PRESENTATIONS OF FINDINGS – LEVEL 1 ANALYSIS OF COLLAGES
5.2 Analysis of individual collages from each school .1 Indian Ocean Secondary School .1 Indian Ocean Secondary School
5.2.3 Atlantic Ocean High School
Figure 5.2.3A: Collage Maker – Kimone
At the top of her collage Kimone placed a key question, which reads: ‘What is History?
Thereafter, she placed a sub-key question which reads: “What does it mean?” This is as according to the history CAPS curriculum for the secondary phase of schooling. During this phase learners are expected to work with a key question for every topic studied, hence Kimone seems to view key questions as important in the study of school history. Directly under the key and sub-key question she placed the word ‘power’ which could suggest that school history for
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her is a powerful tool to understand events/happenings of the past or maybe she was implying that history in itself is partly about power.
Also, Kimone seemed to regard school history as a study of the world. This is justified by the depiction of some of her words in her collage which make reference to different countries such as Europe, South Africa, International and Ancient history. In addition, she depicts an image of a world event as in ‘World War II’ and appropriately associates this event with an international political leader, Hitler and some historical concepts. Thus, Kimone focuses on both local and international history as being important in the study of school history.
As with many other collages the depiction of ‘Big men’ is evident in this collage meaning that Kimone focused on historical leaders such as Mandela, Shaka and Hitler. To add to this, she also depicted a male soldier at the top right of her collage who is seemingly ready for battle.
Lower down at the bottom right she also depicts a male who seems to be harvesting/working the fields. Thus, the fact that she depicts all male figures creates the impression that probably gender plays a role in school history to a certain extent.
In addition, Kimone seems to relate school history to a study of conflict and struggles which links to war-like situations. This is evident in the choice of military/violence related words that she depicts in her collage in different places, such as ‘Weapons, peace agreement, Killed, Torture, Dark’ and an image of a soldier. Also other words that can be linked to war and conflict are ‘rebellion and Genocide’. Genocide is a strong word that implies deliberate or mass killings which creates the image that Kimone views school history as focusing largely on violence and war. Linked to the idea of war was the depiction of the Zulu King, Shaka, who she seemingly associated with violence and wars as he is depicted as a warrior ready for battle.
The phrase ‘THE END’ depicted centrally could be making reference to the end of apartheid in South Africa, because just under this she placed the words, ‘NEW SOUTH AFRICAN’
and an image of Mandela. Also ‘National Women’s Day Celebration’ suggests that we are now celebrating and remembering those who have fought for freedom in South Africa. Another
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distinct observation is that she probably thinks that school history also deals with the
‘economy’. This can be justified with the image she places just beneath the word economy of a seemingly poverty stricken area. This idea of school history being linked to economics is different and quite refreshing in a sense because school history and politics are seen as synonymous.
In addition, on close analysis of Kimone’s collage it can be observed that certain phrases depicted at the bottom left seem to have a religious connotation attached to them. These phrases
“Days of judgement/ final days/the end/A step closer to Jesus” link up to the crucifixion of Jesus. In other words, in biblical terms Jesus was brutally killed, hence the linking of violence.
Also specifically the phrase ‘A step closer to Jesus’ could imply through violence and conflict many innocent people’s lives end in death.
Two confusing words depicted in this collage are ‘Moon’ and ‘Mars’. However, the word
‘Mars’ is generally associated with the fourth planet, its red colour is reminiscent of blood.
Furthermore, the word ‘Mars’ is also associated with the Greek and Roman God of war. Hence, maybe Kimone depicted these words to justify her idea of school history being a study of war and violence. However, Kimone could have had some other idea for placing these words in her collage. Kimone’s collage also depicts the idea of ‘Source-based questions and Essay questions’ which is in line with the CAPS form of testing secondary school history. Thus, this collage-maker seems to be of the opinion that school history is strongly linked to the pedagogical idea.
Overall, Kimone’s collage was a unique way of demonstrating how she views school history at secondary level. The layout of her collage is also unique in that she tended to link events together by placing her fragments close together. In addition, the layout of Kimone’s collage is neat and well aligned but on the odd occasion not neat and symmetric. In terms of colour, Kimone chose yellow as a background to her collage which could symbolise to attract the attention of the person studying her collage since the colour yellow is very bright and striking.
