Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-172). / The Megatext: Towards a Literary Theory of the Media argues for a new conception of the media landscape; one that manages to critically engage the mass dimensions of the contemporary phenomenon of media without losing the value of particular socio-economic and cultorological approaches that have been established in the field thus far. Initially, the thesis reviews current approaches to media studies, including structural, sociological and philosophical approaches. Then, through a technique of descriptive observation gleaned from practical experience in the media field, a current snapshot of the contemporary media landscape is offered, with key defining characteristics outlined, which are used to categorise various instances of media into what is termed "the media matrix". Thereafter, with the aim of developing a theoretical approach that is conceptually large enough to assess the media as a broadly textual phenomenon, literary theories of textuality and inter-textuality are discussed in the framework of contemporary media production and consumption patterns and applied to the common media text. Once it has been established that the myriad of media texts that exist are indeed connected in a variety of inter-textual ways. an in-depth discussion of the various contextual, or supra-textual, realities that unite media into the megatext are discussed. This discussion largely deals with issues of authorship and readership and also draws on literary theories dealing with the same. Finally, the thesis concludes by offering a definition of the megatext, a definition that it is argued could form the basis for further theoretical, textual and literary explorations of the contemporary phenomenon of mass media.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-174). / This thesis examines the potential evolution of the current version of the Internet, popularly referred to as Web 2.0, to a third generation of the Web, referred to as the Semantic Web or Web 3.0. The paper provides an overview of the change in architecture and structure that the current version of the Web will need to undergo in the form of a standardised ontology development in order for the Web to evolve. The evolution to a third generation of the Web will ultimately improve the overall user experience both within a global and South African online context, through the innovation and development of Semantic Web technologies and capabilities. The thesis also discusses the role of the political economy of media and how this concept needs to be refreshed in terms of dealing with the advent of 'new' or digital media which are characterised by the Internet. The role of traditional media is also discussed and how, due to the advent of the Internet, there has been a movement away from a model of traditional centralised media to one of a more decentralised model. The challenges of intellectual property rights and copyright are analysed in terms of online users developing their own content online in the form of user generated content and how, through the evolution to a Web 3.0 version of the Internet, these challenges can be potentially solved through the use of Semantic Web innovation and technologies. One of the major challenges which Web 2.0 currently faces is that of privacy infringement, but through the adoption of Semantic Web technology these challenges which currently affect all users on the Web can potentially be solved. Finally, the paper looks at the way that South African online users interact with the Internet and how the potential evolution to a third generation of the Web could potentially impact their user behaviour online.

Includes bibliographical references. / This thesis is an investigation into the digital divide in South Africa. Its main aim is to present for the first time an analysis of South African Internet access and Internet users, in the context of existing digital divide theory. Four possible models of digital divides will be tested by assessing Internet access, Internet users and Internet user behaviour. The first part of this thesis sheds light on how changes over time in the number of people Internet access in South Africa can be understood. In an effort to evaluate four possible models from literature on digital divides, statistics on Internet access in South Africa are scrutinised in ways that have not yet been done in academic literature. Information on how Internet access may be increasing or decreasing within the population will also be assessed. This is so as to demonstrate how Internet access in South Africa may be experiencing a far more complex set of changes than access statistics alone may suggest. The second part of this thesis will investigate the Internet users who participate in debate and discussion on MyNews24, a South African "citizen journalism" portal on News24. The four possible models of the digital divide will be further evaluated based on the results of these findings. It is here where MyNews24 will also be evaluated as a possible online public sphere, which will demonstrate how inclusion of exclusion from public spaces such as MyNews24 may be of previously unrecognised consequence.The third and final part of this thesis will investigate how the digital divide is manifesting in the online commentary on MyNews24, and will demonstrate what kinds of interactions and conversations are talking place in this space. This will also demonstrate ways in which the digital divide may be affecting the nature of online debate in these possible online public spheres.

The primary aim of the study was to examine the mediating role that MXit plays in the identity formation of 16-18 year old adolescents. Little is known about the social impact of MXit on adolescents’ identities when this usage is so deeply embedded in the relational exchanges of teens’ everyday experiences. Nine focus groups, four group interviews and two one on one interviews were employed across six schools located in four socioeconomically divergent Cape Town suburbs demarcated using middle to upper-income (Milnerton and Newlands) and lower-income (Khayelitsha and Cloetesville) operational definitions.

