I’m not a hundred percent set on this yet, but I think I might do a zine for my final project (kind of a combination of an essay and a presentation). I’m writing on fetishism, and I think this sort of visual essay would be the best way to present the different aspects of the word, as well as concrete examples.
Generally, I do prefer to do a written format instead of a formal presentation, especially since I think I’ll add some personal experiences depending on which direction my research of ‘fetishism’ as a term takes me. However, I wanted to leave some room for visual elements. I haven’t fully searched up the term in detail yet, but I think since it’s a fairly new concept in the literary and social canon (at least in my experience) it would be helpful to have the flexibility to visually map out how it came to be and the etymology.
I think at least part of my project will focus on fetishisms regarding Asians and Asian Americans, especially with the increase in interest in anime and manga among western audiences. Accordingly, maybe one of the potential audiences could be Asians who may have experienced certain forms of fetishization or has a stake in that conversation .
Genetic conventions could include portions of ‘essay-like writing’ in some of the more technical pages, word maps for the word itself, and references to popular media forms that have been associated with contemporary fetishisms.
However, all this is with the caveat that I’m not certain if this is the format I’m going to do (or even necessarily the word).