Comparative Literature 266 - STUDIES/S AFRICAN LIT AND FILM

Topics course. A study of South African literature and film with a particular focus on adaptation of literary texts to the screen. We pay particular attention to texts and films in which violence-political, economic, psychical, xenophobic, homophobic etc.-is the main focus. For what purposes do South African film makers adapt canonical and contemporaries texts, auto/biographies and memoirs to the screen? How do these adaptations and modifications help us visualize the banality of evil of the apartheid system and its enduring legacies? How do race, class, gender, sexuality and ethnicity complicate how we define, conceptualize and critique violence? Texts and films may include Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country, Andre Brink's A Dry White Season, Mahamo's The Last Grave at Dimbaza, John Wood's Biko (Cry Freedom), Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, Anne Mare du Preez Bezdrob's Winnie Mandela: A Life (Winnie) and Athol Fugard's Tsotsi. We also study film classics such as The Voortrekkers as well as transcripts and footages of testimonies from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. (E)

Topic: Adapting Violence to the Screen.