Introduction

Perhaps the best way to begin is to dissect the title of this dissertation. It follows then that this paper will explore representations of violence and gender relations in Yizo Yizo. In so doing, the dissertation will assess the text and context of Yizo Yizo by answering both ‘what is it?' and ‘what is, this is it?' The intended ambiguity utilises the English translation of Yizo Yizo (discussed in the preface) to illustrate that the paper is mutually constitutive of the composition of the text (story line) and the ontology of Yizo Yizo (real life occurrences informing the script). Complementary to this, a reception analysis is utilised to facilitate the assessment of the discourse of violence, gender, and authenticity in relation to the series, Yizo Yizo.

The paper will be divided into three main sections, each inclusive of sub-sections. The first section of the paper, methodology, begins with an analysis of the text and context of Yizo Yizo and includes comments on audience reception at a macro and micro level. The second section of the paper will develop comments on text and context by exploring the genesis and aims of Yizo Yizo. In so doing, I will assess the relationship between Yizo Yizo and various educational bodies, including the SABC's education department, SABC Education; the national Department of Education, and its, Culture of Learning Teaching and Service Campaign (COLTS).

Looking at issues surrounding the production of an ‘educative' series dealing with township high school life leads to discussions on students/learners; notions of youth, subculture, and music - the local genre, Kwaito in particular. The Yizo Yizo compact disc recording (CD) featuring Kwaito artists informs the discussion on the intertextuality of the series.

Issues of representation will characterise the third section of the paper, and will include a textual and discourse analysis in which 'meaning, representation and culture are considered to be constitutive' (Hall 1997: 6). The construction and production of meanings through language will inform the discussion on gender, where harassment and rape as forms of violence against women will be assessed within the context of the patriarchal discourse of gender (Fiske 1987; hooks 1994). Audience responses to representations of female characters and violent images (for example) will feed into this section on representation. The connection between representation and reception and reception and representation is best explored in the ‘circuit of culture', which is composed of five different localities constituting the production of meaning - each of which is interrelated (Hall 1997). These include ‘representation', ‘consumption', ‘identity', ‘production', and ‘regulation'. The two former localities are of primary concern to this dissertation and will contribute to further discussions on the nature of Yizo Yizo. To this extent, I will explore whether or not the series offers alternative approaches to representing conditions of township high school life, or whether or not the series re-articulates representations within the dominant ideology.

As a sub-text to the above-mentioned discussion on violence and gender, the research will engage notions of reality considered in the context of verisimilitude. In so doing, the discussion will interrogate the generic construction of Yizo Yizo so as to assess whether or not representations of violence and gender - violence against women in particular- are ‘probable' and therefore ‘appropriate' to the programme ‘type' or form (Neale 1990). More importantly, issues of genre will highlight the construction of Yizo Yizo 'as part of a widely shared and widely recognizable reality' (Smith 1992: 57).

It follows then that the study will entail an examination of the meanings and messages implicit in representations presented in the programme. The discussion on representations of gender for example, will include a general analysis of language (spoken and gestured) utilised in the series and seen in relation to social myths and stereotypes about women. Language and meaning are furthermore implicit in culture, which in turn is 'concerned with meaning; the practices which generate that meaning, and the representational forms in which that meaning is encoded' (Tomaselli 1989:38).

Finally, an overview of the above illustrates that I will attempt to explore the relationship or inter-relation between the context, programme/text, the viewers/audiences, the content and the form of Yizo Yizo. In so doing, I will attempt to engage the 'call for interdisciplinary media research that integrates textual and social aspects of investigation, and quantitative and qualitative methodologies' (Drotner 2000: 162).

Please note: The online version of this paper has been removed from its former location. If we become aware of another location, we will add a link in the future. For now, if you are interested in a copy of the full paper, please contact Rene Smith smithrene@yahoo.com