and concerns, without admitting to having them oneself. Older participants exploring the potential of indoor drones generated personas who were older than themselves and would need the system more. Finally, personas were created to aid discussions with forestry workers about fatigue and safety issues that they might not want to admit to having themselves. From these case studies we draw recommendations for how personas can be deployed in working with potential and actual users of interactive systems in a variety of ways.

year: 2020

title: 'It Was Hard To Die Frae Hame': Death, Grief and Mourning Among Scottish Migrants to New Zealand, 1840-1890.

authors: Powell, Debra

subjects: Scottish migration to New Zealand

abstract: James McGeoch's headstone, which can be seen at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Symonds Street, Auckland, carries a simple sentiment in the Scottish dialect that resonates with first generation migrants everywhere: 'It was hard to die frae hame'.  

This thesis is an investigation into the experiences of death and mourning among nineteenth century Scottish migrants to New Zealand. It considers the ways in which death, and the framework of social conventions through which it is interpreted and dealt with, might provide evidence for the persistence or renegotiation of cultural behaviours among migrant communities.  The focus of this study is on the working classes and in particular those who resided in, and emigrated from, Scotland's larger cities and towns. A complex of ideas and customs informed cultural practices regarding death among the working classes. This thesis highlights the multiple challenges that the process of migration posed to these cultural practices.  The ongoing renegotiation of such ideas and customs were important components in the formulation of cultural and religious identities in New Zealand. 

This thesis is simultaneously an investigation of deathways, a migration study, a consideration of the working class experience, and a tentative venture into the history of emotion. Using a diverse range of sources, including New Zealand coroners' reports, gravestone inscriptions, and personal autobiographical accounts as written in journals, diaries and letters, this study highlights the complexity and variety of migrants' experiences of death and attempts to uncover the multiple meanings of these experiences.

text: 'It Was Hard To Die Frae Hame': Death, Grief and Mourning Among Scottish Migrants to New Zealand, 1840-1890. James McGeoch's headstone, which can be seen at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Symonds Street, Auckland, carries a simple sentiment in the Scottish dialect that resonates with first generation migrants everywhere: 'It was hard to die frae hame'.  

This thesis is an investigation into the experiences of death and mourning among nineteenth century Scottish migrants to New Zealand. It considers the ways in which death, and the framework of social conventions through which it is interpreted and dealt with, might provide evidence for the persistence or renegotiation of cultural behaviours among migrant communities.  The focus of this study is on the working classes and in particular those who resided in, and emigrated from, Scotland's larger cities and towns. A complex of ideas and customs informed cultural practices regarding death among the working classes. This thesis highlights the multiple challenges that the process of migration posed to these cultural practices.  The ongoing renegotiation of such ideas and customs were important components in the formulation of cultural and religious identities in New Zealand. 

This thesis is simultaneously an investigation of deathways, a migration study, a consideration of the working class experience, and a tentative venture into the history of emotion. Using a diverse range of sources, including New Zealand coroners' reports, gravestone inscriptions, and personal autobiographical accounts as written in journals, diaries and letters, this study highlights the complexity and variety of migrants' experiences of death and attempts to uncover the multiple meanings of these experiences.

year: 2007

title: Translating Translations: A study of Ngā Rūpaiaha o Oma Kaiama, a Māori translation of the English version of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

