The articulation of context and identity in U-Carmen eKhayelitsha

291 Pages·2013·5.89 MB·English

The articulation of context and identity in
U-Carmen eKhayelitsha
Susanna Isobella Viljoen
Thesis submitted for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Music at the
Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University
Supervisor: Prof. J. Kruger
Co-supervisor: Prof. M. Wenzel
November 2012
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Innovation through diversity ® POTCHEFSTROOMKAMPUS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS i
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
SUMMARY vi
OPSOMMING vii
FIGURES ix
MUSIC EXAMPLES ix
PLATES x
FILM STILLS xi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Contextualization of the research project 1
1.2 Scope of the research project 5
1.3 Research design 7
1.4 Thesis design 9

CHAPTER 2: TEXT, CONTEXT AND IDENTITY 14

2.1 Text 16
2.1.1 Encoding: signs, symbols and icons 17
2.1.2 Decoding: Addresser, work, addressee and text 19
2.1.3 Narrative text 22
2.1.4 Intertextuality 23
2.1.4.1 Text and intertextuality 24
i) Origins 25
ii) Presuppositions 25
2.1.4.2 Context and intertextuality 26
2.1.4.3 Meaning and interpretation 27
2.1.4.4 Types of intertextuality 28
2.2 Adaptations of texts 31
2.3 Context 39
2.3.1 Creating contexts 40
2.3.1.1 Focalization 40
2.3.1.2 Time 41
2.3.1.3 Space 44
2.4 Identity 46
2.4.1 Context and identity 47
2.4.2 Western Self versus non-Western Other 49
2.4.2.1 Documentation of the Other’s context and identities 50
2.4.2.2 Western superior versus non-Western subaltern 53
2.4.2.3 Womanhood and sexuality 55
2.5 Conclusion 60

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CHAPTER 3: EXOTICISM 62

3.1 Exoticism conceptualized 62
3.2 Spain and Gypsies as the exotic Other 67
3.2.1 Spain as exotic space 67
3.2.2 The Gypsies as the exotic Other
69
3.2.2.1 Origins 69
3.2.2.2 Gypsy identity 73
3.2.2.3 Spain and Gypsies in art 75
3.3 Musical exoticism 77
3.3.1 Musical exoticism: conceptualization 77
3.3.2 Musical exoticism: vernacularism and sources 81
3.4 Exoticism in nineteenth-century opera 87
3.5 Conclusion 91

CHAPTER 4: OPERA AS DISCOURSE 93

4.1 The reciprocity of opera 95
4.1.1 Composer, performer and audience 95
4.1.2 Context 99
4.2 Time and space 100
4.2.1 Time 100
4.2.2 Space 103
4.3 Intertextuality 104
4.4 Semiotics of opera 107
4.4.1 Nature of musical signs 107
4.4.2 Musical elements in opera 108
4.4.3 Dramatic elements in opera 110
4.4.4 Theatrical elements in opera 113
4.4.4.1 Costumes 113
4.4.4.2 Set designs and changes of scene 114
4.5 Conclusion 115

CHAPTER 5: MÉRIMÉE’S CARMEN 118

5.1 Prosper Mérimée 118
5.2 Background of Carmen 120
5.3 Intertextuality in Carmen 121
5.3.1 Carmen’s sources 121
5.3.2 Allusions to biblical events 125
5.3.3 Shakespearean elements in Carmen 126
5.3.4 Paratextuality in Carmen 129
5.4 Narrative aspects in Carmen 131
5.4.1 Plot 131
5.4.2 Context 132
5.4.3 Characterization 134
5.4.4 Focalization 145
5.5 Conclusion 148
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CHAPTER 6: COMPARING CARMEN AND U-CARMEN eKHAYELITSHA 150

6.1 Bizet’s Carmen 151
6.2 Dornford-May’s U-Carmen 157
6.3 Analyses 159
6.3.1 Sequence one (00:44–08:12) 160
6.3.2 Sequence two (08:13–19:48) 164
6.3.3 Sequence three (19:49–29:07) 166
6.3.4 Sequence four (29:08–48:04) 168
6.3.5 Sequence five (48:05–1:01:00) 171
6.3.6 Sequence six (1:01:01–1:25:48) 176
6.3.7 Sequence seven (1:25:49–1:43:59) 182
6.3.8 Scene eight (1:44:00 to end) 185

CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION 188

7.1 Text and intertextuality in U-Carmen 189
7.2 Khayelitsha as African context 192
7.3 African Carmen as exotic Other 197
7.4 Suggestions for further study 200
7.5 Conclusion 200

