Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti – Milano Three-year BA Degree Program in Graphic Design and Art Direction
An interactive story about finding in the unknowns.
Advisor
Cesana Guido
Thesis
Aydan Hasanova
2018/2019
8541CE
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PREFACE The person that first set into a journey 3 years ago, with open expectations, did not calculate the many faces that a transformation would entail. What followed openness for experience came with many difficulties, confusion, seclusion and isolation. I am glad to say that that procedure has ended and I am now more understanding of what happened. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this for any future student who will go abroad, in hopes to help in their understanding of what they are going through. The process of change is exciting but not an easy one, and I hope this work can accompany them to not feel so lonely in this process of rediscoveries.
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PART 1 – THE TOPIC 6 CHAPTER 1 – ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH 7 The Brief 8 Space in Between 9 The Change 11 The Change in the Student 14 Culture Shock 18 The Problem 20 Integration into Society 22 Target Research 23 The Survey 31 Counseling Service and Buddy Project 32 CHAPTER 1 CONCLUSION 34 35 37 38 40 44
CHAPTER 2 – THE STORY Storytelling as a Guide What makes a good story? Comics Examples of Different Comics Notable Services
PART 2 – THE PROJECT 46
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47 48 50 52
CHAPTER 3 – WEASELING Complete Narrative Scheme Webcomic Functionality Story of Weasel Character and Atmosphere Design
62 62 64 70
CHAPTER 4 – BRAND Branding Merchandise Support, Team, Budgeting, Target Market
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THANK YOU AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
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CHAPTER 1 – ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH
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THE BRIEF It's increasingly becoming more common for students who have just graduated high school to consider studying abroad for higher education. The promise is positive: the student is faced with personal responsibilities, infinite freedom and total immersion that would not be available or allowed in their origin. However, as promising it may seem, there are many painful sides when departing from home. Leaving one's home for another one is not only of exploration of the other. Often the process of readjustment is not linear, where it begins with painful beginnings and ends with happy endings. What follows are culture shock, homesickness and confusion. Students who find themselves going through it reject or can not recognise this feeling. This is reasonable as with the overwhelming flux of emotions, learning and excitement that novelties foreignness can bring, it becomes unreasonable to have any pessimistic emotions at all. The process is often lonely, because the students are subjected to understand their strange emotional reactions in their own scope of understanding. Why would some students can not bear anymore and leave back to their original countries? This is why I believe it is important to address this phenomenon, because however common and negligible it may seem, there are many interesting anthropological concepts that are not clear for the students. Clearance and exploitation of this procedure would alleviate the students from the probable misery that they will inevitably go through.
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THE SPACE INBETWEEN In order to understand the problem that foreign students go through, it is important to view this process of change per se. What type of change do the students go through? What happens to the student meanwhile?
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..one soon learns to conform to another rhythm of life and other ways of thinking about times of day and the spaces devoted to personal matters or life in common. To travel is to want to go toward a constant discontinuity that continually forces you to position yourself and deal, step by step, with the habits of others.� Franco la Cecla, The Culture of Ethics
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1. The Change During a long-term move a cultural shift redefines the individual's daily life habits and understandings. This redefining passage involves leaving the before state to the arrival of the other state. The student in this passage is subjected to understand his previous role in society, enter and choose which role he could be in next. In his prior state, the subject does not question but is brought up in his pre-defined role in society. The student is under the influence of his native country, where his actions, reactions and appearance are based upon the culture that he was brought on. Often times the subject may even deny being in that part of society, while still being under the influence of it. When he is actively going through the passage, he comes to identify each cultural aspect that he was subjected to. This could include subjects as: food, lifestyle, clothing, communication, language, relationships – anything that is daily set of life elements that adds up to make a culture. Once he observes and re-adjusts accordingly, he comes to redefine these same states from his own new perspective that he now understands. We can consider a similar passage defined by Arnold van Gonnep, a Dutch-German-French ethnographer and folklorist. He has studied and defined the passage of status as “the Liminal” passage. The word originated from Latin, means “threshold”, defines the stage of ambiguity and disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rite of passage, when the individual does not hold his previous status but has not yet begun the new status. He divided this passage in three parts: 1. The Pre-Ritual Stage: This stage entails the death, or separation of the former self parting from the origin. 2. Liminal Space: Leaving from the origin, the self enters the Liminal Space, where he is subjected to question the mannerisms of the entered space. Here the self enters two sub-passages: the first part where he submits to the culture that he enters to; and the second part where he rejects these customs and readjusts according to his previous definitions. Van Gonnep noted 4 main types of social rites of passage in ethnographic groups. This can also be replicable in our case of the students, the students shift in: 9
• Hierarchy of status: from a high status of senior in high school, back to a freshmen in university. Therefore there is a backtrack in the status. • Place: from one city to another. There could be a shift from rural to urban, big to small city etc. The greatest passages are when there is a very significant geographic difference. • Situation: One is subjected to change completely one home for another eventual home. In this case he is re-situating past preferences to the new ones that are found. There is also a passage from completion of the high school years to starting the new academic milestone. • Time: From the period of summer holidays to the period of studies in fall. The mental state goes from the relaxed mindset to the working one again. 3. The Post-Ritual Stage: At the final stage of the passage, the being has completed all the necessary psychological steps, taken his action and can be reincorporated into society as a new being. stage I
The Pre-ritual Stage
the inbetween
Liminal Space
Van Gonnep’s Liminal Space Graph
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stage II
The Post-ritual Stage
2. The Change in the Student Once the change is defined per se, I may consider the change within the individual himself. The main changes that occur in this liminal space are the perceptions of possibles for the individual. He comes to question if any of the morals before or after are correct. When the person goes through the rites of passage, he discovers the possibility of the other identity, the individual is exposed to the possible of what he could be himself. The individual can split between the “must be” and “what if”. He asks two questions: “I don't have to of the origin culture” (here he is in the state of self exploration and questioning identity position in society) vs. “Do I have to of this culture?” (new form of acceptance and choosing elements from the new society) In the subjects' initial statement of “I don't have to of my origin culture”, the individual involved showcases more rebellious aspects of not accepting his current state. However, he does not recognise the other possible cultural definitions as he is not experiencing them, therefore does not have a clear reference to subject to. What becomes is a supposition and guesswork of what it could possibly be like in the other realm. His judgment would be mixed with his current cultural definitions and over-generalisations. He is in a state of longing for “the other”. At the end of the transformation, where the subject has already moved and completed his psychological transition completely, the individual is distinguished from society for his strangeness. His role would be to re-integrate by subjecting to the given rules at this point. Therefore he starts to choose the certain characteristics or stereotypes he would like to belong to and asks the question “Do I have to of this new culture?”. A good factor involved here is that the subject, once moved, is upon the choice of either using his background culture as an excuse for his actions. Simultaneously, he can choose or reject certain behaviours from the new culture claiming that he does not have to abide to it based on his root culture. He is in a double state of in between that actually puts him in advantage.
