record

Thesis Info

LABS ID
00945
Thesis Title
Mediated Memory and the Internet: Indigenous Protagonism in Brazil
Author
Louise M. Hisayasu
2nd Author
3rd Author
Degree
MA Media Arts Cultures
Year
2019
Number of Pages
97
University
Danube University Krems
Thesis Supervisor
Andres Burbano
Supervisor e-mail
burbano AT gmail.com
Other Supervisor(s)
Oliver Grau
Language(s) of Thesis
english
Department / Discipline
Copyright Ownership
Languages Familiar to Author
Portuguese, English
URL where full thesis can be found
Keywords
Indigenous media art, ethnomedia
Abstract: 200-500 words
This research draws connections between collective memory, digital technologies and Indigenous protagonism in Brazil. I propose that digital technologies and the Internet, which are growingly affordable, accessible and multi-medial have become necessary tools for the Indigenous community and Indigenist movements in Brazil. Memory is understood as both the collective act of remembering and as a conceptual space in its institutionalised form. The fire which engulfed the Brazilian National Museum in September 2018 evidences not only the fragility of the institution, but also verifies the instability and disparity which exist at the intersection of history and collective memory. Indigenous hi(stories), widely interpreted as folkloric, have been largely written by non-Indigenous authors, who work within the Western traditions of truth and reason. 305 Indigenous ethnicities live in Brazil, accounting for 0.4% of the total population. With over 274 Native languages spoken, most of which only exist in their oral form; digital technologies provide an interesting route for the preservation of cultural heritage, one which is not predominantly textual. The borderless and somewhat timeless aspects of the Internet also offer direct dissemination of first-person Indigenous narratives. Rádio Yandê, the first entirely Indigenous-run web radio encapsulates both traditional and contemporary Indigenous culture, actively seeking to decolonise media structures with ethnomedia. Earlier projects like Índios On-line also seeked Indigenous autonomy in cyberspace. Indigenous electronic art, or media art is in its early stages of development in Brazil, but has already shown great potential in introducing alternative narratives which rupture outdated perceptions of Indigenous peoples as primitive. Indigenous media art is also intrinsically connected to discussions around speculative futures, whilst being grounded in traditional, shamanic or cosmological Worldviews. This research studies the impact digital technologies and the Internet have, as tools, on the preservation of Indigenous collective and mediated memories, passively creating archives of non-linear (hi)stories.