REFERENCE LIST 203

ADDENDA 220

A Transcript of interview with Mark Dornford-May on 28 July 2009 220
B Transcript of interview with Pauline Malefane on 24 October 2012 232

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DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my late parents whose dreams for me far surpassed my
own. Wish you were here.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to express my thanks to my supervisors, Prof. Jaco Kruger and Prof. Marita
Wenzel. This thesis would not have been completed without your expert advice,
considerable encouragement and patience.
I would like to thank Ms Retha Badenhorst of the Music Library at the School of
Music of the North-West University for her assistance in obtaining sources.
I wish to thank the dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof. Jan Swanepoel as well as the
director of the School of Music, Prof. Karendra Devroop for allowing me to take
extended leave to complete my studies.
A special thanks to those who were prepared to engage in conversation and who
agreed to interviews, especially Louisemarie Combrink, Mark Dornford-May and
Pauline Malefane. It was a privilege to have access to your insight.
Finally, I would like to thank Jozua, Jan-Hendrik, Liezel and Kobus for making me
believe that I can be more than I could ever have imagined.

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SUMMARY
The primary focus of this qualitative research project is on the articulation of contexts
and identity in operatic texts. In literature, postmodern appropriations and re-writings
of classic nineteenth-century texts have changed perceptions about the ability of the
marginalized Other’s identity to change. As a discursive phenomenon, opera helped
to shape nineteenth-century perceptions of the exotic Other. This thesis argues that
the appropriation of operatic texts to reflect various contexts induces the potential to
shape alternative perceptions about identity. In U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (2005), a
cinematic adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen (1873–74), director Mark Dornford-May
revisits earlier versions of Carmen and uses semiotics and several other narrative
strategies in order to articulate the identities of the African female Other within the
context of a post-apartheid township. This thesis illustrates how the dialectic
relationship between text, context and identity formation becomes evident in the
analysis and comparison of Prosper Mérimée’s novella Carmen (1845), George
Bizet’s eponymous opera and U-Carmen eKhayelitsha.
Key words: adaptations, context, exoticism, identity, narratology, narrative
strategies, opera, postmodernism, semiotics, text
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OPSOMMING
Hierdie kwalitatiewe navorsingsprojek fokus hoofsaaklik op die wyse waarop
kontekste en identiteite deur operatekste geartikuleer word. Postmoderne
aanpassings en die herskryf van klassieke negentiende-eeuse literêre tekste het
daartoe bygedra dat alternatiewe persepsies oor die gemarginaliseerde Ander
ontstaan het. Die diskursiewe aard van opera veroorsaak dat hierdie genre ʼn invloed
op die artikulering en vorming van negentiende-eeuse persepsies van die eksotiese
Ander gehad het. Hierdie proefskrif gaan van die standpunt uit dat die aanpassing
van operatekste, na gelang van ‘n verskeidenheid kontekste, die potensiaal het om
alternatiewe persepsies te laat ontstaan. In U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (2005), ʼn
filmverwerking van Bizet se Carmen (1873–74), herbesoek Mark Dornford-May
vroeëre weergawes van Carmen en gebruik hy semiotiek, asook etlike ander
narratiewe strategieë, ten einde die identiteit van die vroulike Afrika-Ander binne die
konteks van ʼn informele nedersetting in die post-apartheidsera te artikuleer.
Wanneer Prosper Mérimée se novella Carmen (1845), Bizet se gelyknamige opera
en U-Carmen eKhayelitsha ontleed en met mekaar vergelyk word, illustreer hierdie
proefskrif hoe die dialektiese verhouding tussen teks, konteks en identiteitsformasie
na vore kom.
Sleutelwoorde: konteks, eksotisisme, identiteit, narratologie, narratiewe strategieë,
opera, postmodernisme, semiotiek, teks
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FIGURES

Chapter 2

Figure 1 Concepts in narratology. A diagrammatic
presentation of the concepts involved in
narratology.

Figure 2 Comparison of Saussurean and Peircean models of
the sign. A diagrammatic presentation of the
different aspects of sign as posited by de Saussure
and Peirce.

Figure 3 From work to text. A diagrammatic representation of
the processes involved in the evolution from a work
to a text.

Figure 4 Adaptations and modes of engagement

Chapter 4

Figure 5 Conventions, elements and signs of opera.
Diagrammatic presentation of these concepts in
opera.

Figure 6 Model of musical communication by Kendall &
Carterette (1990:132).

Figure 7 Reciprocal model of musical response by
Hargreaves et al. (2005:8)

MUSIC EXAMPLES
Example 1 Ancient Greek Phrygian Mode
Example 2 Ancient Greek Phrygian Mode used since the 18th
Century
Example 3 Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in c (Fate motif)

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