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The Individual
The Change
The Other
state
stage III
The distinction of the individual within his own culture, making him distinct based on his characters.
The individual is in the process of integration, he is perceived as “the other” or stranger.
The distinction of the individual from that other culture, where he is stereotyped for his original culture.
wants
stage II
Longing for the other (Stage III)
The replacement of pre-rituals to post-rituals.
He longs for the familiar (Stage I)
quote
stage I
“‘I don’t have to’ of the initial culture”
“‘Do I have to’ of the other culture?”
“‘I don’t have to’ of either cultures”
Graph Summary of what happens to the individual that goes through these changes.
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Daily ethics is neither a closed system nor a tradition, however; it is instead a dynamic equilibrium shared among things that are not said or written. This theme quite obviously opens the way for others, among them that of the relationship between these forms of life and others that coexist with them or exist elsewhere. What we are dealing with here is a problem of internal functioning. Clearly, we on the outside “get lost,” not only because geographical parameters are lost, but also because we lose ourselves in others’ rules. This is exactly why getting accustomed to another culture is a long and difficult task.” Franco La Cecla
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3. Culture Shock The process of re-integration is a very painful fluctuating development, filled with miscommunications, misunderstandings, wrong assumptions, wrong doings and so on. This is the result of mismatch between what the individual had once known to the new definitions that he is being exposed to. He would be going through a cultural shock. Culture in this sense would be defined as a set of customs from daily life. These customs accumulate to a greater understanding and actions that the greater society naturally accepts as a norm. The repeated forms of communication would not need to be explained again, as it is already accepted as it is. The people that accept these daily habits and rules are recognised as one part of being, while people who do not abide it get expelled from this partial society. The role of the foreigner will be to recognise these new forms of interactions and adapt his actions to it as soon as possible.
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These rules are for living well, for agreement or for litigation. They are rules for the common use of spaces; they are norms of “manners” that can also become norms of “sincerity” or “authenticity”; they are what the anthropologists have called “culture,” thus implying that these banal daily norms hide the meaning that people give to their own lives.” Franco la Cecla
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“We are not surprised when we cannot understand the speech of a person whose language we do not know, but we assume that an adequate translation would convey a meaningful message to us. Observing the affective behavior of a person from a different culture, however, we “know” what is meant, but sometimes are unable to understand why a person should act that way.
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Sara Harkness and Philip L. Kilbride, “Introduction: The Socialization of Affect,” The foreigner may have a series of confusion and disorientation based on how great the difference between the understanding the two worlds of interactions. Oberg (1960) conceptualised cultural shock as the consequence of strain and anxiety resulting from contact with a new culture and the feelings of loss, confusion, and impotence, which are due to loss of accustomed cultural cues and social rules. The sensation of identity loss due to culture shock can be described similar to mourning. Unless the foreigner has secure and positive attachments to others, such as parents, significant others, siblings, they will often find it very hard to adjust to new environments.
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“The study, based on interviews administered prior to the transfer and two years thereafter, revealed that the reactions of a large number of interviewees resembled the sorrow experienced after the loss of a loved one. Fried postulated that the forced transfer from the place of residence represented an interruption in the individuals’ sense of continuity, in that it involved the fragmentation of two essential components of identity, namely spatial identity and group identity, which are associated with strong affective elements. It is interesting to note that, as well as speaking explicitly of “attachment” to the place of residence, the article also refers to the psychodynamic literature on mourning.
The main symptoms recognisable for culture shock are: Health: Sleep difficulty or oversleeping Overeating or under eating Constant exhaustion and irritability Crying for extensive days Excessive worrying about safety and personal hygiene Psyche: Extensive periods of sadness and homesickness Sense of loss of Identity Lack of focus and interest in things usually enjoyed Feeling lonely, depressed, helpless Feeling like an imposter Excessive worry that they are being taken advantage of.
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Culture shock could last from anywhere between a week to several months. It is often hidden in very small details, in the isles of the grocery store, organisation of furniture in a house, the way of greetings, to the way relationships between people are built. However long, it is usually defined in these stages:
Host Country
1 excitement everythings is new and interesting
Home
8 readjustment understanding life back home
5 hope host ocuntry as new home
sad
happy
9 integration lessons learned
6 excitement excitement to return back home
working towards adaptation learning
differences become apparent frustrations 2
4
frustration with homecountry unrelatable 7
feeling homesick and depressed helpless 3
Stages of Culture and Reverse Culture Shocks
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4. The Problem We can summarise the main areas of trouble with culture shock that international students may experience as: 1. Unknown
The individual is unable to recognise what the main stereotype and organisation of life are. The people, place, food are strange and require descriptive knowledge on how they would operate. The person does not understand how to react or comprehend. For example, the student may encounter a person whom his culture he has not heard of. The student may have trouble understanding and separating normality and culture for whatever the stranger does that is out of the ordinary. 2. Missing out back home
The individual only comes to hope that the initial place that he has departed from does not change. On missing great life events as weddings, birthdays, illness and deaths of family and loved ones, leaves the person to feel out of control. It can result in very great partiality between what the body experiences abroad (seeing and experiencing other elements) and what the heart yearns for (the feeling of being back home). 3. Language Barrier/Lifestyle/Expressions
The individual’s reading of the daily habits of the foreign environment become ambiguous and unreadable. Not understanding the language makes conversations primordial, deeming shallow understandings and miscommunications. Additionally, the lifestyle differences could be so great that one simply can not adjust their normal habits into the one that enter into. For example, a student from a very hardworking society, may move to a country that is laid-back. The student has a hard to readjust and slow down the pace, because his self worth will significantly decrease for himself. 4. Technology/Transportation
The individual has troubles in understanding operational elements of the new location. The main discrepancy occurs when the shift is from a large location to a smaller one. For example, the technology might be very advanced and unusual for a person coming from a very small town; or the use of travel through open air carriages instead of regular buses can be very disorientating for a city person.
