Medieleg med våben og kamera: Den hyperbolske død tematiseret i børns våbenleg

Playing with weapon and camera: the hyperbolic death as theme and ontological state in children’s weapon play – and why children love it
Abstract:
The sound of children’s shooting fills backyards and play grounds all over the world. I wanted to record the polyphonic variety of shooting sounds, and in order to do so, I asked a couple of boys to show me their weapon to a camera and to make the shooting sounds connected to every specific weapon. But as the camera recorded, the children imbedded it in their play, and made it just another tool to develop the weapon play.
The thesis is concerned about the phenomenon weapon play, and the question of what kind of play it is, and why adults often are a little resistant when it comes to the matters of violence, destruction and death in children’s play, while on the other hand, the kids are often fascinated and creative when performing the weapon play.
In the thesis I compare to different kinds of expression of weapon play. One recorded in a field study in my back yard and the other, a music video, found on the internet. The first is a video filmed piece of field work made by an adult who makes the set-up, and gives instructions to the children. The other is an aesthetic form of expression, a music video, made and instructed by adults.
My approach is an anthropological oriented qualitative study of my field materials, and the dominant methods are Grounded Theory and Narratology. My interpretation of the analyzed material focuses mainly on the narrative aspects of the stories told by the children in the video filmed field work, and in that context also on the “role” played by the camera, and the camera holder. That leads to an interpretative approach to the music video dominated by a Danish child culturally oriented tradition where the child’s perspective and the adult perspective will be discussed, in order to discuss the norms and values connected to the weapon plays.