Magister Artium - MA / Framed by theories of childhood, psychoanalysis, postcolonial theory, trauma theory, film theory, and literary theory, this thesis investigates representations of the African child in three contemporary films about Africa. This thesis puts forward the argument that in E. Zwick‘s Blood Diamond Dia, the film‘s primary child character, is split into Dia Vandy (his subjectivity) and See-me-no-more (his performed identity within the Revolutionary United Front). Furthermore it will be shown that this split is paralleled by the boy‘s transition from filiation to re-filiation. With regard to K. MacDonald‘s The Last King of Scotland, this thesis will demonstrate how, via the effects of cinematic doubling, the narrative antagonist Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada is represented as a child. It will also be illustrated that the narrative, consequently, perpetuates not only the myths surrounding Amin but the colonial myth that the savage is a child. Finally, this thesis will show that, of the tree texts, N. Blomkamp‘s District 9 boasts the most authentic representation of the African child and childhood in postcolonial Africa, albeit via a child figure that is literally alien. In each case study the child will be shown to be a liminal personae (Turner 1969), who is an ambiguous and often paradoxical figure who allows us to see more clearly the ethical tensions within the narrative. This thesis will also show that these texts may be considered socially aware trauma narratives, which are relatively critical of western involvement in the traumatic histories of African locales and peoples. Ironically though, these texts, and others similar to them, have been criticised for being Afropessimistic (Evans & Glenn 2010). The tension created by this paradox will be investigated during this thesis, which will attempt to establish to which extent these texts may be considered postcolonial, and whether or not they should be labelled Afropessimistic.

This dissertation presents an investigation into the identity transformation of the character of Wikus van der Merwe, the protagonist of the film District 9 (2009), from a postcolonial perspective. In the first instance, I argue that the film can be regarded as an allegory of the apartheid era in South Africa, and that the marginalised aliens in the film can therefore be seen as metaphorically representing the suppressed races of the apartheid era. The humans and aliens in the film are initially represented as binary opposites of each other: the humans are positioned as the normative in-group diametrically opposite the aliens, who are regarded as the non-normative out-group. In its ideological context, apartheid can also be understood as a type of colonialism. Like those who were marginalised by colonial practices, the aliens in the film are regarded as the other, mainly because of their physical, corporeal otherness. In the film Wikus experiences a bodily as well as an emotional transformation - and thus also an identity transformation – from a normative, Afrikaans-speaking white male (the self) into a non-normative and strange-looking alien (other) – with reference here to how normativity and otherness were conceptualised in the context of apartheid. Consequently, Wikus’ metamorphosis results in a hybrid figure, which demonstrates that the boundaries between self and other are permeable. Wikus’ unique identity as both self and other, as well as his increased self-awareness, illustrates his new identity position in an in-between space in which the self and other can be both, ironically, accommodated and destabilised. This dissertation demonstrates how the notion of hybridity (which is a key concept in postcolonial discourse) in the film works to destabilise the discourse of the self and other, and in this way hints at the possibility of a broader identity platform where all identities are validated. / M.A. (Graphic Design), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This dissertation presents an investigation into the identity transformation of the character of Wikus van der Merwe, the protagonist of the film District 9 (2009), from a postcolonial perspective. In the first instance, I argue that the film can be regarded as an allegory of the apartheid era in South Africa, and that the marginalised aliens in the film can therefore be seen as metaphorically representing the suppressed races of the apartheid era. The humans and aliens in the film are initially represented as binary opposites of each other: the humans are positioned as the normative in-group diametrically opposite the aliens, who are regarded as the non-normative out-group. In its ideological context, apartheid can also be understood as a type of colonialism. Like those who were marginalised by colonial practices, the aliens in the film are regarded as the other, mainly because of their physical, corporeal otherness. In the film Wikus experiences a bodily as well as an emotional transformation - and thus also an identity transformation – from a normative, Afrikaans-speaking white male (the self) into a non-normative and strange-looking alien (other) – with reference here to how normativity and otherness were conceptualised in the context of apartheid. Consequently, Wikus’ metamorphosis results in a hybrid figure, which demonstrates that the boundaries between self and other are permeable. Wikus’ unique identity as both self and other, as well as his increased self-awareness, illustrates his new identity position in an in-between space in which the self and other can be both, ironically, accommodated and destabilised. This dissertation demonstrates how the notion of hybridity (which is a key concept in postcolonial discourse) in the film works to destabilise the discourse of the self and other, and in this way hints at the possibility of a broader identity platform where all identities are validated. / M.A. (Graphic Design), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014