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Groups can find themselves caught up in transformations of their internal history and placed before alternatives not of their own choosing, situations that are doubly restraining in which they do not succeed in substituting a new identity for an old one that gave them secure rules, and individuals and collectivities often remain in a void that is also a void of meaning, hence an enormous source of suffering� Franco la Cecla
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5. Integration into Society However painful the topic of submersion may seem, cultural concepts are elastic. There are many ways the foreigner can tackle these concepts. The interaction and communication methods would be the key for cultural integration. We can observe a similar integration in the study of ethnic group's integration into larger societies. The opposing culture that is greeting the ethnic group will need to identify stereotypes to give stable characters for the cultural differences that emerge. The culture that is being judged can have different reactions to his re-integration in society. There are 3 main categories that they can lean towards in their actions. They may: a. Set loose of their previous judgments and fully integrate in the established society and group; In this case the subject will be conservative and internally diversified. He gives up his previous definitions from his own culture and fully integrate into the new community that he enters to. b. Accept their “minority� status (the minority status is given
by the community that does not fully recognize where the class of identity that the subject belongs to, therefore giving overgeneralizations and stereotypes that are trivial or may not be true), try to reject this class that is subjected to him; and pass to reduce these definitions, while still being art of the larger system. In this case the subject will have an eventual assimilation to the bigger group of society. He would fully enact his stereotypical behaviors, but would be rejecting or fighting against the stereotypes for his own culture.
c. Choose the emphasize their ethnic identity, using to organize new positions and patterns in the sectors that were formerly not found in the society. Subjects will join ethnic groups that will have greater movements as nativism in the new states.
He could accept his stereotypification and create new understandings for the culture that is defining him.
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“Living somewhere else means being constantly part of a conversation in which different identities are recognized, mixed up with each other without losing their own identity. Here the difference do not necessarily act as barriers but as complex signals. Out sense of social identity, our language and idols that we carry inside us remain, but no longer as origins or signs of authenticity able to ensure a meaning to our life. They remain as traces, voices, memories, whispers mixed with other stories, other episodes, other encounters.
�
Chamber 2003
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TARGET RESEARCH It is crucial to note that the type of transformation mentioned is not standard to every student that moves abroad. It is heavily dependent on factors as character type, his relation to his origin, his knowledge of the place that he is moving to and his mental health/ capability in understanding and adapting.
1. Survey In order to explore the target better, I conducted a survey with 175 participants. The participants were mainly aged from 18-25, from very diverse backgrounds. The questions asked were mainly focusing on the transition and his relationships with his roots and new country. The guiding questions:
How do their relation to themselves change once they change their environment? Does his relation to “home� change? Is it better to; (a) go to a country meeting people from your country and expanding later/ or (b) exploring foreigners first and later tracing back to roots? What were the difficulties experienced in feeling like the outsider within this new culture that they entered in? What did they feel relieved in/feel freedom from once they had entered this new space? How can the transition be smoother?
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? My goal with the survey was to understand:
1. What percentage of the students felt very lonely? 2. Was there a linkage between being shy or outgoing in experiencing difficulty? 3. Was there a linkage between the amount of difference between place of origin to the place they are going to? 4. Was there a linkage between the difficulties with adapting to the amount of times the person has done this experience? 5. Was there a linkage between the difficulties with the first people that they encounter with? 23
1. Why did you move abroad?
78,3%
25,1%
Study
Work
0.6% Other
14,9%
7,4%
Living Conditions
Family
2. How many times did you move abroad?
Two times
26,3%
26,3%
47,4%
Only one time
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More than two
3. Who were your first connections? The locals Did not meet anyone until later on
18,9% International community
41,1%
6,2%
30,9%
Other
People close to my own culture
4. How accepted or rejected did you feel in the new setting? negative
neutral
positive
17,2%
29,7%
61,7%
0 rejected and isolated
5
10 comfortable and connected
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5. When did you start fitting in and/or feeling comfortable in the new place? Within 1 year Within 2nd year
22,9% 8,6%
5,2%
Within 3 months
Other
32,6% 30,9%
Within 1 month
6. How often do you feel homesick? negative
neutral
44%
38,9%
0 rarely miss home
positive
15,8% 10 constantly thinking of home
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7. Which statement fits you best?
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38,3%
26,3%
37,7%
“I feel very connected to my roots and nation.”
“I may be somewhat influenced by my culture and family but I do not feel connected to it.”
“I only feel connected to the place where I have memories in, regardless of the culture, origin or family.”
8. Would you move abroad again? No
Maybe
18,4% Yes
78,7%
9. Would you move back home? Maybe
38,3%
Yes
42,3% 19,4%
No
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Noteworthy Responses “I don’t think people realize when they first move abroad how challenging the experience will be, but because of the need to “make it work” in the new place, it opens the individual up to invaluable experiences they could never have garnered otherwise. These experiences then become all the more impactful when they’re hard won.
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You have to be ready for moving abroad mentally, before taking such a step. Most of young people never understand this, and find it a way to escape from certain things (family, culture etc etc). Whereas the reality is that you will face many struggles, which you would not have faced if you stayed home.”
“To a certain extent, I feel connected to every culture/place where I’ve moved to and the places have left their remark on my personal identity. Still, home will be the place I’ll always feel most connected to.
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I originated from a place where the people seemed to have never moved, always lived the same lives over and over again - without a burst of culture or experience. Village country life does that, it is so cozy. However, this made me agitated and restless, in need to explore to understand the world better.”
“Learning the language was key to feeling settled.
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The hardest part of living abroad is missing out on the changes back home. The graduations and weddings. The new jobs and new pregnancies of friends that you can't quite celebrate. Also how your relationship with your friends and family changes and weakens while you're away. That really caught me off guard.”
