Abstract
How does the predominant myth of a society influence the narratives told by its popular culture? That is the key question the author asks in this paper concerning the ideological representation of the hero archetype in selected films and drama series set during the Anglo-Boer War, also known as the South African War of 1899 - 1902. The author's hypothesis is that the Boer soldier, one of the prominent figures of the white Afrikaner history, has been transformed into a mythical hero during the past century - from the first South African short film, Sarie Marais (1931) to the most recent acclaimed South African film, Blood and Glory (2016). Through investigating the various archetypical guises that the Boer Hero wears, whether it be the willing hero, anti-hero, or the tragic hero, the author proposes that the context and time period of the production of the specific case study directly correlates with the way in which the hero fulfills its task or mandate within the story. Therefore, the predominant ideology or the identity that the creator subscribes to, directly influences the representation of the hero figure.
Author Information
Anna-Marie Jansen van Vuuren, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Paper Information
Conference: EuroMedia2017
Stream: Film Direction and Production
This paper is part of the EuroMedia2017 Conference Proceedings (View)
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