Remembering erasure: reconstructions of first world war memory in William Kentridge’s the head & the load and David Diop’s at night all blood is black

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dc.contributor.advisorVenter, Carinaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorEsterhuyse, Rene Elizabethen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherStellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dept. of Music.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-29T18:34:51Z
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-08T18:50:20Z
dc.date.available2023-11-29T18:34:51Z
dc.date.available2024-01-08T18:50:20Z
dc.date.issued2023-12
dc.descriptionThesis (MMus)--Stellenbosch University, 2023.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is concerned with artistic representations of accounts largely erased from official memory of the First World War: the perspectives of African soldiers and carriers. It thinks through the ways in which the arts can play a role in bringing these previously unacknowledged voices into the foreground, thereby contributing to collective memory of a historical event. An interdisciplinary endeavour straddling the fields of musicological and literary studies, this project comprises a close reading of the stage production, The Head & the Load (directed by William Kentridge, with music by Philip Miller and Thuthuka Sibisi) and the novel, At night all blood is black, by French author David Diop. The former commemorates porters recruited in colonial Africa, aiming to acknowledge their contributions to the war effort and to recognise their suffering. The latter reimagines the familiar setting of the trenches through the eyes of a Senegalese colonial soldier. Both works debuted in 2018, the year of widespread celebrations of the centenary of the Armistice. Through intertwining the history of colonialism with that of the Great War, the shift of perspective in The Head & the Load and At night all blood is black reveals layers of ambiguity that are traditionally excluded from First World War narratives. The analysis is organised thematically. The first chapter addresses the much-debated issue of the ethics involved in the aesthetic representation of others’ traumatic experiences. I critically regard the aesthetic strategy of fragmentation employed in both works, and, following historian Dominick LaCapra’s critiques of this aesthetic strategy, I consider the extent to which these works achieve his ideal ethical position of ‘empathic unsettlement’. The second chapter examines these works’ portrayal of colonial relations within the context of the First World War: both The Head & the Load and At night all blood is black comment on the colonial system as one of dehumanisation and exploitation. Chapter 3 explores the presence of laughter, which I link to questions of power and agency. The Head & the Load employs humorous satire as an instance of the Bakhtinian carnivalesque – a symbolic revolt against colonial authority. In contrast, in At night all blood is black, laughter suggests powerlessness in the face of extraordinarily intense experiences. I conclude by considering the limitations of art when pressed into the service of social justice and historical redress.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek voorstellings van perspektiewe wat grootendeels weggelaat is uit standaardvertellings van die Eerste Wêreldoorlog, spesifiek dié van soldate en draers afkomstig uit Afrika. Dit besin oor die maniere waarop kreatiewe werk ʼn rol kan speel om hierdie perspektiewe op die voorgrond te stel. Die interdissiplinêre benadering wat gevolg word steun onderskeidelik op musiekstudies en literêre studies: gedetailleerde analises van die teaterstuk, The Head & the Load (vervaardig deur William Kentridge, met musiek deur Philip Miller en Thuthuka Sibisi) en die roman, At night all blood is black, deur die Franse skrywer David Diop. The Head & the Load herdenk portiere wat in koloniale Afrika ongenaakbare arbeid moes onderneem, met die doel om hul bydraes tot die Europese oorlogspoging sigbaar te maak en hul lyding te erken. Diop se roman volg ʼn Senegalese soldaat se vertelling van sy ervarings in die Europese loopgrawe. Beide werke het in 2018 verskyn, die eeufeesviering van die Wapenstilstand wat die Eerste Wêreldoorlog tot ʼn einde gebring het. Die analise is tematies van aard. Die eerste hoofstuk spreek die etiese brandpunte rondom estetiese verteenwoordigings van traumatiese ervarings aan. Ek bespreek die estetiese strategie van fragmentasie wat in beide werke gebruik word. Belig deur historikus Dominick LaCapra se kritiek teenoor fragmentasie, bevraagteken ek die mate waartoe hierdie werke sy ideale etiese posisie van ‘empatiese onhutsing (‘empathic unsettlement’) vergestalt. Die tweede hoofstuk beskou uitbeeldings van koloniale verhoudinge binne die konteks van die Eerste Wêreldoorlog: beide The Head & the Load en At night all blood is black verteenwoordig die koloniale stelsel as een van onmenslikheid en uitbuiting. Hoofstuk 3 besin oor die maniere waarop lag gebruik word in albei werke, wat indringende vrae stel rondom mag en weerstand. The Head & the Load gebruik humoristiese satire as ʼn voorbeeld van Bakhtin se carnivalesque – simboliese opstand teen koloniale gesag. Aan die anderkant, is die handeling van lag in At night all blood is black beduidend van magteloosheid in die belewenis aanskoue van buitengewoon intense ervarings. Die tesis sluit af met ‘n besinning oor die beperkinge van kuns as sosiale geregtigheid en historiese regstelling.af_ZA
dc.description.versionMastersen_ZA
dc.format.extent133 pages : illustrations (some color)en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/129002
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.rights.holderStellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshWorld War, 1914-1918 -- Africa -- Motion pictures and the waren_ZA
dc.subject.lcshWorld War, 1914-1918 -- Armistices -- Songs and musicen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshPostcolonialism -- Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshPostcolonialism and the artsen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshAesthetics -- Historyen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshSoldiers -- Franceen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshSoldiers, Black -- Franceen_ZA
dc.subject.nameUCTDen_ZA
dc.titleRemembering erasure: reconstructions of first world war memory in William Kentridge’s the head & the load and David Diop’s at night all blood is blacken_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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