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Representations of homelessness A semiotic analysis of the representation of homelessness in two South African documentary films. Homelessness is a growing phenomenon in post-apartheid South Africa. Therefore many documentaries about homeless subjects are being made. This essay analyses the concept of homelessness in the context of documentaries aimed at creating an awareness of the issues surrounding the homeless experience. Semiotic analysis of Street Stories South Africa (2011) The image associated with the black African is of humiliation, debasement, nameless suffering, nonbeing and social death. All the above Mbembe (2002: 241-242) mentions is characterised by denial of human dignity, torment of exile and heavy psychic damage. Street Stories South Africa (2011) perpetuates some of the above mentioned attributes. This documentary is a short depiction of a story of a young boy named Thulani. He is argued to have run away from home and he ends up in the street. During his time in the street he faces tragedy and hardships, yet he still hopes for a brighter future. The study therefore seeks to problematise the associations of the black subject with lifelessness and social death amongst other associations. Semiotic analysis of White Poverty (in a New South Africa) (2013) Richard Dyer (1997) argues that white is associated with ideas of purity, safety, divinity and order. White poverty (in a New South Africa) (2013) is a documentary film about a man who helps white homeless people on a farm by giving them food from the grocery store. The homeless white people are said to have lost their homes as a result of forced removal caused by the lack of financial capacity to pay rent. The documentary depicts their struggles with fires and trees that fall during harsh weather conditions. A homeless white lady argues that black people receive assistance from the municipality yet the requests of the white homeless are rejected.

Aim of Study

The essay aims to convey that there is no neutrality in representation. Documentaries are a combination of signs to convey meaning. In this, documentaries are governed by specific beliefs, values and myths found in certain ideologies, societies and cultures. Paolo Favero (2014:167) has a critical view of the genre documentary. He suggests that it is considered a performance and a style of filmmaking. On the other hand he suggests that is can be considered an un-tempered, unmediated attempt to convey experience driven versions of the actual. He argues that contemporary documentaries are considered to have maintained the conveyance of the ‘myth of photographic truth’. They maintain as well what is considered to be pro filmic reality (the reality that exists before and beyond the camera). In support of the above, Dirk Eitzen (1995:81) mentions that documentary films are concerned with conveying messages that are based on truth rather than fiction. He mentions that documentaries are considered films that abandon control over the events that are being represented or captured.
Myths are not necessarily truth, they can be rather considered to be constructions. Semiotics as a framework aids this essay by unpacking the connotations and myths in the documentary films. This is done by identifying the signs and elements used in the documentaries (Stam, Burgoyne, & Flitterman-Lewis 1992).

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Contents of this path:
1. A semiotic analysis of the representation of homelessness in two South African documentary films.
2. Aim of Study
4. Semiotic analysis of Street Stories South Africa (2011) The image associated with the black African is of humiliation, debasement, nameless suffering, nonbeing and social death. All the above Mbembe (2002: 241-242) mentions is characterised by denial of human dignity, torment of exile and heavy psychic damage. Street Stories South Africa (2011) perpetuates some of the above mentioned attributes. This documentary is a short depiction of a story of a young boy named Thulani. He is argued to have run away from home and he ends up in the street. During his time in the street he faces tragedy and hardships, yet he still hopes for a brighter future. The study therefore seeks to problematise the associations of the black subject with lifelessness and social death amongst other associations.
6. Semiotic analysis of White Poverty (in a New South Africa) (2013) Richard Dyer (1997) argues that white is associated with ideas of purity, safety, divinity and order. White poverty (in a New South Africa) (2013) is a documentary film about a man who helps white homeless people on a farm by giving them food from the grocery store. The homeless white people are said to have lost their homes as a result of forced removal caused by the lack of financial capacity to pay rent. The documentary depicts their struggles with fires and trees that fall during harsh weather conditions. A homeless white lady argues that black people receive assistance from the municipality yet the requests of the white homeless are rejected.