The grapes of wrath : sculpture as socio-political critique in South Africa

Bird, S

The grapes of wrath : sculpture as socio-political critique in South Africa

Master Thesis

2008

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Michaelis School of Fine Art

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

The title is borrowed from the classic novel by John Steinbeck published in 1939¹. It is a story that ostensibly concerns the Joad family's move from the agricultural hinterland of America to the promised land of California. Steinbeck's intention is the sympathetic portrayal of the human cost of mechanised agricultural revolution. The story plots the collision of old value systems with new profit driven capitalistic drives (Thompson and Kutach, 1990:143). The attendant ramifications see a great shift in the rural population to the urban areas. Much arable land is bought up by faceless consortiums and banks, leaving the farm dwellers little choice but to pack up and leave in search of work, in this manner a way of life for hundreds of thousands of unsophisticated, hard-working people comes to an end.

Description

Includes abstract.|Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-56).

Keywords

Fine Art

Reference:

Collections

Masters

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