“Being abroad when your partner is not, can feel quite negative. Also I realized how much I love my Dutch home by going abroad because of some small differences that combined into a big, significant difference.
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”
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The most important aspect/change for me was the shift in the socio-political climate i experienced - I moved from a very conservative country to a way more accepting one (at least here in Milan) and it has allowed me to grow as a person however I wanted.”
“Friends from different cultures gave me 1) a different point of view; 2) I become an individual adult; 3) I learned how to solve problems just by myself; 4) I learned how to take care of myself.
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Moved abroad three times and found that going from big city to big city felt like less of a culture shock initially but also had less of an impact on me than when I moved from big city to rural area (i.e. living in a village in Costa Rica had more of an impact on my interests, career choice, etc than living in London, UK).”
“I have lived 3 years in Ghana , 3 years in China, 2 in Russia, 3 in Iceland, 7 in Italy, 4 in South Africa and 6 months in Spain. All the countries I’ve lived in are super different from each other so for me the secret of adapting quickly is having an open mind and not constantly thinking of how your life was before.
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First 3 months I learned just basic words in Italian and every time my misspelling created funny stories. Inverno from Italian means winter, inferno hell, just imagine how people looked at me when I told about coming back in winter (but actually pronounced hell).”
“I'm not sure if it's a French thing or if Canadians are just weird or if the people around me are the problem, but nobody says thank you to the bus drivers here? like I know that they're doing their job and all but why have I not seen french people thanking the bus drivers as they get off the bus. In all my life in Canada, I've never been on a bus where people didn't thank the bus drivers and I don't know how I feel about it.
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My assumptions was that the process of adapting is a very painful, long and heavy. I had assumed that If the person was heavily rooted to his culture he would be longing for home. However, with the survey I realised that not everyone experiences culture shock in the same level.The relations were very variable, however, these are the general conclusions that can be drawn out: 1. What percentage of the students felt very lonely?
Most students did not report to feel lonely or rejected when entering the new environment. The integration duration takes anywhere from one month to a year. 2. Was there a linkage with place attachment?
Yes, if the student felt more connected to their root culture they were less like to feel uncomfortable. Surely they did experience homesickness, but cultural adaptation becomes much more easier rather than the students who do not want to be connected to origin or anywhere new. 3. Was there a linkage between being shy or outgoing in experiencing difficulty?
No. Their core character is that they had stepped out of the comfort of their home in order to experience something new. Therefore, it didn't depend on how much they interacted as long as they were willing and driven to do so. 4. Was there a linkage between the amount of difference between place of origin to the place they are going to?
Yes. The greater the difference between the size of the city, the greater the amount of confusion and loss felt. 5. Was there a linkage between the difficulties with adapting to the amount of times the person has done this experience?
No. Whewther it was the 1st time or the 4th, the students still had difficulties. The main difference was that later on the students were able to understand this procedure and develop coping mechanisms faster. Interestingly, the people who answered that they had moved abroad multiple times were more likely to open up about the difficulties they had experienced. This may be a sign of recognition for feelings felt. 6. Was there a linkage between the difficulties with the first people that they encounter with?
Answers vary. There were cases of both positive and negative feedbacks when met with either international or locals. Logically, the response would heavily depend on the way they were welcomed based on characteristic traits of the people. 30
2. Counseling Service for students and Buddy Project In order to understand and to collect more information on how students approach the trouble found at the Academy, I had separately contacted NABA and DA Counselor for Students, Dr. Silvia Signorelli, and Maby Sacco from the Student Life Office. The two services have different missions: The Counseling Service aims at “offering students a space for listening where being supported to tackle potential difficulties arised during the study path as well as in interpersonal relationships and growth path, e.g. distance from home and loneliness, different culture, anxiety for exams, study completion approach, difficulty in relationship with class-mates, difficulties in relational /affective life.� Meanwhile, the Student Life Office is in charge of facilitating the integration of students with social activities and bureaucratical support. Dr. Signorelli happens to be Professional Counselor in charge of the Counseling Service for Students and Head of Student Life Office. Here are the summary based on the questions asked. 1. When do students come in to the Counseling service for help?
There are mainly two moments for when students come to share their troubles and ask for help. They either: a) Come during the first phase of their stay at NABA, let’s say the first six month period. Often, these are the students that are experiencing intense emotions and somehow the cultural shock for the first time. They might recognize that creating relationships and communication is becoming difficult, even within their own culture. b) Come between the end of the second year and the beginning of third year. It happens to these students to reach the Counseling service after an extensive period of suffering. They are often quite aware of the difficulty they were experiencing. I notice that for the students that seek help soon after arrival on campus needs help to recognize their difficulties as their own difficulties as they might be prone to blame external factors, while the students who reach out at a later stage seem more aware that the difficulty they are experiencing are internal. It mainly happens that students refer to the Counseling Service when they experience that the internal difficulty is starting to impact on the learning experience with NABA and this happens throughout the triennium. 2. How is the subject of cultural difficulties approached within the Counseling service?
The main key for the Counseling approach is facilitating the students to focus on the cultural difference as an opportunity for growth. By reconnecting his/her personal resources the student develops the capability to see cultural 31
differences from a different perspective and discover his/her own way to live it, overcoming the perception of it as an obstacle. The personal resources are the qualities that the person has – empathy, intelligence, sensibility, self-listening, curiosity, etc. – anything that shows his peculiar way of experiencing him/herself and the world, academic world included. Trough experiencing the activation of his/her resources, the student learns a constructive modality to reach out to both inner and outer resources such as the teachers, other students, books or educational sources to understand what process they need to take. Accepting homesickness as a natural procedure means to be able to focus on finding his/her peculiar “how” to feel at home at the place they are in now. The students can feel more at home by learning how to handle loneliness as well as nurturing relationships, building self-esteem and learning assertive communication. This way they develop communication skills that are both beneficial for the student themselves and the ones welcoming them. 3.What is the objective of the Buddy Project?
The Buddy Project is a social grouping made between new incoming international students and already attending students, to provide peer to peer support that facilitates the social integration. The main objective is to help the students to feel what they have in common, not depending on their cultural differences. The community focuses on what they can do with the different resources between the students and to help understand what they have in common as human beings. The things that makes human beings similar are feelings, emotions, difficulties and need for belonging. The older student would guide the newcomer by saying “Your difficulty was my difficulty in the past”.