This media creative project explores the experiences of South African women on social media platforms. The idea for this project stems from my personal experiences as an avid consumer and viewer of online content generated by these women. My engagement with YouTube began about ten years ago, when I started to consistently watch YouTube videos. Later, I would go on to consume Instagram posts by digital content creators. However, these consumption choices of mine were not functions of random videos or pictures promoted on these platforms. Rather my consumption was driven by a desire to see women who looked like me - black women. From 2009 onward black diasporic women, and women on the African continent, were suddenly, it seemed, putting out content related to black women's experiences in the world, with themes relating to education, hair, beauty and all other sorts of lifestyle-related topics. I would be lying if I did not mention how the women on YouTube talking about their natural hair drove me to explore a hair routine away from chemicals. Straightening our natural hair and being 'presentable' according to Eurocentric standards were for a long time, a burden into my life. I began consuming their videos whereby the content creators were encouraging the viewers to own their natural hair and most importantly, own whatever hairstyle they seemed to 3 fit. The choice of how we present ourselves seemed to come back to us, and the space in which it was performed felt like a safe, communal one. Six years ago, a black youtuber called Chizi Duru, had cut all her hair to start all over again without any chemicals. The act of cutting off all your hair within the community was labeled 'The Big Chop': an act of rebirth, renewal and resistance for black women. I went along and did the same, following her journey and exploring my own.

Does not include abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-68). / This essay explores how the creation of a fictional community is expressed through my body of work. These works do not reference an actual community as such, but are an "imagining"of a nonexisting one, so that they can be understood as a "fictional" or "imagined" community. The dynamic of this imagining is located in the exchange between the memories of my real-life Lithuanian community, and my investigation of the ways in which symbolic objects and group interactions create a sense of community. In this way, my work can be said to reference actual communities, but emphasise the symbolic, or"imaginary"ways in which they hang together.

This dissertation examines the role of nostalgia in reality television’s representation of rural lives. My study merges a theoretical and critical investigation. I take Alaska: The Last Frontier as my case study and argue that the programme responds to social change and urban living conditions in the United States by creating a nostalgic and idealistic representation of preindustrial American life. While the text is largely reactionary and calls upon a restorative nostalgia that imagines ideal American life as rural, white and heteronormative, the show also exhibits elements of reflective nostalgia, using the Kilcher family’s lifestyle to critique contemporary late capitalist lifestyles. Furthermore, I argue that this use of nostalgia conveys a dissatisfaction with post-industrial and urban life by foregrounding an idealistic settler narrative that implies it is not through progressive reform that America will find its nostrum but through a return to conservative values. The chapters in this thesis examine aspects of contemporary urban life that have drastically changed since the onset of America’s industrial revolution. My first chapter argues that nostalgia can manifest in an individual and potentially, a nation. I also argue that reality television plays a significant role in evoking nostalgia and uses it to respond to the sociological conditions of late capitalist urban life. Chapter 2 explores the relationship between the wilderness and nostalgia. In particular, I consider how the 'frontier myth’ structures the show’s nostalgic representation of rural living. In my third chapter I discuss how Alaska: The Last Frontier evokes nostalgia for a lost sense of kinship and community, reminiscent of a preindustrial revolution American culture. This chapter also uses the condition of anomie to further understand how the seemingly disparate relationship between the urban setting in which the programme is largely consumed and the nostalgia for a sense of family and community that the programme evokes, relate. Chapter 4 argues that the representation of labour in Alaska: The Last Frontier constructs a 'fantasy of wholeness’ and that this process potentially evokes nostalgia for an idealised set of labour relations that are perceived to be lost in the late capitalist age. I present a case study from Alaska: The Last Frontier to show how the programme constructs a 'fantasy of wholeness’ through representing idealised labour relations that are in stark contrast to Marx’s theory on how capitalist labour conditions are experienced. Finally, my fifth chapter reflects on the complex and integral role that nostalgia plays in Alaska: The Last Frontier’s representation of rural lives and discusses how the work I have presented in this thesis may provide a basis for future enquiries.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-154). / This study examines tendencies of cultural rebellion by focusing on entertainment that engages with Afrikaner tradition. Examples from music, student films and autobiographies are used to illustrate that artists reclaim signifiers of their cultural heritage in performances of rebellion. New myths are appearing that seem to fulfill a young generation's need for a history outside of apartheid. It is suggested that these myths assist Afrikaners who feel alienated in post-apartheid South Africa to foster a sense of legitimacy and belonging. It will argue that countercultural thinking plays a major role in the discourse of rebellion. Research is conducted within the framework of communication and cultural studies. Popular texts are considered to constitute discourses that formulate and reproduce ideologies. An analysis of Afrikaner and countercultural discourse is conducted by means of texts. The creative output of rebellious Afrikaners is used to illustrate the manifestation of countercultural ideology in entertainment. Examples of the work of Andre P. Brink, Fokofpolisiekar, Karen Zoid, Koos Kombuis, Johan Nel, Bok van Blerk, Anton Kannemeyer and Jack Parow are analysed in order to highlight common features. Despite being positioned on different sides of the political spectrum, countercultural and Afrikaner ideology share similar values. Research on their history demonstrates that oppositional identity formation and the need for distinction were central to their development. This study also shows that rebellion and distinction are central to the development of trends in popular culture. The findings of this research provide some guidance to those interested in maintaining the relevance of Afrikaans language and culture. The discussion of the inner workings of style, taste and popularity may also have implications for strategies in the creative arts. Afrikaner cultural rebellion as a case study is thus relevant in terms of its success in the field of entertainment and as the product of a society in transition.

