Role of documentaries in the construction of national identity: Project 10 documentary series, South Africa
Date
2006-10-26T12:40:01Z
Authors
Ambala, Anthony T
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Abstract
This study analyses the role of the media generally, and the documentary
mode specifically, in the construction of national identity. It focuses on the
Project 10 documentary series in South Africa. Chapter one, lays the
foundation for the study by discussing the concepts, theories and debates
on the notion of ‘the nation’, ‘national identity’, ‘nation building’ and the
documentary mode. Chapter two argues that nations are in a constant state
of (re)birth, (re)definition and (re)invention and interrogates how the
documentary mode attempts to sustain what Benedict Anderson (1991)
calls a sense of ‘imagined community’. Chapter three focuses on the role
and position of an individual citizen vis-à-vis ‘nation’ and ‘nation
building’, and how the documentaries in the Project 10 series explore this
concern. Chapter four examines the effects and manifestations of previous
leadership regimes in the present-day South Africa and how this affects
the process of building contemporary South Africa.
Description
0400169A
Tonyterah@yahoo.com
Faculty of Humanities
Master of Arts 2005
Dr Ebrahim. H haseenahe@artworks.wits.ac.za
Keywords
documentary, national identity, project 10 documentary series, South Africa