Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2007. / Title from title screen (viewed October 20, 2009) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of English, Faculty of Arts. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print format.

Azaria Mbatha's (1941 - ) work incorporates the many and various influences he has experienced throughout his life. Writers have tended towards essentialist readings of his work emphasizing proselytizing, resistance or traditional Zulu aspects of his work discretely. This is not sufficient to gain an accurate representation of his work which exhibits a spontaneous response to Biblical narratives as he critically appropriates and modifies texts at will. He utilizes narrative to express and explore his own circumstances creating works which are able, in turn, to express the plight of anyone who identifies with his experiences. His work functions both autobiographically and didactically and aspires to be applicable and encouraging to both the individual and the general public, regardless of one's culture of origin. This dissertation aims to present a holistic reading of Mbatha's oeuvre taking into account, amongst others, his Lutheran kholwa upbringing, the situation in South Africa (especially in the years under Apartheid), his familial ties to the Zionist church, his training at the Evangelical Lutheran Church Art and Craft Centre and in Sweden, his foundation within traditional Zulu cosmology, the influence of members of the Lutheran Theological College on his theological views, his position as an artist of the diaspora as a result of his self imposed exile in Sweden and his own interpretation of the Bible, influenced most profoundly by his father. Such a reading of his work is necessary to decipher aspects of Mbatha's idiosyncratic approach to the various influences he applied to his work in order to outline his personal worldview. His work encompasses many themes, of which three are covered here. Firstly, his depictions of scenes from the book of Revelation are examined, as are his various portrayals of the figure of Jesus Christ. Finally, his images of reconciliation in its various forms are considered. Interpretations of these works are informed by a consideration of the various influences already mentioned combined with a visual analysis of each work. It is hoped that this dissertation will aid in understanding the idiosyncrasies and complexities present in Mbatha's work and thus aid in preventing further essentialist readings of comparable artists. For the purposes of this study I have limited my interpretations to his linocuts only. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Doctor of Philosophy / Dingo Media examines the development of media events using as a case study one of Australia’s most widely known criminal investigations, the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain at “Ayers Rock”. Considering the case as a blueprint for the way mass media events develop and evolve in the late capitalist era, this thesis suggests that the event marks a turning point in negotiation of the public sphere and Australian national identity. Using an original model, I trace from the 1980s five phases through which news stories pass in their evolution as modern media events by comparing the Chamberlain saga to contemporary cases involving “controversial” women, Schapelle Corby, Joanne Lees and Pauline Hanson. The first phase examines the emerging practice of news workers focusing on personalities rather than events; the second phase analyses both the formation of counter-publics protesting the conviction, and the development of a dialogic connection between media and publics; the third phase investigates the rise of a modern celebrity industry promoting “ordinary” individuals into subjects of media discourse; the fourth phase considers the process of mythic production surrounding the Chamberlain case as related to processes of nation-building in the late 1980s; finally, the fifth phase critiques the prevalent view that, through continual retelling, the event has suffered a loss of meaning. Axiomatic to this study will be the politics of representation, how the media records, organises and mythologises information, as well as the interaction between texts and audiences.

Doctor of Philosophy / Dingo Media examines the development of media events using as a case study one of Australia’s most widely known criminal investigations, the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain at “Ayers Rock”. Considering the case as a blueprint for the way mass media events develop and evolve in the late capitalist era, this thesis suggests that the event marks a turning point in negotiation of the public sphere and Australian national identity. Using an original model, I trace from the 1980s five phases through which news stories pass in their evolution as modern media events by comparing the Chamberlain saga to contemporary cases involving “controversial” women, Schapelle Corby, Joanne Lees and Pauline Hanson. The first phase examines the emerging practice of news workers focusing on personalities rather than events; the second phase analyses both the formation of counter-publics protesting the conviction, and the development of a dialogic connection between media and publics; the third phase investigates the rise of a modern celebrity industry promoting “ordinary” individuals into subjects of media discourse; the fourth phase considers the process of mythic production surrounding the Chamberlain case as related to processes of nation-building in the late 1980s; finally, the fifth phase critiques the prevalent view that, through continual retelling, the event has suffered a loss of meaning. Axiomatic to this study will be the politics of representation, how the media records, organises and mythologises information, as well as the interaction between texts and audiences.

This dissertation is an amalgam of reformulated essays on artists who had connections with 20-21st century KwaZulu-Natal: They appeared in exhibition catalogues that accompanied the exhibitions; The Azaria Mbatha Retrospective, 1998, The Trevor Makhoba Memorial, 2005 and Cyprian Mpho Shilakoe Revisited, 2006. Chapter 1, the introduction; outlines the chapters, gives the theoretical and broader theoretical framework, history of the region and art therein, literature survey and methodology. Central to the theoretical framework is an attempt to meld the original essays into a coherent whole; by expanding the interpretation of indigenous cultural world-view to include the concept of orality versus literate cultures. Even in the transformation to literacy with westernization and Christianity the African oral mind-set is still operative; thus for instance the early Zulu writers like R.R.R. Dhlomo rendered the Zulu kings‘ oral praise-poems into written form and these became set-works for Zulu schools up until the 1994 new dispensation. Also dealt with are related issues of what therefore constitutes 'Africanness‘ and debates whether it is but the invention of the west in need of the 'Other‘ (something arguably pertinent to the art-collector‘s reasons for collecting), or if there is that own to the African style, like the oral style, which can be termed a 'legitimate Africanness‘ if one will. Further, how this style then exhibits itself in the visual arts as a 'preferred form‘ in terms of medium, colour, patterning and favored technique which best conspire to express these qualities. Chapter 2 (essay 1) and chapter 3 (essay 2), carry forward the assumptions made in the introduction. In modern times the oral genre has developed into an exciting style; namely the development of urban, often migrant musical forms, like isicathimiya, that challenge politics, social-wrongs, racism and taboos. It is argued that an artist like Trevor Makhoba can be considered a social commentator and 'master of the oral genre‘ in that he rendered this style into visual form. Certain of Makhoba‘s works depicting white females and black males are analyzed in this light and it is suggested that the oral genre also draws upon both stereotypical and universal archetypal imagery. Chapter 3 (essay 2) considers Azaria Mbatha‘s use of the older oral story-telling mode, rendered in linocut medium as an echo of earlier indigenous wooden 'pokerwork‘ panels, to transmit a political message in line with concepts of African Christianity, itself a syncretism of the Christian message with African world-view. This allegory was needed in a time where the Nationalist Government would have made open insurrection impossible. Chapter 4 (essay 3) concerns ex-Rorke‘s Drift art-student Cyprian Shilakoe. I analyze his aquatints in the light of his own Sotho cultural ideas on contagion and the ancestors for deeper meaning. The fact of culture change is accepted and mention is made of the artist‘s friend and fellow student, Dan Rakgoathe‘s melding of western esoteric mysticism, like Rosicrucianism, into African thinking and how far this impacted on the more traditional Shilakoe‘s works. The essays are followed by Chapter 5, the conclusion, which serves to come to some resolution. This is then followed by the bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.