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A semiotic contextualisation of South African postage stamps and letters received between 1996 and 1999

The purpose of this research is to use semiotic and narrative theory to
unpack the layered meanings related to postage stamps and handwritten
letters and explore their similarities. The theories of Peirce on icon, index
and symbol, provide a systematic framework from which to explore the
parallel narratives in a personal collection of postage stamps and letters
received between 1996 and 1999.
Postage stamps and letters are sent as a unit, allowing their public and
private narratives to arrive in parallel. Both the practical and theoretical
components of this research explore these narratives, treating letters and
postage stamps as both personal and impersonal objects of
communication. They are archival objects of national and personal history
and of an era that is slowly fading. This research does not reinforce the
different modes of communication offered by postage stamps and letters,
but rather unpacks and compares, from a personal perspective, their many
layers of meaning. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/23134
Date02 1900
CreatorsRetief, Mari Elize
ContributorsWillemse, E.W.
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDissertation
Format1 online resource (xiv, 130 leaves) : color illustrations

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