CHAPTER 1 CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, students who willfully leave their country for a better experience go about because they are hungry for more experiences and possibilities outside of their original country. However, in most cases they cannot foresee the possible difficulties that they will encounter. The difficulties mainly arise due to the unfamiliarity of customs and cultures. These difficulties puts the subject into questioning what they had previously known to what they are about to do. With external and internal resources, the students may be able to overcome the difficulties they will inevitably meet. 32
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When we travel around the world, we find standing in front of us what we thought we had left behind us� Franco Farinelli
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CHAPTER 2 – THE STORY
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STORYTELLING AS A GUIDE The are many ways human beings can connect with each other, one effective method being storytelling. Storytelling serves as guide for a reflection from the author, who has experienced a certain event and can now, with the usage of narration, pass it on. We as humans like stories because it gives us a reason to empathise, rationalise and understand a situation from a different stand point. Simultaneously, we are drawn to characters that look like us or share characteristics because it allows us to draw a parallel in our actions and the story lines that follow. This phenomenon is called “theory of mind� when the subject is able to identify with the characters intentions, frustrations, motives and encounters on a very deep level. This is supported by a study done by Keith Oatley, professor of cognitive psychology from University of Toronto. He gave scientific evidence that reading fiction stimulates the same vivid simulation of reality. With this process of simulation the reader is able to fully enter the thought's of the character involved. The brain is able to respond to the depictions of the story as if they were the real thing, therefore treating the characters as real social life interactions. Another test study done by Raymond Mar, a psychologist from York University in Canada, suggested that there is an overlap between the mode of interactions that are influenced from the fictional reading the participants had. Stories work because humans are wired to process information in terms of cause and effect. Our daily lives are constructed in the same form of narrative: every action that we make counts of short stories that enter up a sequence that makes sense for us. This process of sense making is enhanced with metaphors, where different areas of understandings become interlinked as we try to search methods to relate to our own lives. The brain actives the link with emotive reactions, and searches ways to decodify information from his own past experiences. With the methods of decodifying, drawing parallels and empathising with characters, we are able to solve problems in our own experiences. This is why stories were one of the main means of educating children as they grew up. Listing facts would only serve as a loosely held collection of data in the mind of children, however story building gives context and linkage to help visualize this information.
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We all live in a state of isolation. No other human being can ever know what it's like to be you from the inside. And no amount of reaching out can ever make them feel exactly what you feel. All media of communication are a by product of our sad inability to communicate directly from mind to mind. Sad, of course, because nearly all problems in human history stem from that inability.�
WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY? We have established the importance of storytelling, now we must address on what makes a good story. Stories are essentially a recounting of the whole life or part of sequential events, relations, memories of the subjects. It almost always entails a segment of change for the character involved. Therefore, a good story begins from a small narrative description of a character, establishing the setting. The character would be in his regular setting, but his curiosity and inner flaws within himself drives his motivations. His motivations lead him to choose upon actions, but due to his weaknesses he will be confronted with obstacles. In order to overcome these obstacles, the character is required to change willingly. Once he is confronted with himself, he is given choices that may eventually make the situation better or worse for him. Technically, this structure is called the three acts structure.
Setup
Confrontation plot point I
midpoint
Resolution plot point II
Setup: This is the first part of the story, where the style and world is introduced. The main character's daily life is shown to provide a background understanding about him: we get to understand his flaws, ordinariness, motifs. At this stage the “save the cat” scene is placed – we get to connect and have an affinity towards the character. By the end of the setup an incident is introduced where his normal flow of life is interrupted by an external stimuli. Confrontation: At the mid point of the plot, the character is faced with various obstacles that he is forced to confront with. Whatever that was true for his reality starts to crumble, and he is forced to re-evaluate them. These obstacles can vary from seemingly manageable troubles to very hard difficulties that the character morally combats with. During the second half of the midpoint, the character seems to understand and go through breakthroughs. Resolution: At the final stage of the story all the ties will be knot, main plot and subplots plot becomes complete as the “final battle” stage happens for the character. He is required to take everything he has learned and unite them at one unique point. Here, there may be certain plot twists that can reveal greater truths. He has overcome his fears and weaknesses: his life is either for the better or for the worse. It is important to note that although this 3 acts stage are very common and crucial to story building, it is equally (if not more) interesting to break the cycle and create loops within the story for more dynamic effects. The main element is to start with an establishment, a character, and ask the question “what if this happens?”. 37
COMICS There are many different ways a story can be told. They can be through dialogue, written word, pictorial images, virtual experience and so on. One method of visual storytelling are the comics. The Comics medium in a bigger sense uses a combination of sequential images and texts to express ideas. Master Comic Artist Will Eisner described comics as “Sequential Art” - once two images are part of a sequence they transformed into a comic. Comics can either be for educational or for entertainment purposes. If we consider the form of comics, they are comprised of images and text in essence. From this definition we can trace back to the earliest depictions. Earliest examples of comics have been present since the earliest hieroglyphs, Greek paintings and medieval art. The combination of images and text were intended for the illiterate to narrate the stories of war, illustrate stories, recount Biblical stories and so on. Comics, as we know it now, have been around since the 19th century and were printed on newspapers – it served as the second mode of communication after the spoken word. Because of the stigma that comics were intended for the illiterate, they had not been viewed as a proper means of reading. In 1940’s, during the World War II, in order to diverse soldiers and aid as a form of escapism, 30% of the reading materials were comics. During the 1950s, with the rise comics to the mainstream, there had been an increase worry on their effects of youth development. They had been seen as an excuse to stray away from active reading, a getaway to look at pictures without active engagement with the ideas presented. However, this judgment underestimates the reading that is required for comics. The reading involves more sensory experiences for the reader – text, visual and spatial integration is needed in order to process the information. Moreover, the reader is involved in the perception of narrative flow. This requires the reader to have learned senses in order to be able to guide through the narrative flow specific to comics. Linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, and spatial elements combine for the type of story and its narrative approach. With the participation of the reader, the action creates a meaning from the interpretation of 38
images. This gives more hint that the audience who consume comic strips enjoy other visual outlets as television, video games and other modes of outlets. This intention can be used as a passage to later elevate the reader to literary reading. This is why the creation of comics are actually a very complex process. Though they are originally a byproduct of one single individual, the roles are separated for the publisher, editor, copywriter, story-boarder, pencil artist, ink artist, colour artist, letter artist and so on. The writer creates an overarching story that is handed to the artist. The artist draws out the sequence for the narrative, which is then handed back to the writer to fill out the dialogue and connecting narrative. With this the creatives can begin to undertake the exposition of stories that involve deeper meaning and deal with the complexities of human experience.
