Representation and innovation are integral concepts within society that allow for our understanding of ethnicity and identity to remain relevant. However, with the inclusion of colonisation, the Māori culture, which is an exclusively oral language (Te Āwhina Ka’ai-Mahuta, 2012), is often corrupted. The “Media, Technology and Society” tasks and discussions allow for audiences to gain a deeper understanding of culture and representation itself.
In week two, we were introduced to “TE AO MĀORI: Innovation & Culture”, delving into concepts of the Māori language within modern society. Discussion focused on depictions of Māori culture within the video games “The Mark of Kri” (2005) and “Civilisation 6” (2016). Both focused on the origins of Māori and Polynesian culture. While similar concepts, the response from players was vastly different. I made the observation that “the difference between these two titles lies not in the year that they were made, but the intentions that they were made with.” The Mark of Kri does not follow a specific Māori story or tradition, instead tokenising Māori culture. From the inclusion of the tā moko, to the stereotypically 'islander' build and facial structure of the protagonist, the story and plotline was derived from a lack of information, compared to Civilisation 6 which depicts several fleshed out portrayals of Māori culture which do not feel tacky or poorly executed.
A TikTok discussing 'woke' culture.
As a student in 2023, our perceptions of representation are far more advanced than in 2005 and even 2016. While indeed representations of a minority culture, Dean P. S. Mahuta at AUT highlights how “traditional bastions of the Māori language . . . now have unprecedented English language content present as a direct result of digital technology” (Whaanga et al., 2017). From examples brought forward of representation, I argue the question in my diary; “Is all representation of culture for morally and ethically right reasons?” As society reaches a possible apex of inclusivity and 'wokeness', the reasons behind representation need to be questioned and justified. In class, there was minimal discussion towards the positives of these representations; our perceptions were almost purely negative.
I concluded that “representation for the sake of representation almost always ends up being inaccurate and poorly received.”. Kim Plunkett from the University of Otago highlights “the language you speak affects the way you think.” (Crystal, 2009). The majority of the criticism in class came from Pākehā individuals. The term of ‘wokeness’ has been coined within Generation Z (Lyons, 2023), allowing colonials to harness a platform while those from genuine minority backgrounds are often left without a voice. While feedback from the Māori culture is placed at a higher importance, the fact stands that Pākehā individuals still insert their colonial superiority. As our task was to “design a video game that is true to Māori principles of innovation”, the concept of ‘wokeness’ plays a significant factor in the representation of culture within a media lens.
My group discussed how these games likely had teams to confirm and corroborate the depiction of these cultures, while our class did not. As referenced earlier, “Māori communities now have unprecedented English language content present as a direct result of digital technology” (Whaanga et al., 2017), therefore; who am I to reinvent these representations? As a consumer of media, I am preconditioned to believe forms of bias that are fed to me; thus there is no viable way that I can improve on a representation of a culture that I am not a part of as a Pākehā male. Our western notions of innovation have led us to constantly improve on things that do not belong to us. From the philosophical discussions that my group experienced in class, we concluded that representation can only be improved upon by the minority group itself needing the representation.
The following week, we discussed the Māori culture through the lens of innovation. We analysed the app “Kupu”; a photographic translator that correlates the Māori language with real world examples. While rather innovative and a unique way to educate society, my group brought forward the concerning fact that none of us had heard of this app before. While this is an incredible tool, its advertising was diverted away from a crucial audience: students. There has been a large emphasis upon awareness and embracing te reo within our lives. However, for majority of students I feel that this concept is not expanded upon. Between 2018-2019, Kupu had over 177,000 downloads, (Keall, 2020) a number that has only increased in the 5 years since its release. With such a large audience, why were students unaware of its existence? Our task was to “design a language app that supports and encourages the revitalisation of te reo Māori”, however, as noted in my diary, “We quickly began to realise that it's extremely hard to create a medium of awareness for a dying culture, without the app eventually dying out.” While these apps create the façade of being progressive, Brian Winston from the University of Westminster notes that “such an historical consciousness reveals the ‘Information Revolution’ to be largely an illusion, a rhetorical gambit and an expression of technological ignorance.” (Winston, 1998).
The plan of our app titled "Ako" - Māori for 'Learn'
A diagram of the "Social Sphere" as demonstrated by Brian Winston in "Media technology and society: a history : from the telegraph to the Internet"
The Māori culture is extremely intricate, thus when it’s combined with the innovation of the information age, “lived experiences involving risks become tokenistic, therefore becoming less meaningful and disheartening to those who share their time and energies” (Gatera & Takhar, 2023). Our group began to realise how many apps and interactive forms of media have died out after being labelled as progressive. With this in mind, our pitch for an app was a copycat of the popular word game "Wordle", except in our version, words would also display their te reo translation. We theorised where Kupu lacked in its awareness, perhaps lied in the formal aspect of education within the app. Wordle itself has slowly become less relevant, therefore I noted “in a few years, Wordle too will likely become irrelevant due to us discovering new and interesting forms of entertainment.” The concept of the social sphere also correlates here. Winston describes it as “we view discrete communications technologies within the social sphere as a series of performances” (Winston, 1998), therefore one could say that modern forms of innovation and communication are simply dictated by what is ‘trendy’ at the time.
From discussions in class, applied within our own creative forms of Western innovation, meaningful insight has been crafted that highlights the flaws behind innovation through a Māori lens. Through previous depictions of culture and innovation, I believe the mindsets of innovators can be altered to place minorities at the frontline of representation, rather than financial gain.
REFERENCES
Crystal, D. (2009). The future of language. Proceedings of LingO 2007, 1.
Gatera, G., & Takhar, S. S. (2023). Beyond tokenism: the influence of lived experience and its future possibilities in mental health science. Nature Mental Health, 1(3), 151–152. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00027-x
Keall, C. (2020, October 1). Spark reveals big numbers around its Kupu app. NZ Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/spark-reveals-big-numbers-around-its-kupu-app/7MUEMZJ4MFH5M3RNULQF7FAVVM/
Lyons, N. S. (2023). The woke revolution is far from over. Quadrant, 67(1–2), 16–18. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.831397509511540
TE ĀWHINA KA‘AI-MAHUTA, R. (2012). Digital Technology: Contemporary methods for the Dissemination of Ancient Knowledge. The Use of Digital Technology in the Preservation of Māori Song. Digital Technology: Contemporary Methods for the Dissemination of Ancient Knowledge. https://www.tekaharoa.com/index.php/tekaharoa/article/view/98/92
Whaanga, H., Keegan, T. T. a. G., & Apperley, M. (2017). He Whare Hangarau Māori Language, Culture & Technology.
Winston, B. (1998). Media Technology and Society: A History : from the Telegraph to the Internet. Psychology Press.