Health promotion in ink : grassroots comics as a medium for participatory communication in the Khwe community.
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This dissertation engages in a longitudinal study of the method of grassroots comics \n(Packalen & Sharma, 2007) amongst the Khwe people in the community of Platfontein, \nwhich is situated outside of Kimberley, South Africa. The study is largely informed by \ncontemporary shifts in development theory, particularly that of participatory communication, \nwhich values individuals who live in the community as active participants in the research \nprocess. \nThe use of grassroots comics (Packalen & Sharma, 2007) is largely based on theoretical \nconcepts surfacing in current literature regarding the field development communication, \nwhich is somewhat critical of older, more dominant theories of development. Instead of \napplying a predetermined, uniform model of communication to multiple different settings in \nwhich varying development issues exist, this study is driven by the active involvement of \ncommunity stakeholders throughout every stage of the research process. This includes the \nidentification of community issues, the utilization of grassroots comics in the context of \nadapting and communicating about those issues on a community-wide scale, and the overall \nanalysis of the process once research has been carried out. \nThis particular study focuses on general health issues and how these might affect the Khwe \ncommunity from a development perspective. However, what is of central importance is how \nthe comics created by certain stakeholders in the community might serve as a means of \npromoting participatory communication amongst the local population, for the sake of \nalleviating certain health issues prevalent in the community itself. The practical nature of \ngrassroots comics as a forum for health communication is what is of particular interest in this \nstudy. \nPurposive sampling techniques are employed in order to identify key participants and \ninformants in the research process, to present a case-specific analysis of grassroots comics in \nuse, and for purposes of limiting this study. Data collection methods applied to the research \nsetting and research findings are conducted using various qualitative research techniques \nincluding participant observation, interviews, discussions and a participatory grassroots \ncomics workshop.
Author: Andrew. Dicks
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1590768012