A postcolonial analysis of colonial representations in Triggerfish's animated films Khumba (2013) and Adventures in Zambezia (2012)

No Thumbnail Available

Date

2017

Authors

Blaeser, Tanya

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

During the colonial era, stereotypes of Africa were created and normalised in order to gain, maintain and justify colonial power. Europe during the colonial era, defined itself, using binary thinking (stemming from the Enlightenment period), against the "Other". This was used to establish a definition of the savage against which Europe was defined as civilised; Europe, deeming itself rational, used nineteenth-century African ways as an opposition by which the binary of rational against irrational could be expressed (Loomba 45). Colonial depictions of Africa often overlooked complexities and distinctions and represented the continent as a homogenous land and created oversimplified representations of the people and places (Harth 14). From the repeated production of imperial imagery, a regime of representation was created portraying Africa as a primitive wilderness, inferior to Europe, and as a site of colonial adventure. More recently, Triggerfish Animation Studios, based in Cape Town, created the films Adventures in Zambezia (2012) and Khumba (2013). This research argues that both films contain colonial stereotypes that conform to the regime of representation depicting Africa as a homogenous land of animals and landscapes, and repeat the colonial single story of an Edenic Africa. Khumba (2012), although still containing colonial stereotypes, offers a less stereotypical depiction than Adventures in Zambezia (2013).

Description

A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Mater of Arts in Digital Arts: 3D Animation by Coursework and Research Report, 2017

Keywords

Citation

Blaeser, Tanya (2017) A postcolonial analysis of colonial representations in Triggerfish's animated films Khumba (2013) and Adventures in Zambezia (2012), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24546>

Collections

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Referenced By