A comparative reading of the depiction of Afrikaner ancestry in two works by C.D. Bell

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the contradictions and similarities regarding the depictions of Afrikaner ancestry in two works by Charles Davidson Bell: The landing of Van Riebeeck, 1652 (1850) and Cattle boers' outspan (s.a.). The works were discussed and compared from a conventional perspective in order to establish the artworks' formal qualities, subject matter and thematic content This reading was extended by employing postcolonial theoretical principles in order to contextualise these two artworks within their Victorian ideological frameworks, social realities and authoring strategies. The extended comparative reading revealed a number of similarities and contradictions regarding the artist's depiction of Afrikaner ancestry in these two works. Postcolonial theory further facilitated a more comprehensive and dense reading of the chosen artworks, as well as of the artist's oeuvre.