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| Title: | Redeeming features: from 'Tsotsi' (1980) to 'Tsotsi' (2006) |
| Author: | Dovey, Lindiwe |
| Year: | 2007 |
| Periodical: | Journal of African Cultural Studies |
| Volume: | 19 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 143-164 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | South Africa |
| Subjects: | cinema novels |
| About persons: | Gavin Hood Athol Fugard (1932-) |
| External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13696810701760435 |
| Abstract: | This paper interprets Gavin Hood's film adaptation 'Tsotsi' (2006) of Athol Fugard's eponymous novel (1980) from a constellation of angles: institutional (exploring the politics behind film funding and viewing in South Africa), historical (in relation to the interpretation of terms such as 'tsotsi', and the importance of understanding historical places such as Sophiatown and the impact of art forms such as 'kwaito'), sociopolitical (in terms of the circulation of political discourses in contemporary South Africa), and aesthetic (examining the ways in which the film medium may be orchestrated for particular meaningful ends). After contextualizing the film within the landscape of postapartheid cinematic production, the paper examines whether 'Tsotsi' represents a truly independent national cinematic voice, or whether its potential critique is compromised by commercial aims and certain ideological underpinnings. Situating the film at the intersection of South Africa's two major political discourses - liberalism and Marxism - the paper examines how the film engages with questions of violence, critique, the representation of South African realities, and redemption. Drawing on rare archive material concerning the novel, as well as personal interviews undertaken with contemporary South African filmmakers, the paper offers a comparative perspective on 'Tsotsi' in relation to other recent South African film adaptations, which 'update' South African literary texts written in earlier periods so as to offer stringent critiques of contemporary violence in the country. Ultimately the paper argues that 'Tsotsi', however, focuses on certain forms of contemporary violence at the expense of another important kind of violence in South Africa: violence against women and children. The paper also argues that the film sacrifices a possible Marxist critique of class division and submits to a neoliberal point of view on social relations. In conclusion, the paper questions whether 'Tsotsi', a film about redemption, has its own redeeming features. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |
