- Title
- Interpretations of a contemporary transgender representation as encountered in the South African soap opera, Generations: The Legacy by Ndakane’s rural audience
- Creator
- Thuku, Sinalo Vincent
- ThesisAdvisor
- Aiseng, K.
- ThesisAdvisor
- Boshoff, P.
- Subject
- Uncatalogued
- Date
- 2025-04-25
- Type
- Academic theses
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478405
- Identifier
- vital:78184
- Description
- The study investigates how people from Ndakane, a rural community in the Eastern Cape, interpret a transgender narrative in the soap opera Generations: The Legacy. Located within the theoretical framework of cultural studies and drawing on audience reception theories, the study focuses on how Ndakane residents bring their understanding of gender and sexuality, derived from their lived sociocultural experiences, to their decoding of the transgender narrative. The study is contextualised against the backdrop of prevalent hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals in South Africa, particularly in rural and township areas, where such violence is reported to be more severe. This study contributes to the broader discourse on media representation, audience reception, and the role of cultural narratives in shaping societal attitudes toward marginalised identities. The research highlights the significance of media representations of LGBTQ+ individuals, especially in soap operas like Generations: The Legacy, in fostering visibility and potentially enhancing acceptance and support for LGBTQ+ communities. By examining the sociocultural factors that influence audience interpretations, the study investigates how the portrayal of a transgender character offers viewers an opportunity to challenge and rethink their preconceived notions of gender and sexuality. Using Stuart Hall's (1980) Encoding/Decoding model, the study analyses the audience's dominant, negotiated, and oppositional reading positions when engaging with the transgender narrative. A qualitative research approach was employed to gather and analyse data. The findings reveal that the interpretation of the transgender storyline among Ndakane residents aligns with Hall’s (1980) concept of polysemy, indicating that viewers derived varied meanings from the narrative. While some viewers embraced the storyline as an opportunity to explore new perspectives on gender and sexuality, others adopted negotiated readings. Although these viewers did not entirely align with the ideological stance of the producers, they nonetheless accepted the narrative and its implications to some extent, acknowledging it as an acceptable representation. These findings underline the critical role of media in shaping public discourse on LGBTQ+ issues, especially in culturally conservative spaces. By offering a nuanced exploration of audience interpretations, the study underscores the transformative potential of media to challenge deeply rooted social biases and foster inclusivity in communities that may otherwise remain resistant to change.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2025
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (129 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Thuku, Sinalo Vincent
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike" License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | THUKU-MA-TR25-12.pdf | 1011 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |