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Loyiso Paul
Pududu
Biography
Loyiso Paul Pududu is an emerging filmmaker and Master’s student at the University of Johannesburg. His work in film centres around masculinity, often as a means of examining himself and his own experiences, while his academic research in film and television seeks to develop a deeper understanding of Black women. Both practices are informed by the personal traumas he has experienced within his family and by his ongoing attempts to understand and work through them.
Exploring Characters of Power: The Representation of Black Women's Leadership in South African Telenovelas
In recent years, South African telenovelas have seen an increase in the representation of Black women in positions of power and leadership, exploring the multifaceted nature of these characters and how they change social representations of Black women. This research paper explores characters of power by looking at the representation of Black women's leadership in South African telenovelas. Representation Theory and Black Feminist Thought serve as theoretical frameworks guiding this study. A textual analysis, focusing on the characters Harriet Khoza, The Queen (2016-2023) and Sonto Molefe, Gomora (2020-2023), will examine how they change expectations associated with them as leaders or repackage those expectations in new ways.
This is an MA Research project still in its proposal phase.