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5.1.2 CRITIQUE OF THE POSTER
In relation to the poster’s communication value, it appears that a viewer would already need to be aware of HIV issues to appreciate the full implications of the intended message. For
instance, a viewer would need to know how HIV is transmitted in order to infer what is happening in the poster. Also, depending on the geographic location and the level of education, a viewer would need to be willing to make their own connections in order to understand that the poster is addressing them in particular, because the pictures are not
inclusive of all sectors of Basotho society, not even members of the youth fraternity outside of tertiary education. For example, the dress of the characters in the photographs does not
represent people from the rural areas, making it highly possible that they may think that the message is aimed at the urban population. Thus, the material has not included the total
population of the target group in terms of their knowledge, culture and life experience. Since I did not have the opportunity to meet the material producer, including others who were
involved in the ministry’s pre-test exercise, nor to access the pre-test report, it was not possible to find out how others, besides the participating learners, felt about this poster.
137 a little adjacent to the mark is a small quarter shaped circle with a deeper gold colour. On the right side of the sign, inside a white circle is the face of a happy looking man.
The other two folds of the pamphlet also contain a title: Tseba boemo ba hau (translated as know your status), written in white on a black half circle shaped background. This title is situated in the top center of the second fold. Below this title is a subheading: Tseba boemo ba hao (translated as know your status) written in white on the burnt orange colour that makes up the general background colour of the pamphlet.
Both folds contain pictures (three males and a female) and text. All pictures are situated inside circles. At the bottom right side of the third fold is a big black quarter circle containing a white graphic symbol of a standing person and a speech balloon containing a tick sign (√) only. Inside this black circle is also a word ‘Nete (truth), written in a rust colour. The first two pictures (photographs) are placed in the middle of the second fold, while the other two are placed on the third fold. In the second fold, one picture is situated on the upper left corner of the page and the other on the right side, but in the middle part of the page.
All pictures have white speech balloons attached to them. Inside the speech balloons are text sentences, in semiotic terms a sequence of black letters or coded signs arranged in such a way that they form questions: ho boleloa’ng ka Tlhabollo le Tlhahlobo ka boithaopo? (What does Voluntary Testing and Counseling mean?); Tsebo ea hore kena le tšoetso kapa che, e tla nthusa ka eng? (How will the knowledge that I’m infected with HIV or not help me?); Ke bo mang ba lokelang ho hlahloba HIV? (Who is supposed to test for HIV?); Haeba ke se na tšoaetso ea HIV, ke lokela ho etsa joang ho qoba tšoaetso? (If I’m not infected with HIV, what am I supposed to do to avoid getting infected?) and; Ho tla etsahala’ng ha nka iphumana ke e-na le tšoaetso ea HIV? (What will happen if I find that I’m infected with HIV?). Most responses to the questions from the speech balloons are written in paragraph form, next to and following on from the relevant speech balloon shape, while a few found in the third fold are bulleted.
138 Diagram 12: THE PAMPHLET, SHOWING FOLDS 1, 2 AND 3 (New Start)
The other side of the pamphlet (which contain the fourth, fifth and sixth folds) also consists of three black circles containing pictures and a graphic, the same type of speech balloon and plain text. This side also has two headings. The first heading, which is found on the fourth fold reads: Nka fumana thuso le tlhahlobo ea HIV kae? (Where can I get help and test for HIV?). The rest of this page provides information on New Start centers, explaining why these centers should be visited, also indicating their physical addresses and telephone numbers. In addition, the fold bears four logos of the concerned stakeholders, including New Start. It is difficult to say which of these stakeholders is the publisher of the material, but because the pamphlet encourages the target audience to utilize New Start centers, it is taken to be the main publisher. Like the poster, the pamphlet is undated.
139 The second main title in bold text is situated on the fifth (middle) fold and reads: Ho
etsahala’ng ha ke ea tlhahlobong? (What happens when I go for counselling?). There are two numerically numbered 1 and 2 sub-headings written in white colour on the fifth fold. The sub-headings are as follows: (1) Se etsahalang ha u fihla Setsing sa New Start (What happens when you arrive at the New Start center?; (2) Kopano ea hau le Mohlabolli (Your meeting with the councilor).Looking at the heading on the second fold of the pamphlet, it can be summarized as the textual content of the two folds generally informing on the importance of knowing your HIV status.
There are again two numerically numbered 3 and 4 sub-headings written in a white colour on the sixth fold. The sub-headings for 3 and 4 are as follows: (3) Tlhahlobo ea HIV (HIV test) and; (4) Ho tla etsahala’ng ka mora’ hore ke hlahlojoe? (What happens after I get tested?).
All of these numbers are written in white on small burnt orange coloured circles. Besides the aforementioned title, the fourth fold also contains a big black quarter circle containing a white graphic symbol of a walking person, a big white letter H placed in a small square drawn in white. Inside this circle is the word Thlahlobo (testing) written in yellow. Besides the title and the two subtitles, the fifth folder also contains a big black quarter circle containing a white graphic of a standing person with a speech balloon that contains a question mark sign (?).
Also inside the circle is word Tseba (know) written in a burnt orange colour.
Of the two pictures on these pages, one is located over the circular photograph spans both pages and is an illustration of two seated women who seem to be engaged in a discussion.
