Theater for Development and TV Nation: Notes on an Educational Soap Opera in South Africa

Abstract

outh Africa—a world in one country. This sunny slogan of South African Tourist Board is also a sober reminder that post- a p a rt h e i d — o r, m ore accurately, post- a n t i -a p a rtheid—South Africa contains within its borders at least two worlds. Development and underd e- velopment or, in current global vern a c u l a r, North and South, are sepa- rated not only by residual racial boundaries but also by physical as well as socioeconomic barriers between rich and poor, especially in Johannesburg , A f r i c a 's wealthiest city. Due in part to these barriers, North and South col- lide perhaps more vividly in national media, especially on television, than they do on streets. On television, which reaches urban half and some peri-urban parts of population, sounds and images of global con- sumer culture (in format of commercials as well as narrative fiction) i n t e rrupt, literally and figuratively, documentary re p resentation of national history or daily life. 1 Fictional series, especially American soap operas, score generally higher ratings than local documentaries, but lat- ter have usually received more attention from policy-makers, pro d u c e r s , and critics. 2 This is case in part because documentaries, especially his- tories of struggle such as Ulibambe Lingashoni (Hold up (setting) sun, 1994), a quasi-official history of African National Congress (ANC), liberation movement turned governing party after historic election in April 1994, invoke moral authority of theater, film, and video of anti-apartheid years, and in part because they currently help to fulfil mandate not merely for local content, but, in language of 1997 Green Paper on Broadcasting, for larger goal of nation-building t h rough a broadcasting system (that is) relevant, accessible, diverse, and responsive to communication needs of country (DPTB G re e n P a p e r c h . 1 ) . In comparison to documentaries of national history, or of daily life in such series as O rd i n a ry People (1994-96) or Ghetto Stories (1998-), soap opera may seem an unlikely site for nation-building. Altern a t i v e l y celebrated or execrated for its domestic and sentimental themes, its bla- tantly commercial format, and its alleged interpellation of women as con- sumers, soap opera would appear to draw viewers away from an engagement with imagined community of nation that Benedict Anderson finds in the mind of each citizen in era of mass communi- cation (15). 3 C e rtainly popularity of American serials like The Bold and Beautiful, one of highest-rated shows and a point of re f e rence in pop- ular lore as well as in a well-known stage play, So What's New? (1991) by Fatima Dike, seems to stem from pleasure in glamorous othern e s s of its characters and their elaborate intrigues aff o rded to urban and u r b a n- izing viewers grappling with precarious conditions of inner- c i t y