A theoretical exploration of the construction of counter myth : a case study of post apartheid South African film

Abstract

The primary aim of the study is to make a contribution to the discipline of myth theory, or mythology, within the academic field of enquiry of media studies. To this end, the first part of the study comprises a literature review of relevant myth theory, during which the quantitative disparity on myth theory, between myth literature describing dominant myth and that dealing with counter myth, is highlighted. In order to address the comparatively smaller amount of theory concerned with counter myth, the study proceeds to theorise the semiotic technical functions of counter myth, the socio-political functions of counter myth and examines the social values and dangers of counter myth in society. Furthermore, counter myth is considered with regard to media framing, the relationship between counter myth and political myth is addressed, and the characteristics and criteria of counter myth are outlined. In keeping with the main purpose of the study, which is to provide a new contribution to myth theory, the theoretical problematics of the definition and classification of both myth and counter myth is confronted, and mechanisms for contending with these theoretical difficulties are suggested. A theoretical framework for the analysis of myth and counter myth on film is developed, which is based on the theorisation of counter myth performed in the literature study. In the second part of the study this theoretical framework is applied to a sample of purposefully selected post apartheid South African history films as a case study. The primary purpose of this case study is to serve as a demonstration of how the theoretical framework for the analysis of myth and counter myth can be put to use in the critical analysis of media texts, in this study applied to film (as a mediated text). The secondary purpose of the case study is to examine a selection of post apartheid South African counter myths, which explicitly work to remythologise the collective social identity construction of the white South African, in the post 1994 socio-political environment. In this way, the study demonstrates how myth and counter myth may facilitate identity (re)construction during and after a period of societal upheaval or transformation.