Nationalism, victimhood, martyrdom and intangible heritage: Portraying Harry Morant and Gideon Scheepers in film

Abstract

Historical film can transform individual lives into enduring symbols of national identity and collective memory. This study is a comparative analysis of two films, Breaker Morant (1980) and an Afrikaans film, Gideon Scheepers (1982). It examines how each constructs nationalist narratives within the distinct yet historically entangled contexts of 1980s Australia and apartheid-era South Africa. While scholarship on South African War films and literature is extensive, comparative analyses remain rare, often confined to national frameworks. Both films depict their protagonists as martyrs, using emotional engagement, narrative simplification, and selective historical framing to produce 'victimhood nationalism', where collective suffering defines moral and national identity. This paper employs two of the three stages of Richards's analytical framework, those of identifying narrative strategies and assessing audience reception, to explore how these cinematic representations mobilise contested histories. Findings show that both invite audiences to identify with protagonists cast as victims of Empire, reinforcing a sense of moral superiority and historical grievance. At the same time, their selective focus on white protagonists marginalises other victims of colonial violence, highlighting the risks of nostalgia-driven, exclusionary historical storytelling. The study also demonstrates that Gideon Scheepers and Breaker Morant function as tools of intangible cultural heritage, shaping collective memory and transmitting contested narratives.