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EXAMPLES OF COMICS PRINT COMICS Printed comics are the oldest form of outlet of the comics medium. Dating back to 1920s, first comics were printed on 4-colour ink on newsprint, and were not standalone, they came with the newspaper strips. The 1930s was a Golden Age for comics, they resembled closely to what we know comics as today.
American Born Chinese Written by Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese tells three separate stories that weave into each other by the end of the comics. The stories include Chinese folklore, a teenager trying to fit in and adolescents balancing their Chinese American heritage. In an effort to show and tell the effects of racial stereotyping and assimilation, Yang presented one particularly egregious Chinese character, Chin-Kee, who had just arrived from China to visit his cousin Danny. Chin-Kee embraces all the negative Chinese stereotypes into one monstrous exaggerated whole. The comics skillfully dealt with subjects in identity, cultural definitions, folklore, means of achieving acceptance. American Born Chinese Comics
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WEB COMICS Web comics are comics that are distributed through a website or mobile app, that anyone with an internet connection can access at any time. They have the same means in terms of genre, style, subject with the printed comics. The main difference between the visual construction is the distribution of panels and images. While the printed comics is confined by the printed paper's dimensions, the web comic can extend to infinite length without requiring a necessary pause in between the narrative. Moreover, webcomics have advantages of using means of the digital world – such as incorporation of sound, animated gifs and more freedom in colour that can add to the reading experience. There are more advantages to the digital comics that rise them above the printed comics. Webcomics are made standalone and do not belong to the corporations, therefore allowing artists to freely express themselves. This expression is fostered for artists to freely publish their ideas with minimal cost, which can further on attract a specific target in a larger audience. The first comics spread through the interned were in the mid 1980s. The early webcomics were usually derivatives from strips in college newspapers. The comics were usually scanned and would be available for viewing online. However, as the Web became more popular, more artists created comics exclusively for this medium. Around 2000 webcomics became more artistically recognised and was rising to the popular norm. During the second half of the 2000s, with the rise of social media, the popularity of webcomics had decreased as consumers became disinterested. However, now the webcomics have changed significantly from the style of conservative narrative to single page strips that entail one idea only – without the need of continuous narration for clearance.
Print Comics - More reading attention span -Tied to the publisher - Page distribution - Physically collectable
vs
Web Comics - Internationally accessible - Creative freedom from the author - Single long panel construction - Instantly available
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Thunderpaw: In the Ashes of Fire Mountain Thunderpaw is an ongoing comics series created by Jen Lee, a very young artist, that is supported by Patreon. It is the story about two anthropomorphic dogs, Bruno and Ollie who are left in their car by their owners. Once they realise they have been stranded, they set off to a dark wasteland in search of their way back home. The use of muted and limited colours, quirky style and great integration of animations make this comic very unique. The webcomics is a very good example of simple visual storytelling that can reach to its target very effectively. She intended this series of comics as an ode to her pets and an exploration of the comics medium.
Florence: An interactive story about love and life Florence is a mobile game, with use of game design, narrative design tackles on the bumpy road of relationships. The game tells Florence’s story through a series of brief chapters with little written dialogues. The game uses basic puzzles to reinforce pieces of Florence’s life as players progress through her story. “Florence is the story of the heart racing highs and heartbreaking lows of a young woman’s very first love. At 25, Florence Yeoh feels a little stuck. Her life is an endless routine of work, sleep, and spending too much time on social media. Then one day, she meets a cello player named Krish who changes everything about how she sees the world.”
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Thunderpaw Webcomics
Florence App
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Side Note – Relevant Services With the commodification of smartphones and the are an ever increasing market of different types of application software available for any need. Ranging from educational, entertainment, useful, there are many growing potentials of the digital medium. I would like to mention some applications that have been very influential in the contribution of my project.
Woebot Woebot is “your charming robot friend who is ready to listen, 24/7” - in other words, it is a therapy chatbot app. Users are able to communicate and share their thought and feelings. With the use of AI technology, the users get adequate response based on the topics that they are discussing. The app is quite interactive and introduces certain subjects and topics briefly, according to what the user are going through. One of the most beneficial aspects of the app is the down to earth tone it carries. It clearly identifies itself as a chatbot and sets the boundaries to what the user can expect from it. On the other hand, the constant availability of the app alleviates many possible issues from conjuring. If the user would just like to share inner thoughts and troubles, the ability to do so in a safe space that is always accessible is the best aspects of this app. “We brought in storytellers, data scientists, engineers, and designers to combine their love of writing stories, AI, and robots with the intention of creating a companion (Woebot!) who can help people with their mental health.”
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The Wander Society The Wander Society was founded by Keri Smith, and is based on the same titled book. It is intended for people who would like to incorporate more creativity into their lives, by giving them certain tasks to fulfil. Through a special exclusive subscription, special poems would be sent in sporadic moments. The user may send communications and submissions back to the service with the author who is supposedly naming himself “Walter Whitman� - the famous poet. The interaction, adventure spirit of the service feels very personal for the user, and allows to apply and guide through their own lives.
Woebot
Wander Society
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PART 2 – THE PROJECT Based on all the information gathered, I have decided to construct an interactive webcomics for international students. By following a story line and making decisions with him, the students can find a lighter side to their own experiences, entertain and not feel lonely in their own paths. The subject of cultural shock and re-integration is often not deadly, but what I can do is to help them in this process. The construction of the story is based on the different stages that international students go through in their process of integration to society.
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COMPLETE NARRATIVE SCHEME
“Feeling like a part of selected individuals.”
