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Terra Die Vaderland Newspaper
Between 1933 and 1988, ‘Die Vaderland’ newspaper,
with its headquarters (now demolished) located at 3 Plein Street in Newtown, Johannesburg, was a manufacturer of the Afrikaner narrative, validating the gross logics and mechanisms of Nationalist governance. The newspaper employed propaganda techniques to manipulate local and international perceptions of the country. I draw from Thomas Rice who wrote that “text is a landscape, a readable space”. ‘Die Vaderland’ created landscapes through different propaganda composition methods, such as focal point, balance, rhythm and axis, designed to captivate readers. These landscapes are a product of an analysis into the propaganda composition techniques of the page in combination with the vocabulary used. They utilised mainly monumental, progressive and political vocabulary filters to manipulate perception. I argue that these create landscapes that focus on the Afrikaner narrative and suppress alternative ones. Chosen satellite sites within these landscapes become the sites for An ‘Other’ Archive.