Nelson Mandela The Living Legend (1918-2013): Reflections On The Colonial State, Nation Building And Progressive Leadership
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: SummaryThis article is a critique of the autobiographical documentary, Nelson Mandela the Living Legend (1918-2013), produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation to showcase the legendary hallmarks of former President Mandela’s role in transforming South Africa from apartheid to democracy. Its central theme evolves from Mandela’s portrayal as a prototype of the nefarious experiences of colonial bigotry under apartheid, a strategist in nation building and eventually providing archetypal leadership in the post-colonial period. Beyond disclosure of the underlying assumptions often associated with Mandela’s classic biographical reviews, the article uses interpretative thematic frames to explicate how the autobiographical narrative epitomises the legend’s astute creative intelligence in championing the transformative dialogue as an embodiment of the aspirations of South Africans. The article navigates both normative and ideological values incorporated in the content through a verbal-visual functional analysis of the main social and political actors as well as institutional contexts represented in the film. In conclusion it notes that, in addition to the content, form and organisation of the documentary, the producers successfully combined the erstwhile social, political and psychological milieu of the apartheid era with the post-apartheid democratic buoyancy. As a result, Mandela is represented as the biblical “Moses” imbued with the anointing to deliver the highly aspired “miracle rainbow” nation in the form of a democratic South Africa.
Source: Journal of Literary Studies
Author: T. Muswede
Institution: University of Limpopo
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $388
OpenAlex ID: W2780959207