Die ontvanger en Die vuurtoring, ’n metadiëgetiese televisiedrama

Abstract

The perceiver of Die vuurtoring (The lighthouse) is placed in an awkward position due to the unusual code structures in this metafilmic teleplay. The prologue is separated from the metadiegetic level by the title sequence, whereupon the diegetic direction changes completely. The nature of the narrative following this sequence is only recognized as metadiegetic at the end of the teleplay. After the punctuation of the title sequence metafilm is foregrounded. Internal cameras, video and sound recordings feature throughout the narrative. The narrating style also changes into a metafilmic presentation: in a single filmic syntagm the colour rendering might fade and change to black/white; other sequences might be rendered in both colour and black/white; or only as black/white syntagms. During these black/white sequences an extradiegetic voice comments on aspects which are external to the diegesis. The process of decoding this teleplay is problematic and the reader/receptor has to work very hard in the production of meaning.