| Summary: | This
thesis
is
part
of
a
creative
arts
PhD
which
explores
the
possibilities
of
constructed
images
and
the
memory
of
the
South
African
Border
War.
It
was
presented
together
with
an
exhibition
of
constructed
photographic
images
entitled
BOS.
In
the
thesis
I
argue
that
the
memory
of
the
war,
an
event
now
almost
three
decades
past,
continues
to
be
problematic.
I
also
argue
that
photographs
are
themselves
complex
and
constructed
objects
that
do
not
provide
a
simple
truth
about
either
history
or
memory.
Photographs
can
supplement
or
support
memories
but
they
are
always
to
be
viewed
with
suspicion.
In
Chapter
One
I
explore
the
limitations
imposed
on
the
speech
of
conscripts,
both
during
the
conflict
and
in
the
years
following
the
conclusion
of
hostilities.
In
Chapter
Two
I
examine
the
recent
appearance
of
several
‘anti-‐
heroic’
memoirs
of
the
conflict
written
by
conscripts.
The
use
of
the
medical
diagnosis
of
post-‐traumatic
stress
syndrome
(PTSD)
in
these
writings
is
critically
examined.
Chapter
Three
focuses
on
a
development
in
the
ideas
of
the
two
most
influential
figures
in
the
field
of
Anglophone
photographic
theory,
Susan
Sontag
and
Roland
Barthes.
I
argue
that
their
initial
hostility
to
the
photographic
image
on
ethical/political
grounds
has
been
replaced
by
a
more
nuanced
engagement
with
the
power
of
the
image.
I
then
examine
the
views
of
two
contemporary
writers
on
photography,
both
deeply
involved
with
the
analysis
of
traumatic
images:
Ariella
Azoulay
and
Susie
Linfield.
In
Chapter
Four,
I
engage
with
the
artistic
practice
of
the
American
photographer,
David
Levinthal,
an
important
reference
point
for
this
project
because
of
his
photographic
work
with
miniatures
and
toys
and
his
place
within
what
I
describe
as
‘critical
postmodernism’.
In
Chapter
Five,
I
examine
the
themes
of
silence
and
censorship
as
these
pertain
to
the
photography
of
the
Border
War
using
Susan
Sontag’s
notion
of
the
“ecology
of
images”.
I
analyze
the
types
of
images
which
have
been
produced
from
the
war,
looking
at
the
“limited
photojournalism”
of
John
Liebenberg
and
the
role
of
iconic
images
in
the
propaganda
war.
Finally,
in
Chapter
Six,
I
present
an
account
of
the
process
of
creating
the
work
for
the
BOS
exhibition
in
which
I
employed
a
combination
of
strategies
involving
appropriation,
miniaturization,
and
re-‐staging.
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