“Everything felt strange and different.”
ACCEPTANCE
not understanding, miscommunication, food, confusion, wanting to go back, small differences
familiarity begins, curiosity, breaking fear, creating habits/rituals, not thinking of past, learning from culture
realizing that complete understanding is not necessary, stopping comparing, finding that missing is okay, “home will still be home”
“Meeting the right person.”
“Observing from sitting afar. How life flows differently in this new place.”
“Expecting things to be the same back home.”
Lifestyle
Carelessness
The Unknown
Homesickness
THE SELF The encounters
SETUP
Going back home
Understanding place attachment
BACKSTORY
“Everything has been learned.”
The Reborn
Missing former life
THE CHANGE The Misjudgement
“Understanding the new culture”
THE OTHER Finding elements from back home again
Homesick again, but can’t return to it.
Wilful leap again
chapters
The wilful leaping
“Thirst for communication subsides”
“New place feels like a second home.”
underlying levels
“Not being treated as a guest but finding common ground with people you do not have common ground with.”
reference quotes
“Everything you know sweeps under your feet.”
ADJUSTMENT
feelings
positive, overwhelming, greatest decision, infatuation
FRUSTRATION
phases
HONEYMOON
FUTURE HOPE
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WebComic Functionality Weaseling is an interactive webcomic that is distributed through its app. (Alternatively the story can be published on popular free webcomic hosting websites such as Tapas or Webtoons.) The aim is to have the webcomic at a reachable distance with the reader. Based on the “first year experiences of students� model (ref. to p.31), the chapters will be sent within a 3 month to a year of duration, depending on the users frequent activity within the app. By following the overarching narrative story (ref. to p 47) that Weasel will go through, each chapter is composed of 3 to 15 paneled encounters. With the end of some encounters the user can choose between two options: either to join the offer made in the encounter or to run away from it. This overlaping of progressive and regressive will repeat until reaching the next encounter. With each option the user is always sent to a point of facing the problem in order to reach the moral of the story.
Interaction
Choice A
Choice C
Choice B
Choice D
Moral of Story Chapter Progression Model
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Chapter A
Chapter B connected to choice
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STORY OF WEASEL Meaning: weasel out (of something) To squeeze out of a narrow space; to slink out (of something). Pitch: This is the story of Weasel, through the challenges of living abroad, finds his own self. We are following the story of Weasel. He seems to blend quite nicely, mistaken for a cat, dog, fox – whatever it is, it is not his actual species. He is giddy, adventurous, open minded, extroverted and most importantly, has itchy feet. However, he tries to be accepted by others when he cannot do it for himself. He does not recognise the place where he comes from as he felt inferior to his hometown, claiming that no one back home would understand his desire and itch to run. Once he had the opportunity to move, he leaps and does not look back. But the problem was that he didn’t look for much information on the place itself either, hoping that it would all be the hopes and lovely dreams that everyone else described. Blinded by his misjudgments, he sees everything as the dreamy space that he was imagining first. But after encountering the different people from this space, it finally hits him that not everything is all dreamy and nice as he hoped would be. Because of his looks, other people can see him as part of their group, welcome him as if their own. Weasel accepts this welcome but soon realises that there are many oddities in these blending. He seems to react differently or stand in separate points than the groupings he is involved in. The more he talks the more unaccepted he feels. He goes on to his roots of running again, bumping into the deep unknown more and more, hoping there would be some sort of remorse. At one point he is swallowed by the tide of changes that he forgets why he was here in the first place. Finally, he is relieved to go back home to see things that were so familiar to understand with a home that was loving. But what he finds upon return and relief is that things seem quite odd again. The connections are lost and seem unreachable. Relations are loose and doing the things they used to do does not suffice as it used to. He tries to explain himself but no one seems to get what he is mentioning. The change that was being planted during the move had brewed from a very long time ago, without him realising it. For a split moment he actually prefers to go back to the foreign city. Frustrated but thankful, he returns back. However this time, 50
with determination to make things work out again. Slowly by slowly Weasel approaches this oddities with humour, not taking it personally and finding elements that reminds him of home with the new and better people he wants to be around in. Within the elements of reimbursement he feels homesick again, because those elements feel as replacements than actual new findings. With time and time he manages to accept the fact that whatever he will encounter, home will be home – a distant place unreachable, something that you carry with yourself. Upon all of this adventurousness he feels ready to take all that he has learned to go again, not with a mind to escape this time. But to mindfully start something new. Not because it doesn't satisfy him, or that experiences were bad. But because it is exciting to go on an adventure once again.
Weasel is a small, slender carnivorous mammal
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Moodboard Simple, identifiable bold characters with bright colors to appeal and relate to the target the young adult group. The animal representation takes the main characteristics of the respected species and identifies them with student stereotypes.
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Weasel Character Design
Early sketches of Weasel
Full Character Sketch
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Face Expressions of Weasel
The visual representation of Weasel aims to confuse what his animal species is. He can look alike a cat, dog, ferret, fox - anything that is furry with a tail. The choice is to relate the usually unidentifiable origin of the foreigner with him. (e.g the mentioned mismatching and association based on geographical stereotypification by calling Azerbaijani as Turkish, Kazakh, Persian etc.).
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Umbay
Alex
- Always high even when sober - Drinks beer instead of water - Messy - Outgoing - Borderline Clueless - Caring of others
- Hyper and clueless - Doesn’t know what he’s doing in this city but still goes along with it - Inherently kind
- Moved from abroad and struggles with it deeply - Into Alternative - Inherently dark person
pigeon
pigeon
jackal
Friend of Umbay just because of being the same species
Friend of Umbay and head of the group. Suspicious of Weasel
Rick
relation
reference
characteristics
character
name
Character Directory
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Weasel’s roommate. Introduces him to his gang
Owen
Dunkin
- Never leaves his room - Bedpotato - Antisocial - Does anyone even know anything about this guy?