Like the previous folds, both pictures have white speech balloons attached to them and inside them there is a sequence of black signs assembled to form questions. It can be assumed that the woman in the picture with an apron is a counsellor and is responding to the other one (client) who has asked the question: Ho boleloang ka Tumello e Etsoang ka Tsebo? (What is meant by informed consent)? The other picture which is situated in the bottom left of the last fold is that of a young woman with the speech balloon containing the question: Ha ke etela setsing na ke lokela ho hlahloba HIV kapa nka itlela feela ho tla buisana le motho e mong ka
140 kokoana-hloko ea HIV? (When I visit the center do I have to test for HIV or can I just come to talk to someone about HI virus?)
Diagram 13: THE PAMPHLET, SHOWING FOLDS 4, 5 AND 6 (New Start)
5.2.1 ANALYSIS OF THE PAMPHLET
The pamphlet, described in the previous section, conveys HIV related information in large pieces of text. It starts by outlining the procedure for accessing Voluntary Counseling and Testing and goes on to cover a lot of related information in an attempt to make people see the importance of knowing their HIV status. Based on Barthes’ conceptual tools, through which the role of meaning in a text and the process of reading can be analysed, the researcher examined the messages’ denotation and connotation and could understand most of the
messages (except the meaning of the signs on the cover page which she could not determine).
In particular, the meaning of the symbols ‘+, –, ?, √ and H’ could not be determined.
However, a guess could only be ventured that the ‘H’ stood for ‘hospital’, since it was placed
141 in front of a symbolic shape of a person which appeared to be in motion. So the understanding was that the person was going to hospital to undertake an HIV test. Perhaps this was because of the prior knowledge that the researcher already had of what was being communicated. This reflects Fiske’s (1990: 85-86) argument that people can only make meaning out of messages when they already have an idea of the content. Although the material was comparatively simple, it was nevertheless not lookable or readable, because it had too much information and this appeared to have affected the size of the font, making it become very small.
The message contained in the picture on the cover page showing the right hand fist with a pointing thumb and a red dot on it, which can be said to represent a drop of blood, was anchored in the title; Testing for the HIV virus (Tlhahlobo ea kokoana-hloko ea HIV).
However, the text (words) and pictures (faces of different people) did not complement the title, as these people only asked questions presented in the speech balloons. They did not pictorially display what the text was saying. That is, they did not seem to add any value to the meaning of the text except that they perhaps helped to make the document attractive and enticing to read in order to discover what the message was saying.
Regardless of the fact that the pamphlet communicated a familiar message, the intended meanings of some of the signs were not clear. But, based on the main heading I assumed the tick referred to ‘correct’, though it is not clear which part of the message the tick relates to.
Also, the + and – can be seen as positive (HIV-positive) and negative (HIV-negative).
However, interacting with the pamphlet somehow helped to give me courage and confidence to go for HIV testing, despite all these misunderstandings. The pamphlet can, therefore, be said to have been persuasive and useful, given that it reminded me that it was my
responsibility to establish my HIV status so that I could protect myself and protect others from HIV.
The use of “u” for the second person and “o” for the third person is not consistent in the pamphlet, according to the Sesotho language. This showed that the material developers had not used language consistently so that the reader would feel that the material was constantly addressing him or her, rather than talking to or about a second person. It appeared that every
142 speech balloon came from an independent individual who also explained or answered what was asked or said in the speech balloon. The connotation was that the message came from the sponsors of the pamphlet, whose logos appear on it. If that is the case, these then lend an official credibility to the messages. For example, Ho tla etsahala’ng ka mora’ hore ke hlahlojoe? (What happens after I get tested?) on the third fold is not relevant to HIV testing and counselling. Also, the material did not exactly answer the speech balloon: Ho tla
etsahala’ng ha nka iphumana ke e-na le tšoaetso ea HIV? (What will happen if I find that I’m infected with HIV?). Looking at the number of people involved (those in the speech bubbles) who were all giving out information, one tended to doubt the credibility of this pamphlet, especially because some of the information did not correlate with the title. De Fossard (1996:
5), indicates that communication starts with a “climate of credibility” which is built by the performance of the source of the message. As a result of the lack of credibility, one questioned the number of people who would go or would be encouraged to go for HIV testing after interacting with this pamphlet. This also made one doubt the quality of the services offered by the producers of this particular pamphlet, since they also offer HIV testing services.
5.2.2 CRITIQUE OF THE PAMPHLET
With regard to language style and the factual question and answer approach, the pamphlet was written in a simple and straightforward manner. Nevertheless, this conclusion is only true for those who are literate and familiar with HIV issues and who already have some idea of the content, including the use of speech balloons, making it possible for them to attach the same meaning as those intended by the material producer. Even though this pamphlet was written in the vernacular language and was meant for general public consumption, it was not all
encompassing, as it seemed to cater only for those who can read or are able to interpret the written signs because the pictures alone could not relay any message. Not all Basotho are addressed in this pamphlet, as it does not cater for illiterate audiences, even if its message is to encourage the whole population to go for HIV testing. It is true that no material can be all encompassing, but even with my own privileged position as someone who works with this type of material, the analysis revealed that there were some parts of the message that did not
143 communicate because the signs that were used were confusing or ambiguous. This was
evident on the close examination required by this kind of exercise.
With regard to attractiveness, the severely cropped half images of people made me lose
interest in this pamphlet. Their presentation in this manner could be either a deliberate attempt to make the design look modern or different, be due to space constraints, or be due to lack of expertise. However, they were not good images, as the people were not clearly identifiable (as men or women) and therefore the pamphlet did not look attractive. My assumption was that this could have a negative effect on the target audience, especially if the viewer thinks that the images are portrayed in this way due to a lack of expertise by the producers. If that happened to be the case the pamphlet would not only lose its attractiveness, but would lose credibility as well.