In addition to this colour, red was another dominant colour used. This colour for Kimone could have been representative of her love and passion for the subject or it could represent the idea
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of bloodshed as in the idea of war and violence. However, maybe Kimone used colour in her collage mainly for decorative purposes.
Figure 5.2.3B: Collage Maker – Mandisa
The word ‘History’ written at the very top of Mandisa’s collage in all different kinds of letters, different sizes and colours is eye-catching and gives the impression that history as a subject is fluid. In other words, for this collage-maker history seems to be a subject which is made up of different perspectives. The colours used in the word ‘History’ as well as the rich colours used throughout the collage could also suggest that she sees history as a colourful subject with many views. Another distinct observation of Mandisa’s collage is that she depicts her fragments in her collage in all kinds of shapes and angles. This could serve to symbolically support the previous idea and implies that she is creatively telling her own story of how she views school history. Also the overlapping of some of her fragments could indicate that certain events/happenings are closely linked in history or it could be just for creative purposes.
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At the top of the collage Mandisa placed the phrase ‘Dig that history!’ The word dig is generally used as a slang for the word ‘like’. Often the word is used by younger people to really emphasise how they like or enjoy something or a person. Hence, this word was probably depicted by Mandisa to demonstrate her strong feelings of liking school history. This idea of liking school history could also be justified by the word ‘JOY’ depicted towards the middle left. This word strengthens the idea of liking the subject by indicating that she possible also enjoys studying school history. A further symbolic depiction in her collage related to the idea of like and enjoy was the depiction of the number 1 on the left middle side of the collage.
Generally, when people speak of a number 1 it refers to something or someone being good or outstanding, similarly Mandisa seems to view school history as her number 1 subject.
Another depiction at the top of Mandisa’s collage which stands out is an image of a smiling Mandela, F.W. De Klerk and Thabo Mbeki. The expressions on their faces seems to convey their emotions about some major political event. These three men played key roles in South Africa’s negotiation process and were the first leaders of a democratic South Africa in 1994.
This depiction of the three leaders is symbolic in that it highlights the role of big men and political history. Mandisa depicts many people in different places in her collage, which gives the impression that she views school history as a study of people. However, the people in her collage all seem to be ordinary people in groups which could speak of history being about people in a collective manner and working together. A further distinct depiction of an image of a black hand and a white hand clasped could suggest that South Africa is now a united nation but the sharp finger tips on the hand could be representative conflict before people got to this stage. Also a small image of different race groups together which is attached to the clasped hands seems to justify democracy in our nation.
Mandisa’s depiction of an image of a watch centrally in her collage symbolises the concept that school history can be related to a study of time. Maybe she was referring to history being a study of the past, present and future. Her depictions in her collage seem to convey the idea of history being related to the past, present and future. This could be justified by the word
‘TIME’ which is depicted twice at the bottom left of her collage. The image of a ‘winding road’ could suggest that the struggles of the past were a long, tiring journey. A journey refers to going somewhere but Mandisa used the word journey in her collage to probably symbolically
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associate it with the journey of life instead. Probably her idea of journey related to the how many people experienced many struggles in the past to achieve freedom for the nation. Hence, she depicted this in the form of a ‘winding road” which was quite appropriate and significant in conveying her views of school history.
The phrase ‘The New Agenda’ and a microphone under it could refer to people who now have a voice and can speak out and therefore the words ‘New Generation History’ under the microphone could mean that the younger generation must speak out and act. At the end of the collage is a symbolic picture of the sunrise and the words ‘The Moment’ which suggest for Mandisa South Africans are now in a good place and have a better future ahead. Also the idea of the sun shining bright could be reflective of a brighter future.
Overall, Mandisa has uniquely and creatively depicted her view of school history in her collage through words and images and her layout. The colour green that she chose for her background symbolises nature and seems to reflect for her a relaxing feeling now that South Africa is a democracy. This can be confirmed by the words ‘bigger & better’ which she places at the end of her collage. Furthermore, the above phrase could be linked to how Mandisa feels about the future. Another distinct observation is that Mandisa tends to focus mainly on national history in the sense that her depictions centre on South African aspects in her collage. This could imply that because she is South African she felt its history is most important to her.