- Sentimental -Understanding, but selfish - Slowpacer - Usually in his own world
sloth
tortoise
Roommate of Umbay and Weasel
Part of the world and friend groups, even though he does not interact outside of his own group
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Jessica & Cassandra
- Tough guy - Protective over his friends - Closed within himself
- Posh and Rich - American washed - Materialistic
- Middle aged worker - Silent adult
sphynx cat
siamese cat
fish
Twin sisters that do not go beyond their own group
Filler character present in most scenes for no substantial reason
Phillip
relation
reference
characteristics
character
name
Bronk
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Friend of Umbay, Alex and Rick
Mom & Dad
- Hardworking - Kind and humble - Caring - Not understanding or listening of Weasel’s problems
weasel
Parents of Weasel
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The City The city is represented in an undistinguishable flat manner. As we are observing the life of Weasel, his reactions are the main focus. What he sees is a blur of unknowns that he will get to understand over time. This why the design of the city has been kept to minimal detail. The cold color is to futher alieanate him in the space.
long view
bird’s view close up 60
Other Ambients
Common room
Weasel’s room
Cafe / Public Spaces
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BRANDING
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An interactive story about finding in the unknowns.
Complete Logo
C:0 M:33 Y:16 K:0 R:225 G:219 B:114 #ffdb72
C:20 M:72 Y:65 K:5 R:192 G:98 B:87 #c06257
C:56 M:6 Y:51 K:0 R:117 G:187 B:150 #75bb96
Color Hex
Chromatic Variants
CENTURY GOTHIC BOLD ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890?*&().,;’” Font choice
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Poster hung on Student Counceling Service Announcement in Student Room, Building N, NABA
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WEASELING – SUPPORT, TEAM, BUDGETING, TARGET MARKET In order to realise the project, the development of the webcomic should be divided into different roles.
Team Creative Director, founder - The responsibilities of a creative director include leading the communication design, interactive design, and concept forward in any work assigned. It includes visual layout, brainstorming, copywriting that drives the project in leadership. Producer, organiser - Producers plan and coordinate various aspects of the webcomic production, such as selecting the script; coordinating writing, directing, and editing; and arranging financing. Programmer - The Programmer will involve taking the visual content and arranging it to the application format, adapting throughout the digital formats and coding the elements. Lead Programmer technology - The Lead Programmer will be responsible for leading, developing, motivating and managing a team of programmers while collaborating with other teams on the project. Composer - The Composer will be involved with any sound development that may be added later on.
Budget Kickstarter Kickstarter helps artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the resources and support they need to make their ideas a reality. To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter community. Patreon Patreon powers membership businesses for creators by giving them the tools they need to acquire, manage, and energise their paying patrons. With a subscription-style payment model, fans pay their favourite creators a monthly 70
amount of their choice in exchange for exclusive access, extra content, or a closer look into their creative journey. Peecho If Weaseling gains popularity, it could potentially later develop into a printed edition, it will take use of Peecho, which is a service that only prints on demand. Therefore saving on unnecessary expenses. Society6 Branding Further support may be created with online presence, merchandising such as pins, phone cases, poster, t-shirts, that can be supported through the platform. Webcomic Services - Webtoons, Tapas Such websites host multiple services to host webcomic creators in order to organise, adapt, and organise ad revenue.
Target Market The project aims to alleviate the experience of students. Therefore in order to support the project, institutions or student services would be targeted to support or co-found the project. Potential markets include; NABA Student Care The service aims at offering students a space for listening where being supported to tackle potential difficulties raised during the study path as well as in interpersonal relationships and growth path, e.g. distance from home and loneliness, different culture, anxiety for exams, study completion approach, difficulty in relationship with class-mates, difficulties in relational / affective life. Intercultura INTERCULTURA is a non-profit, volunteer based, educational organisation, promoting intercultural learning through student exchanges since 1955. Today Intercultura is the largest not-for-profit Italian organisation in the field of pupils’ mobility with thousands of participants moving to and from 65 countries in all continents. Azerbaijan State Program for Education Abroad - Ministry of Education The Program aims at providing higher education possibilities abroad, with full paid scholarships. The project aims to improve the quality of the Azerbaijani citizens’ education in order for them to return and give back to the nation.
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THANK YOU
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Throughout the creation of this project I have received an incredible amount of support. I would like to acknowledge the people who have shared their time, knowledge and wisdom with me, it would have not been the work it is without them. First of all I would like to thank my thesis advisor Cesana Guido for his support and unhesitant criticism. In the discussion of cultural shift, I would like to acknowledge prof. Franco la Cecla for the most fascinating discussion by sharing his expertise on anthropolgy. Moreover prof. Giacomo Festi for introducing us and giving the initial valuable resources to learn from. I would like to thank Dr. Silvia Signorelli and Maby Sacco for sharing their time and knowledge to give an in depth view of student experiences in NABA. I would like to acknowledge Giuliano Cangano and Orazio Marino for introducing me to the world of comics, humor and sharing their time to give advice and endless support at a time of burnout. Thank you to Piero Lo Faro for sharing his time to give constructive feedback on the comics. Additionally, thank you to Sasan Mehran, the laptop technician, as he managed to save all of my files when I had spilled hot tea on my laptop. Truly lived the worst student nightmare, I would be completely lost without him. And most importantly, I would like to thank my old italian roommates for the heartfelt inspiration. This work would not have even existed otherwise.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SITOGRAPHY
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Culture of Ethics, Franco la Cecla A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Solnit Rebecca Understanding Comics The Invisible Art, Scott McCloud Comics and Sequential Art, Will Eisner Culture Shock among College Freshmen: Implications for Retention International students: Culture shock and adaptation to the U.S. culture https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/11/08/anais-nin-unfamiliar/ https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/03/11/the-fox-and-the-star-coralie-bickford-smith/ https://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/blog/what-is-culture-shock/ https://www.internationalrelationsedu.org/the-7-symptoms-of-culture-shock-indentifying-themand-getting-ahead-of-the-problem/ https://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/popupLiminality.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_identity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminality http://nautil.us/issue/8/home/at-home-in-the-liminal-world http://dialogospezzato.blogspot.com/2012/03/on-incomprehensibility.html https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/the-book-that-understands-you https://thebaffler.com/ancestors/stranger https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ricoeur/ https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/the-acceptance-of-change https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-onfiction.html?pagewanted=all https://buffer.com/resources/science-of-storytelling-why-telling-a-story-is-the-most-powerful-wayto-activate-our-brains
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