(De)coding Contemporary South African Opera: Multimodality and the Creation of Meaning, 2010–2018
| dc.contributor.advisor | Wium, Matildie | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Wilson, Flora | |
| dc.contributor.author | Gerber, Melissa | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-02-08T09:47:53Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-02-08T09:47:53Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-07 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Congruent with new investigative avenues considering the mediatisation and increased digital dissemination of opera, this thesis contributes to new directions in the field of opera studies. It promotes a multimodal analysis of opera production to uncover the multitude of, and relationships between, semiotic elements influencing the reception of opera production, specifically as it pertains to contemporary South African opera. I present multimodal readings of three South African operas: Saartjie (2009), Poskantoor (2014) and Mandela Trilogy (2011/2014), focusing on the interplay between elements ranging from musical and visual modes of opera production to paratexts and the audience’s own subjectivity – to gauge their impact on reception. I draw on the work of Michael Hutcheon and Linda Hutcheon, and Yayoi Uno Everett, who, in varying degrees, unpack the multimodal communication of opera as an artform comprising multiple modes. I devise a multimodal framework for the analysis of opera production divided into four categories encompassing the multiple elements complicit in the creation of meaning in opera production: (1) design modes, (2) production media, (3) paratextual networks, and (4) horizons of expectation. Consistent with the genre’s increased digital presence, I significantly expand paratextual networks to include the video trailer as a meaning-encoded paratext capable of shaping audiences’ expectations. Redirecting the focus from the score as the primary semiotic source, the analytic approach adopted in this study drew heavily on video resources available in the public domain, extending to both production media and paratextual networks. In addition, media archives were utilised to inform the critical reception of the works discussed. The intricacies of the multimodal network are illustrated by focusing on a select set of relationships across categories, applying strategies of close reading to three contemporary South African opera productions. In my discussion of the opera Saartjie, my analysis utilises recorded production media informed by the iconographic history of Sara Baartman. I illustrate how both production design – drawing heavily on the canon of Baartman’s visual representation – and the composer’s problematic take on the subject disseminated as part of paratextual networks – affect the reading of production media. The discussion of Poskantoor and Mandela Trilogy focuses on the role played by paratextual networks. In the case of Poskantoor, the first Afrikaans opera to be staged post-apartheid, the opera’s creators sought to position it as an opera reflective of contemporary Afrikaans identity. However, attempts to challenge problematic apartheid nostalgia are undermined through design modes and production media’s simultaneous indulgence of that nostalgia. Poskantoor’s avant-garde aesthetic, relayed through conceptual photographs and trailers, positions the opera as a novel work challenging the aesthetic legacy of apartheid opera. The transformative role of the trailer as a persuasive paratext is illuminated in the case of Mandela Trilogy (2011/2014). Considering the wealth of trailers accompanying the work’s international tours, I demonstrate how these paratexts play into an aesthetic of “blackness” characteristic of Cape Town Opera, with each tour presenting a curated operatic image of South Africa to international audiences. This thesis makes a noteworthy contribution to the field of South African opera studies by placing an invigorated emphasis on the multimodal in opera production. Contextualising the case studies within the post-apartheid milieu, this research zones in on the multimodal experience of contemporary South African opera, building on existing scholarship that interacts with musical aesthetics and socio-political contexts. By mapping the complexities of the genre’s multimodal network, I show that opera is encoded with layers of meaning extending beyond the genre’s musical mode. The broadening of the investigative scope to include digital paratexts is especially significant, paving the way for new avenues of inquiry in the field. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.sponsorship | South African Cultural Observatory | en_ZA |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Music and Letters Trust | en_ZA |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Royal Musical Association | en_ZA |
| dc.description.sponsorship | National Arts Council of South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.description.sponsorship | University of the Free State Postgraduate School | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/11411 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Contemporary opera | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Paratexts | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Intertextuality | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Visual culture | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Digital media | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Design modes | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Production media | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Dramatic texts | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Thesis (Ph.D. (Music))--University of the Free State, 2021 | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Opera - Production and direction | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Opera - South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Multimodality | en_ZA |
| dc.title | (De)coding Contemporary South African Opera: Multimodality and the Creation of Meaning, 2010–2018 | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_ZA |