Browsing by Author "Frenz, Natali"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Sacred Ecologies in "Die Nuwe Verbond: ‘n Misorde vir die Universum"
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Frenz, Natali; Venter, Carina; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social sciences. Department of Music.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis, I analyse a multimedia green Mass, Die Nuwe Verbond: ‘n Misorde vir die Universum (2019) [The New Covenant: a Mass for the Universe] (hereafter referred to as DNV), that forms part of Mi(SA), a theatre production commissioned by the Nasionale Afrikaans Teater-inisiatief [National Afrikaans Theatre Initiative]. The production consists of three works: (1) a 1958 Congolese Mass (Guido Haazen and the Les Troubadours Choir’s Missa Luba), (2) a 1964 Argentinian Mass (Ariel Ramírez’s Misa Criolla), and (3) DNV, a new South African Mass composed by Antoni Schonken to a libretto by Antjie Krog. These three works are intended to represent the genre of the Folk Mass—a popular, accessible Mass musically unique to the nation of its origin. The themes of DNV are centred on interconnected issues of social and environmental crises, which partly position this study in the field of ecomusicology. A discussion of how composers communicate environmental themes in environmental activist works contextualises DNV, providing the foundation for ecology-orientated analysis. DNV involves poetry, testimony, music, sign language and dance. In this thesis, I analyse how the multi-layered relationships among these elements construct overall meanings. My aims are to demonstrate (1) how the internal structures within such a multifaceted work can be cognised and (2) how the complex ecologies of DNV invite the spectator to re-examine their responsibility toward fellow humans, and toward the earth on which they depend for survival. For this analysis, I combine concepts in narrative theory, semiotics, speech act theory, John Snyder’s principles of continuities and closures, and Nicholas Cook’s models of multimedia, to provide methods and vocabularies that can facilitate a nuanced engagement with multimedia environments. My analysis reveals that DNV’s internal ecologies challenge long-held hierarchies of power and responsibility, specifically relating to what is considered sacred, and how that influences the ecologies in which humans are involved. Consequently, the work directs the audience to re-evaluate perspectives regarding responsibility, accountability, the human penchant for violence, and empathy towards one another and the environment.