authors: Roa, Hariru Te Aroha

subjects: Translation

abstract: Omar Khayyám, a Persian poet who died in 1131, wrote a number of quatrains in Farsi which are regarded by some as representing the very summit of Sufism (that is, of the mystical dimension of Islamic thought) and by others as being essentially agnostic and hedonistic in nature. Those who are of the latter view are often strongly influenced by the ‘translation’ into English of some of these quatrains by Edward Fitzgerald, a British poet and writer whose first edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám appeared in 1859, at the height of the Victorian era. Although there have been several other translations of Khayyám’s quatrains, none has been as popular or, perhaps, as highly regarded as an artistic work as that of Fitzgerald. It has rarely, however, been regarded as a work that is faithful to the intent of the original. In deciding to translate into Māori Fitzgerald’s rendering into English of some of Khayyám’s Farsi quatrains (5th version), Pei Jones was faced with a peculiarly complex set of problems (linguistic, literary, cultural and religious). Pei Jones’ translation, a translation of a translation, is generally regarded as being faithful to Fitzgerald’s version of the Rubáiyát. It would appear, therefore, that he decided to treat Fitzgeralds’s text, in spite of the reference in its title to the original text, as his source text. This gives rise to a number of questions, including questions about what it means for a translator to be faithful or unfaithful to a source text. With particular reference to Pei Jones’ translation of Fitzgerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, this thesis explores the concept of ‘fidelity’, a concept that, it is argued here (see Chapter 3), is often treated in the literature on translation in a way that belies its extremely complex nature. The thesis proposes a new approach to the concept of fidelity, one that is based on nine fidelity types: grammatical, lexical, informational, metrical, imagistic, rhetorical, historical, didactic and functional fidelity. In terms of this nonagonal analytical model, twenty-five of Pei Jones’ quatrains are analysed in relation to the equivalent quatrains in Fitzgerald’s version (Chapter 4). The analysis indicates that Pei Jones’ translation has neither metrical fidelity (a consequence of the very different nature of the source and target languages) nor functional fidelity (a consequence of the very different expectations and sensibilities that a Māori audience has in relation to the verbal arts). Metre and function are both, however, fundamental to the enduring appeal of Fitzgerald’s quatrains. The overall conclusion is that since it is often impossible to achieve all nine types of fidelity, translators need to carefully consider what their primary aim is in undertaking the translation of artistic works and be prepared to sacrifice certain types of fidelity (e.g. historical and informational fidelity) in order to create a work that fulfils the aesthetic expectations of the target audience. Pei Jones was undeniably successful in achieving those types of fidelity that were possible. However, the work may have had more widespread appeal if he had sacrificed some of them in order to create a work that was more closely aligned with the aesthetic expectations of Māori readers.

text: Translating Translations: A study of Ngā Rūpaiaha o Oma Kaiama, a Māori translation of the English version of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám Omar Khayyám, a Persian poet who died in 1131, wrote a number of quatrains in Farsi which are regarded by some as representing the very summit of Sufism (that is, of the mystical dimension of Islamic thought) and by others as being essentially agnostic and hedonistic in nature. Those who are of the latter view are often strongly influenced by the ‘translation’ into English of some of these quatrains by Edward Fitzgerald, a British poet and writer whose first edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám appeared in 1859, at the height of the Victorian era. Although there have been several other translations of Khayyám’s quatrains, none has been as popular or, perhaps, as highly regarded as an artistic work as that of Fitzgerald. It has rarely, however, been regarded as a work that is faithful to the intent of the original. In deciding to translate into Māori Fitzgerald’s rendering into English of some of Khayyám’s Farsi quatrains (5th version), Pei Jones was faced with a peculiarly complex set of problems (linguistic, literary, cultural and religious). Pei Jones’ translation, a translation of a translation, is generally regarded as being faithful to Fitzgerald’s version of the Rubáiyát. It would appear, therefore, that he decided to treat Fitzgeralds’s text, in spite of the reference in its title to the original text, as his source text. This gives rise to a number of questions, including questions about what it means for a translator to be faithful or unfaithful to a source text. With particular reference to Pei Jones’ translation of Fitzgerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, this thesis explores the concept of ‘fidelity’, a concept that, it is argued here (see Chapter 3), is often treated in the literature on translation in a way that belies its extremely complex nature. The thesis proposes a new approach to the concept of fidelity, one that is based on nine fidelity types: grammatical, lexical, informational, metrical, imagistic, rhetorical, historical, didactic and functional fidelity. In terms of this nonagonal analytical model, twenty-five of Pei Jones’ quatrains are analysed in relation to the equivalent quatrains in Fitzgerald’s version (Chapter 4). The analysis indicates that Pei Jones’ translation has neither metrical fidelity (a consequence of the very different nature of the source and target languages) nor functional fidelity (a consequence of the very different expectations and sensibilities that a Māori audience has in relation to the verbal arts). Metre and function are both, however, fundamental to the enduring appeal of Fitzgerald’s quatrains. The overall conclusion is that since it is often impossible to achieve all nine types of fidelity, translators need to carefully consider what their primary aim is in undertaking the translation of artistic works and be prepared to sacrifice certain types of fidelity (e.g. historical and informational fidelity) in order to create a work that fulfils the aesthetic expectations of the target audience. Pei Jones was undeniably successful in achieving those types of fidelity that were possible. However, the work may have had more widespread appeal if he had sacrificed some of them in order to create a work that was more closely aligned with the aesthetic expectations of Māori readers.

year: 2013