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New and novelty is a continuation of the old and the existed. You cannot do new things without understanding the present and history, what is there presently and has been there before. You need to understand historical trends and reasoning to change and improve on things that affect society for the worse. How can we change and improve the world, a given phenomenon of interest, South Africa, etc, without understanding it and what and where it is presently, and as shaped by history, psychology, anthropology, gender, sociology, and economics?
Everything is a process that takes time and is embedded and embodied and linked to other processes.
Without understanding what is happening and the history, nothing new can be done. New includes the old. It cannot be new without the old and the present.
The analysis must include an understanding of the present that is shaped by history.
The novelty and originality can be in the method and systems and means of doing the analysis and generating the findings. And in doing the research and the epistemological contribution. Invent and use technology. Use technology in different ways. Play with things and stick to rigoour. New knowledge and use of methodologies, methods and analysis.
Experiment with visual methodologies: analyzing still photographs, videos, receipts, newspapers, pamphlets, advertisements for language, the way people dress, who make up members of a specific group. The possibilities are endless. As long as it is rigorous, well-presented, well-argued, and critical and rationalized using the works and ideas of other people you can innovate and do anything you fancy. The question is who will be interested, why and if at all.
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