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Nationhood in South Sudan Cinema: The Iconicity of Motherhood in Akuol de Mabior’s No Simple Way Home (2023)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 May 2024
Abstract
Post-cessation nationhood in South Sudan presented a paradoxical situation: a country united during struggle is fragmented after independence. Among the triggers for this scenario was the death of Dr John Garang de Mabior—the country’s founding father. This article is a multidisciplinary semiotic critique of Akuol de Mabior’s film, No Simple Way Home (2023), against the history of South Sudanese nationhood. Without claiming a political scientific analysis, the author proposes that South Sudan’s crisis of nationhood is symptomatic of a quest for a unifying icon. He theorizes the protagonist’s quintessence of motherhood as a semiotic gesture of her de jure iconicity of unified nationhood.
Résumé
Après la cessation des hostilités concernant l’identité nationale, le Soudan du Sud a connu une situation paradoxale : un pays uni dans la lutte se fragmente après l’indépendance. La mort du Dr John Garang de Mabior---le père fondateur du pays--- a été l’un des éléments déclencheurs de ce scénario. Cette étude s’agit d’une critique sémiotique pluridisciplinaire du film d’Akuol de Mabior, No Simple Way Home (2023), face à cette histoire. Sans prétendre à une analyse politique ou scientifique, l’auteur propose que la crise de la nation au Soudan du Sud soit symptomatique d’une quête d’une icône unificatrice. Il théorise la quintessence de la maternité de la protagoniste comme un geste sémiotique de son iconicité de jure d’une nation unifiée.
Resumo
No Sudão do Sul, a identidade nacional pós-cessação gerou uma situação paradoxal: o país, outrora unido durante a guerra, relevou-se fragmentado depois da independência. Entre os fatores que deram origem a este cenário conta-se a morte do Dr. John Garang de Mabior — o pai-fundador do país. Este artigo apresenta uma crítica semiótica multidisciplinar do filme No Simple Way Home (2023), da realizadora Akuol de Mabior, contra esta história. Sem pretensões a fazer uma análise política científica, o autor sugere que a crise de identidade nacional do Sudão do Sul é sintomática da procura por um ícone unificador. Além disso, teoriza acerca da maternidade quinta-essencial da protagonista enquanto gesto semiótico do seu papel como símbolo icónico de jure de uma identidade nacional unificada.
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- © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of African Studies Association
References
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