One character, one bullet : an investigation of the death of character in contemporary South African television drama and the multiplicity of social self as possible means of character revival

Television drama demands a strong sense of story to sustain a viewer’s engagement, and fictional characters are key dramatic vehicles in story construction, yet it remains an area that is severely neglected in terms of both theory and practice at this time in South Africa. I have discovered that the ‘death’ of the South African television character can be attributed (at least in part) to a unique set of challenges facing practitioners. My aim is to discover if the moribund television character can perhaps be resuscitated through the application of a concept called ‘the multiplicity of social self’, which finds its roots in the discipline of social psychology. This written explication and its accompanying experimental television film, Zindzi, are twin sites from which to consider the death and possible revival of contemporary South African television characters.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Centre for Film and Media Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Triegaardt, Allison Laura

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Fleishman, Mark

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11199

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11199