Includes bibliographical references. / To write critically about any given text is very different to writing critically about the process of that text’s creation. Given that this essay will deal closely with representations of the self, perhaps it is not out of place for me to open with an autobiographical confession: while I greatly enjoy the former, relishing opportunities to analyse both literary and filmic texts, I have no such fond feelings for the latter, especially when the situation calls for a critical analysis of my own writing process. The task seems to intrude on a sacred space that I imagine most writers value greatly, a time when what will eventually become the ‘finished product’ is still in formation, is still incomplete. Due to the very nature of the process, it is a time when everything is still in flux, when ideas are still seeking their final form. Therefore, subjecting this tenuous process to critical examination seems somewhat like a betrayal of its nature, a desire to fix in meaning that which has no such absolute meaning. As a result, I have strategically avoided such undertakings in the past as much as possible. It then comes as a surprise to me that after completing the screenplay for Then It Happened, I have the desire to do just that. The reason, I believe, is revealing. It is not the aforementioned final product (the screenplay) that has inspired the ideas that will be discussed in this essay, but the process of creating it, for it is the process that brought me into contact with the three incarnations of the biographical narrative that will be discussed below: autobiography, biography and the biopic (in the form of both the screenplay and the final film). If I have done my job as a storyteller relatively well, then – hopefully – upon reading the screenplay, the reader will receive it as one coherent narrative, with a unity of purpose and style. They will not see it as a collage, composed out of several key sources, namely, Frank Capra’s autobiography The Name Above the Title, Joseph McBride’s biography of Capra, The Catastrophe of Success, as well as six other biographies of the key players: Harry Cohn, Robert Riskin, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. The reader might – again, hopefully – glean the sense that a significant amount of research has gone into the screenplay, and from this might infer that multiple sources have been used, but the story should not feel in any way disjointed or 2 fragmented. The purpose of this essay, then, will be precisely to take this story apart and to reveal the collage. In this critical analysis of my writing process, I would like to reverse that very process: instead of stitching together the information gathered through my research, attempting to make the connections invisible, I will magnify those very seams and examine the act of their creation. For I believe that these seams can inform the way that we think about the processes of writing, reading, adaptation as well as the intimate connections between the three, ultimately revealing the importance of narrative in our lives. I will begin, in sections one and two, by examining the forms of autobiography and biography in their own right as well as in their relationships to one another. These sections of the essay will be used to establish a foundation on which the discussion of key questions may be based – questions about subjectivity, interpretation, adaptation and fidelity. Then, in sections three and four, I will look more closely at my own writing process and its intersection with the autobiographical and biographical writings of others. Here I will examine the biopic genre and connect it with reflections on theories of adaptation, furthering this discussion by exploring alternate ways in which both my screenplay, as well as biopics in general, may be read in relation to the contested issue of fidelity.

archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Mitchell Craft