The Depiction of Asian Tattoos in Popular Culture and the Mainstream media.

Tattoos add a perceived aesthetic value to the body of the wearer. In instances where tattoos are worn – by choice – to enhance the outer appearance of the wearer, they are a vivid expression of artistic freedom, individualism and even a mark of belonging. For the same reasons that their appearance becomes conspicuous, tattoo wearers are vulnerable to receive negative first impressions. Tattoos are broadly divided into three types: those that are of tribal origins, those that are linked with criminal communities, and those that are forcefully given to mark prisoners or given as punishment. In the main stream media, the tattoos shown are often worn by antagonists or characters of a criminal nature. Recognizable Asian tattoos range from Japanese Horimono to Borneo tribal tattoos. A well-known example of tribal tattoo are the ones worn by Borneo Ibans. This paper will explain the importance of semiotics studies by looking at the cultural value of a particular tribal tattoo. The bunga terung is an Iban tattoo that a man will get when he goes for bejalai, a journey comparable to a walkabout. The theory of semiotics and representation by Charles Sanders Peirce will cover the knowledge process towards understanding the bunga terung. This research will enable us to differentiate between a tattoo that represents a particular indigenous community and a tattoo that represents a criminal one. Keywords: Bunga Terung, Gang Tattoo, Tribal Tattoo, Cultural Identity, Iban Tattoo.

Uprising and Human Rights Abuses in Southern Cameroon-Ambazonia

In 2016, lawyers, teachers and students in the two Anglophone regions initially led demonstrations and strikes, which eventually involved a wider section of the population. This mobilization was against their marginalization by the Francophone-dominated government in which they were chronically under-represented in all aspects of national life: political appointments and professional training and had been treated as second-class citizens since their reunification. They argued that their vibrant economic and political institutions had been completely erased, and their education and judicial systems had been undermined and degraded. Activists spread videos that show security forces abusing human rights (by suppressing peaceful gatherings, beating, harassing, arresting and killing protesters, burning their houses, schools and hospitals) in order to produce a counter-narrative to the ‘official story’ that main-stream media had been producing. We collected and analyzed 30 videos to better appreciate the human rights abuses. The videos provide information that cannot be provided by other types of data. They are used as ‘proofs of facts’ and they contain much more visual information on bodily movement and acoustic data. The videos show appalling images not just of how French-speaking soldiers tortured Anglophones but also their inability to communicate with them adequately although they share the same country.

Baba Jukwa’s Facebook page: A possible counter hegemonic space for political transformation in Zimbabwe

This study focuses on how the Baba Jukwa Facebook page has been appropriated as a potential counter hegemonic space for the circulation of public opinion during the run up till post 2013 harmonised elections in Zimbabwe. This current study wishes to explore the role played by social media in Zimbabwe in the run up to the 2013 election especially on Facebook through participation on the Baba Jukwa page. Focus will be on the nature of the discourses in the posts and how the participants on the page engaged in debates around these posts. I will also interrogate how the discourses in the posts on the Baba Jukwa Facebook page were taken up by the main stream media and how it also clashed with dominant political discourses as enshrined in government publications and web-sites. This will shed light on the impact of the page and how it enlarged the public sphere in the country as a counter hegemonic platform.