Changing the lens of stigma : an exploration of disclosure in self-portraits by South Africans living with HIV in the Through Positive Eyes Arts Initiative.

Ress, Hanni Eran

Changing the lens of stigma : an exploration of disclosure in self-portraits by South Africans living with HIV in the Through Positive Eyes Arts Initiative.

Master Thesis

2012

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

African Studies

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

This thesis analyses a collaborative arts initiative, Through Positive Eyes South Africa. The thesis focuses on how photography and personal narrative can contribute to changing the lens through which HIV-positive individuals see themselves and the way they are perceived while also problematising the complexities around disclosure and containment in the face of stigma. There are many projects that have sought to alter the dominant lens of stigma around HIV/AIDS in South Africa but the Through Positive Eyes initiative is unique in its process of self-documentation as the group openly confronts the complexities of living with HIV/AIDS. The thesis shows that challenging stigma through art is not as simple as the claim first appears; in fact, it emerges that even in giving full agency to the participants, the boundaries between the private therapeutic process and the public visual encounter are themselves intertwined and blurred by stigma.

Description

Includes abstract.

Includes bibliographical references.

Keywords

African Studies

Reference:

Collections

Masters

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