Cry, Media

As it is going to be a very large part of my life very soon, the subject and methodology of my action research project has kind of integrated itself in my subconscious; it is always in the back of my mind, and I can imagine it probably is in everyone else’s too. As a result of this, I’ve been paying more, and closer, attention to how media has shaped and continues to shape my world view. In addition, I’ve been more conscientious of how I use it in order to help my students to understand and be able to visualize the unfamiliar areas of the world that we will be studying.

These days, most of my media interaction, outside of requirements for our classes, has focused on building schema for my students’ study of the novel Cry, the Beloved Country. Now, even though the novel was written almost as a warning to South Africans before apartheid was officially institutionalized, I feel that to fully appreciate the power of the novel, my students need to gain a basic grasp of South African history during the apartheid era and after its abolition. In addition, because my students have absolutely NO concept of Africa at all, let alone South Africa (they often think that when I say “South Africa” I mean “the southern half of the continent that is Africa”) I like to allow for visual and audio experiences while also allowing them to discover bits about the history on their own as well.

So, here are three of the “pieces of media” that I have viewed and/or used that have connected directly to my classroom in the past month.

This first one is the trailer from the 1987 film Cry, Freedom, which was based on the true story of Steve Biko and his interactions with a white South African reporter, Donald Woods. As Woods, himself, wrote the book, this seems to be a pretty accurate representation of one particular instance of apartheid at work, and it is one that my students seem to get into. I like it because it focuses on someone other than Nelson Mandela, it demonstrates the fact that not all white people were evil (which is VERY important in relationship to understanding the novel), and the setting allows the students something to visualize when it comes time to picture the landscape while reading.


This clip is from Paul Simon Graceland: The Africa Concert, a concert featuring musicians from South Africa held in Zimbabwe in 1987 in order to raise awareness. This one I use in conjunction with a discussion of what role music plays in a culture and how we can learn a little about the “other” through an examination of their music. I tried to find a clip of the entire group singing South Africa’s now national anthem, “Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika,” but alas, Youtube did not have one. I like this one, though, because I love Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The other thing that’s cool about the recording of this concert is that it’s interspersed with images from life around Zimbabwe, and while I recognize that it’s not South Africa, the geographical location is much closer than what my students are typically familiar with.


This final trailer is from the newly released film Invictus. I haven’t shown any part of it to students because it’s not yet on DVD, but for me, personally, seeing the film was a reminder of why I have been fascinated with South Africa since my 10th grade English teacher made us read Cry, the Beloved Country. In this particular case, I was amazed at the ability of media to reawaken the passion that had dimmed a bit over time. I loved the film.


Now, as a final note, most especially for Amberly’s sake, I’ve never been to South Africa, though it’s always been a dream. I have no direct personal experience with this place, beyond research and interacting with people who are from there and who have lived there. Given that, I am aware that there is so much I don’t know. However, I try my best to not perpetuate stereotypes to my students and to demonstrate my interest and passion to them through the use of this (as well as other) media. (Sorry this is so stinking long!!)