Youth Education and Resistance: A Reading of Darrell James Roodt’s “Sarafina”

Using the case of South Africa in the face of apartheid, this paper underscores
the fact that, with the right education, young people are and can be very
instrumental in the struggle for liberation. This is captured in their struggle for
liberation throughout the film Sarafina. The use of songs, especially Sarafina,
The Lord’s prayer and Freedom is coming tomorrow in the film helps them push
through with their idea of having the right education and liberating themselves
from society problems. Our analysis of the songs in this film is guided by the
Semiotics Approach with the backing of the Marxist theory. These three songs
do not emphasize the issue of public violence but articulate resistance. Our
analysis thus evinces that in the film Sarafina the South African youth are
educated and encouraged to rise and fight for their rights in the face of a brutal
and faceless inhuman white regime, and this suggests that youths can resist
situations in life not necessarily through violence but peaceful protest.

Key words: Liberation, Right Education, Public Violence, Semiotics Approach