Browsing by Author "Kruger, Carla Maxine"
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- ItemThe cuff and the collar : a contemporary representation of seventeenth century symbols of power and oppression at the Cape of Good Hope(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-04) Kruger, Carla Maxine; Terreblanche, Carine; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the extent to which the cuff and the collar as semiotic entities played a significant role in the symbolic expression of power and oppression in the seventeenth century Cape of Good Hope. These entities were visually naturalised by the Eurocentric imperialist hegemony at the Cape and offered as undisputed ‘truth’. These symbols permeated the collective consciousness of the society at the Cape on both a physical and cognitive level. The white ruff and cuffs, and the shackles of the slaves represented physical restraints, whilst mentally the slaves were confronted with identity construction and deconstruction. ‘The self’ was pitted against ‘the Other’, and these European values and hierarchies were enforced on the society at the Cape by creating dualistic relationships. An identity implies a certain amount of power. For this reason, the Europeans stripped the slaves of their identities in order to gain control over them. This theory, together with the investigation into the hybrid characteristic of culture as a product of colonialism and slavery at the Cape, will be established concurrently with the aim of my practical work — The Ruff/Rough Collection, The Shackle Collection, and The Soft Steel Collection. This body of work aims to deconstruct the boundaries and hierarchies established by the cuff and the collar (as symbols of the power and oppression paradigm) at the Cape.