On belonging: landscape and photography in South Africa
Date
2009-09-29T11:47:52Z
Authors
Burger, Francki
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Abstract
This research thesis examines how place, space and landscape constitute
belonging. I discuss the different meanings of place: how it figures in relation
to geography, space and landscape and how place constitutes a sense of
belonging. My interest lies in how people, especially the Afrikaner,
constructed and imagined space, place and landscape in South Africa to
assert identity and belonging; also, how land and landscape act as an
ideological tool, in which social, cultural and political meanings are embedded.
I concentrate on how photography assisted in shaping the geographical
imagination of the British Empire, to assess how it impacted on place and
belonging in South Africa. The concluding chapter examines my practical
work while completing my masters degree. I investigate landscape, history,
memory and identity through photography in an attempt to find a sense of
belonging. I explore how the photographic image may contain layers of
meaning ‘underneath’ its immediate perceived and physical surface, in an
attempt to evoke history and memory.