title: Editorial: Striving for social justice: The power that picturebooks have to counter inequitable cultural hegemony

authors: Daly, Nicola

abstract: Children’s literature has a long association with education. It has transmitted cultural values to readers over many centuries, often reflecting dominant identities and cultures of the time. Picturebooks, a specific format in children’s literature, are unique in their marriage of image and text and can have a powerful influence on readers’ perceptions of themselves, others and the world around them. Our focus on picturebooks as a subset of children’s literature reflects our view that picturebooks have a particular power for a very wide age group, from those who cannot read independently, to those who are making choices on behalf of future readers. It is the fact that picturebooks are often chosen by adults, such as parents, librarians, teachers and publishers, for readers forming their views of the world that make them of particular interest when it comes to maintaining or disrupting existing power structures.

text: Editorial: Striving for social justice: The power that picturebooks have to counter inequitable cultural hegemony Children’s literature has a long association with education. It has transmitted cultural values to readers over many centuries, often reflecting dominant identities and cultures of the time. Picturebooks, a specific format in children’s literature, are unique in their marriage of image and text and can have a powerful influence on readers’ perceptions of themselves, others and the world around them. Our focus on picturebooks as a subset of children’s literature reflects our view that picturebooks have a particular power for a very wide age group, from those who cannot read independently, to those who are making choices on behalf of future readers. It is the fact that picturebooks are often chosen by adults, such as parents, librarians, teachers and publishers, for readers forming their views of the world that make them of particular interest when it comes to maintaining or disrupting existing power structures.

year: 2022

title: An Analysis of Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault

authors: Jacobs, Luke Brett

subjects: Games studies

abstract: This thesis explores the representation of the characters and content in the electronic game Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault first published in 2004. The thesis examines the history of conflict themed games and current academic literature on the subject of representation of ethnicity and history in these games. A methodological discussion is presented outlining the challenge of academic game study and how it was applied to this particular title. The findings of an analysis conducted under the methodology explored in the thesis, is presented. These findings conclude that in terms of representation the game has few novel aspects and that the way the characters are presented is motivated by game design decisions rather than historic revisionism.

text: An Analysis of Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault This thesis explores the representation of the characters and content in the electronic game Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault first published in 2004. The thesis examines the history of conflict themed games and current academic literature on the subject of representation of ethnicity and history in these games. A methodological discussion is presented outlining the challenge of academic game study and how it was applied to this particular title. The findings of an analysis conducted under the methodology explored in the thesis, is presented. These findings conclude that in terms of representation the game has few novel aspects and that the way the characters are presented is motivated by game design decisions rather than historic revisionism.

year: 2011

title: Whanaungatanga: an illustration of the importance of cultural context

authors: McNatty, William

subjects: Te reo Māori

abstract: The word 'whanaungatanga' is often used by people who lack an intimate understanding of the philosophical base in Māori culture out of which it emerges. Thus, it is sometimes used simply to describe the camaraderie that can be associated with team sports or with reference to the 'glue' that connects people to one another socially. This is not necessarily a problem in itself. After all, change and development in the lexicon is a characteristic of living languages. However, real problems can emerge where words become divorced from their cultural roots to such an extent that two speakers using the same word can completely fail to understand one another. It is argued here that this is what can happen when Māori words, such as 'whanaungatanga', are used in the context of modelling in the social sciences, particularly where that modelling is conducted in the context of Western social and cultural values. In particular, the essential spiritual dimension of whanaungatanga may be overlooked or misunderstood.

text: Whanaungatanga: an illustration of the importance of cultural context The word 'whanaungatanga' is often used by people who lack an intimate understanding of the philosophical base in Māori culture out of which it emerges. Thus, it is sometimes used simply to describe the camaraderie that can be associated with team sports or with reference to the 'glue' that connects people to one another socially. This is not necessarily a problem in itself. After all, change and development in the lexicon is a characteristic of living languages. However, real problems can emerge where words become divorced from their cultural roots to such an extent that two speakers using the same word can completely fail to understand one another. It is argued here that this is what can happen when Māori words, such as 'whanaungatanga', are used in the context of modelling in the social sciences, particularly where that modelling is conducted in the context of Western social and cultural values. In particular, the essential spiritual dimension of whanaungatanga may be overlooked or misunderstood.

year: 2002-02