Giving a Voice to Minority: Practical Exploration of Ethnographic Animation

Abstract

Ethnographic animation, a novel form of visual ethnography, is capable of recording and representing traditional cultures, experiences, memories and other non-textual historical materials and cultural elements of ethnic minority groups. As a medium tasked with recording facts, how to ensure that the content displayed by ethnographic animation is true and accurate is an issue that animators need to pay attention to. Based on the author's ethnographic animated short film Longhorn Miao’s Love Songs, this paper demonstrates that establishing a balanced relationship between etic and emic perspectives and applying participatory design methods in the process of ethnic animation practice can effectively help community members express their cultural views and voice through animation, thus showing the cultural interpretation of ethnic minorities to the greatest extent. The research results of this paper will provide a reference paradigm for animation practice related to ethnic minorities.