Doctoral Degrees (English)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (English) by Subject "Allegorical Kenyan films"

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    Films by Kenyan women directors as national allegories
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Ojiambo, Jacqueline Kubasu; Green, Louise; De Villiers, Dawid; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of English.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation examines how selected Kenyan fiction films directed by women filmmakers intervene in national politics. To achieve this, I employ Frederic Jameson’s concept of ‘national allegory’ to understand how within the context of the Kenyan political situation, the private stories of individuals can be read allegorically to refer beyond their immediate circumstances to wider political concerns. Although these films are predominantly realist in narrative form, I propose that reading them as national allegories allows their wider political implications to emerge. The films also draw on local traditions of allegory as a complex didactic form. I critically analyse the films to explore the different allegorical shapes each film takes and how these allegorical shapes, in turn, resonate with the larger national story. I complexify Jameson’s theory, which suggests that all third world texts are to be read as national allegories, and demonstrate that they can, in fact, be interpreted at both a realist and allegorical level. The early films Saikati and The Battle of The Sacred Tree investigate the idea of returning to the past. This discussion contributes to African cinema’s ‘return to the source’ movement, which did not account for the complications women face on their return to the past. I argue that for women, the return is fraught with challenges that must constantly be negotiated and renegotiated. In the next set of more contemporary films, I demonstrate how the daily private lives of the characters illuminate broader social-political concerns. The more overtly allegorical, Soul Boy, together with the social realist Killer Necklace, Project Daddy and Leo, highlight the conditions of the marginalized in the society and decry poor governance. Finally, I explore From a Whisper and Something Necessary that fictionalise real traumatic national events. These two, mix real footage and fictional narrative to provide a path for engagement with broader political implications. I will show how through various imaginations, all the filmmakers transcend their present realities and imagine a more desirable nation. My argument is that although these films can be read as realist films, reading them as national allegories foregrounds the diverse ways Kenyan women filmmakers engage with national politics.