178 Figure 5.2.3C: Collage Maker– Laila
First and foremost Laila’s collage interestingly has a background made up of all kinds of natural landscapes which gives a very abstract impression. Laila probably depicted this background with the intention of demonstrating something of South Africa’s rich history symbolically. This for her could be a way to visually depict that South Africa’s background is important in the study of school history. This idea is further justified by the word ‘Background’ with the South African map below the word, depicted in her collage. The word ‘BACKGROUND’ as well as the map also makes reference to our ‘heritage’ as South Africans. Linked to this, is the idea of
‘Remembrance’ which is also depicted in her collage. Furthermore, the word ‘Remembrance’
could be related to all the happenings of the past and how they have impacted on the present and probably on the future. Hence, the word ‘Future’ could be further related to this trend.
Another distinct observation is that Laila’s collage is totally devoid of people which gives the sense that she does not seem to believe that history involves a study of people.
Thus, this collage-maker seemed to focus on South African history. This is further evident from the map she placed of Africa at the centre of her collage. Linked to this thinking is the South African flag that is situated close to the map. Laila’s central positioning of these important symbols of South Africa creates the impression that her focus in her collage was on her own
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country’s history. Thus, for her school history is about a nationalist narrative, which she probably thought was more pertinent to her to convey her views of school history symbolically.
The phrase ‘The plain truth’ could suggest that school history for Laila is based on the truth and she probably does not believe that history is about asking questions and investigating things to find out the truth. If this is the case then Laila seems to have a narrow view of school history and does not think that school history is a study about many perspectives. This could suggest that her take of the subject history comes from a different slant. She seems to imply that history is one dimensional and not made up of different perspectives. This idea can also be linked to other words in her collage such as ‘remembrance and set free,’ which creates the impression that school history is a study of fixed-truths. This thinking is very different in comparison to the other collage-makers who mostly indicated that history comprises of different perspectives.
It seems that the word ‘Artist’ for the participant is related to school history in some way. Laila probably tried to convey her personal view that through art a historical message can be conveyed with a strong symbolic meaning. This idea of art being related to history is also evident from her depiction of the background of her collage as mentioned above.
Laila placed the phrases ‘SET FREE’ and ‘to be free’ in her collage which suggests that she could be implying that previously South Africa was not a free nation because of apartheid but now people are free and united. This can be confirmed by her putting ‘NEW South African’
in her collage. Therefore, for Laila it seems that conceptually school history is about freedom and possibly political liberty and a fixed truth. Also reference to ‘YOUNG PEOPLE’ could mean that young people in South Africa are playing a role in the politics of the country. The phrase ‘Vocal Witness’ could relate to people speaking out to make a difference. Again it can be implied that conceptually school history is about the younger generation. Hence, it can be suggested at this point that even though Laila’s collage does not have any direct representation of people she does hint that people play a role in school history through the words she depicts in her collage, but they are obviously faceless.
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Laila’s selection of the words and images for her collage speaks of a very powerful message of her views of school history. The layout of her collage is simple yet creative. This collage- maker used different angles to place some of her words depicted in her collage. However, this was probably done mainly for creative purposes and not for any specific reason. Laila used mainly magazines and cardboard as resources to construct her collage. She placed yellow borders in two strategic points in her collage which could symbolize a certain view of the subject history as well as it being an attractive or maybe a colourful subject to study. Also the yellow borders seem to hold and link all her ideas of school history within the borders.
Figure 5.2.3D: Collage Maker – Nicole
Nicole’s collage is dominated by the idea of war and violence. This is evident from the words she depicts in her collage which are: ‘Tales of War’, Death, Deadly Connections, War Wounds’. These words are all related to war and violence in some way. It seems that this collage-maker relates school history to the wars that were fought in the world in general because she does not make reference to any particular war fought. This could be justified by the unknown man she depicts at the top right of her collage with writings on his face and hands.