Bosbefok: Constructed images and the memory of the South African 'border war '

[摘要] ThisthesisispartofacreativeartsPhDwhichexploresthepossibilitiesofconstructedimagesandthememoryoftheSouthAfricanBorderWar.ItwaspresentedtogetherwithanexhibitionofconstructedphotographicimagesentitledBOS.InthethesisIarguethatthememoryofthewar,aneventnowalmostthreedecadespast,continuestobeproblematic.Ialsoarguethatphotographsarethemselvescomplexandconstructedobjectsthatdonotprovideasimpletruthabouteitherhistoryormemory.Photographscansupplementorsupportmemoriesbuttheyarealwaystobeviewedwithsuspicion.InChapterOneIexplorethelimitationsimposedonthespeechofconscripts,bothduringtheconflictandintheyearsfollowingtheconclusionofhostilities.InChapterTwoIexaminetherecentappearanceofseveral'anti-­‐heroic’memoirsoftheconflictwrittenbyconscripts.Theuseofthemedicaldiagnosisofpost-­‐traumaticstresssyndrome(PTSD)inthesewritingsiscriticallyexamined.ChapterThreefocusesonadevelopmentintheideasofthetwomostinfluentialfiguresinthefieldofAnglophonephotographictheory,SusanSontagandRolandBarthes.Iarguethattheirinitialhostilitytothephotographicimageonethical/politicalgroundshasbeenreplacedbyamorenuancedengagementwiththepoweroftheimage.Ithenexaminetheviewsoftwocontemporarywritersonphotography,bothdeeplyinvolvedwiththeanalysisoftraumaticimages:AriellaAzoulayandSusieLinfield.InChapterFour,IengagewiththeartisticpracticeoftheAmericanphotographer,DavidLevinthal,animportantreferencepointforthisprojectbecauseofhisphotographicworkwithminiaturesandtoysandhisplacewithinwhatIdescribeas'criticalpostmodernism’.InChapterFive,IexaminethethemesofsilenceandcensorshipasthesepertaintothephotographyoftheBorderWarusingSusanSontag’snotionofthe'ecologyofimages”.Ianalyzethetypesofimageswhichhavebeenproducedfromthewar,lookingatthe'limitedphotojournalism”ofJohnLiebenbergandtheroleoficonicimagesinthepropagandawar.Finally,inChapterSix,IpresentanaccountoftheprocessofcreatingtheworkfortheBOSexhibitioninwhichIemployedacombinationofstrategiesinvolvingappropriation,miniaturization,andre-­‐staging.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand