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A Multisemiotic Analysis of Race in Apartheid South Africa: the Case

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A Multisemiotic Analysis of Race in Apartheid South Africa: the Case A MULTISEMIOTIC DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF RACE IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA: THE CASE OF SANDRA LAING FIONA SEVERIONA FERRIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor Philosophiae in the Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape Supervisor: Professor Felix Banda 2015 i A Multisemiotic Discourse Analysis of Race in Apartheid South Africa: The case of Sandra Laing Fiona Ferris Key Words Afrikaans Apartheid Communication Community Discourse Language Multisemioticity Race Racism Resemiotisation Semiotic chains Semiotic Remediation South Africa ii ABSTRACT A Multisemiotic Analysis of Race in Apartheid South Africa: The Case of Sandra Laing Fiona Severiona Ferris PhD, Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape In this thesis I investigate the reconstruction of the life history of Sandra Laing and the recreation of the apartheid context by analyzing two artefacts. These main artefact for investigation is the movie Skin, by Anthony Fabian which is based on the book “When She Was White: A Family Divided By Race” by Judith Stone, which is the second artefact for investigation. The latter artefact is based on the life of Sandra Laing. Sandra Laing was born to white parents in the apartheid era, but she did not ascribe to the physical description of a person who was classified ‘white’ in accordance with legal and social framing thereof in apartheid South Africa. This posed many legal, social and political difficulties for her family. I was particularly interested in the composition of information sources and how semiotic resources are re-enacted, reused and repurposed in the movie ‘Skin.’ The study is more theoretical than applied in that it seeks to answer the question posed by Prior and Grusin (2010: 1): “How do we understand semiotics/multimodality theoretically and investigate it methodologically?” In the study I develop Prior and Grusin’s (2010) thesis by working with notion of semiotic remediation as a focus on semioticity helps me to focus on the signs across modes, media, channels and genres. Therefore, the book on Sandra Laing and the movie are used as databases from which to extract semiotic resources in the exploration and extension of multimodality theory through multisemiotic analysis using semiotic remediation as ‘repurposing’ in particular. In the process, the notion of semiotic remediation becomes the tool for extending theory of multimodality, by demonstrating the repurposing of semiotic material from the book, such as apartheid artefacts, racialised discourses, dressing, racialised bodies and bible verses, for example, into the recreation of apartheid in the movie ‘Skin.’ iii I employed a multisemiotic discourse analysis to analyse the data, which is multimodal, and because I was interested in the complexity of the meaning making process involving multiple modes of representation. This framework was useful in analyzing the complex interaction between the various modes for meaning making. I used resemiotisation and remediation as conceptual tools to trace the translation of events across artefacts and how the material and generic traces are reframed and repurposed within its new contexts for new meanings in the movie ‘Skin’. This study makes important contributions to research on the race debate in South Africa in particular. Although apartheid laws have been repealed and new democratic order is in place, the issue of race has flared in the media and South African society generally. The recurrent debates on lack of transformation in former whites only universities, the #FeeMustFall Movement and recent debates in parliament about revisiting the land redistribution issue all have racial undertones – the continued dis- empowerment of the non-white South Africans. The focus on the recapturing of the complexities surrounding the race debates and the implications of the racialised society, particularly how they are conceptualized and re- materialized within the semiotic limitations of book and a film contributes to a novel understanding of the making and lifestyles of inequality in apartheid South Africa. From a theoretical and analytical perspective, the study feeds on and extends the notion of multimodality to multisemioticity using the extension, semiotic remediation, not in the ordinary sense of mediating a new, but on the notion of the reframing and particularly repurposing of a particular social, political, cultural and historical semiotic material in new contexts in the recreated new worlds in the film and book. In this regard, the study provides interesting insights into the remediated reconstructions of race and racial inequalities, and the remodeling of artefacts and semiosis that are used in this reformation of the apartheid material cultures and contexts. In analysing the remaking of the apartheid culture in the film and the book, I iv theorefore make a unique contribution in identifying the semiotic materials that are indicative of the flawed nature of biological arguments for racial classification and race-based social structu ring. I discuss the implications of this by analysing the remediation of the body as a racial scape, and the apartheid material culture as providing the semiotic landscape on which meanings are produced and consumed. The study thus contributes to research on recent developments in multimodality through its extension of semiotic remediation, which is designed to uncover the intricate interaction between semiotic resources in various media as well as their translation and repurposing across artefacts. In this regard, the study adds to extending the theoretical framing of multimodality thus: resemiotization accounts for the circulations of texts from mode to mode or one context to another, while semiotic remediation accounts for the repurposing of semiotic resources for different purposes and for their multiple meaning potentials. v DECLARATION I declare that A multisemiotic analysis of race in Apartheid South Africa: The case of Sandra Laing is my own work. It has not been submitted for any examination or degree at any other institution. All sources that I have used are indicated and acknowledged by complete references. Signed .................................... Fiona Ferris Supervisor .............................................................. Professor Felix Banda November 2015 vi Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Felix Banda, for his exceptional academic guidance and mentoring, which materialised in the completion of this thesis. His professional insights have made great contributions to this academic journey and the completion thereof. I am forever grateful for his continuous motivation and belief in me. To the staff in the Department of Linguistics and the CMDR, I am indebted for the academic support they lend to me during my enrollment as a student. The rich discussions, frequent academic seminars and conferences contributed greatly to my academic knowledge base. I want to especially thank Dr. Zannie Bock, Professor Christopher Stroud, Mrs. Berneshia February, Mrs. Heather Williams (ex-secretary) and Mrs. Avril Grovers (ex- secretary) for their continued support and interest in my progress. It would be a great injustice not to thank Professor Brigitta Bush for the interest that she has shown in my work. She served as an excellent reminder of the academic journey being an interesting, exciting and fulfilling one. The Faculty of Arts and the Division for Postgraduate Studies provided me with a research space to finalise my thesis. I am truly thankful. Dr. Gift Mheta assisted with the editing of my thesis. For that I am very grateful. My family has been a great beacon of support throughout this journey. They stood by me through trying times and were always ready to motivate me. To them I say, you were a fountain of inspiration that encouraged me to persevere in challenging times. Mom, Dad, Fernando, Faeeza and Feroze - this is for you! I would also like to thank my extended family for their continued support, especially my grandmothers, Quinton, Azhar, Fatima, Kevin, my vii uncles and aunts, and the kids. The children’s interest in the progress of “my book” was another reminder of all the support from my family. To the late Mrs Ragel Williams, thank you for nurturing my desire to learn; you were a beacon of support until my final year. For your academic guidance, personal support and great mentorship, thank you! I would also like to thank Mrs Letitia Permall and Ms Raylene Nathan for their continued support and mentoring. To my friends, Montinique, Letitia, Danille, Jade and Landie, thank you for remembering me during this period. Your friendship has brought many smiles during the lonely hours of writing my thesis. A special thanks to Akram, Christo and Joe for your continuous support and guidance, which I appreciate greatly. The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NRF. Through the Grace of God I have come this far. The period of writing this thesis bears testimony that “He will not lead me where He will not follow”. I owe all thanks to Him. viii Table of Contents A Multisemiotic Discourse Analysis of Race in Apartheid South Africa: The case of Sandra Laing ............................................................................... ii Key Words .............................................................................................
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