Rob Roy in Rondebosch: Putting the Case for Film and History Studies in South Africa

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Rob Roy in Rondebosch: Putting the Case for Film and History Studies in South Africa
Author:	Bickford-Smith, Vivian
Year:	1996
Periodical:	South African Historical Journal
Issue:	34
Period:	May
Pages:	151-159
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	cinema history History and Exploration Literature, Mass Media and the Press Education and Oral Traditions
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582479608671868
Abstract:	Few historians in South Africa have studied and taught film and history. Many have had little exposure to the arguments on the theories surrounding the use of film, and even less experience of its practice. The aim of this article is to encourage the study, teaching and discussion of film and history in South African history departments, as well as to promote the involvement of academics and students in attempting filmic history. The author, who has developed courses in film and history at the University of Cape Town for ten years, argues that the first step is teaching how meaning is conveyed in visual history. Next steps include the examination of films for what they have to say about the past, and how they compare with (and/or relate to) other forms of representation, including historiography, and exploration of visual histories for what they convey about the concerns, myths, values or ideologies of the individuals, societies and times that produced them. Ref.