Acknowledgements

It is thanks to my supervisors Annie van den Oever and Federico Freschi, that I could complete the research for this book, which originated in the work for my PhD. They both provided mentorship, guidance and countless cross-continental meetings over the last few years, and this book would not be here without their support. The feedback from the thesis examination panel has also been helpful: I am grateful to Susan Aasman, Amanda du Preez, Julian Hanich, Hilary Radner, Brenda Schmahmann and Theo Spek for their thorough and insightful engagements with my ideas.

I want to acknowledge funding received from the Accelerated Academic Mentorship Programme at the University of Johannesburg to complete this book. Previously, while I was working on the thesis, I also received funding from the University of Johannesburg and the South African Department of Higher Education and Training, as well as the Accelerated Academic Mentorship Programme, to undertake sabbatical travel to Groningen in 2016 and 2019, and teaching relief in 2019 and 2020. In addition, I obtained generous funding from the Foundation Study Fund for South African Students in Amsterdam, for which I am most grateful. Some of the research in this book has appeared in publications: aspects of Chapter 8 informed “Nostalgic Dystopia: Johannesburg as landscape after White writing” (2020), in the Journal of Literary Studies 36(4): 123–142, and to a lesser extent “Memorials, landscape and white masculinity: dialogic interventions in South African Art”, co-authored with Karen von Veh (2022), in the journal Image & Text 36(1): 1–27. I also presented my research at various conferences, seminars and workshops during the writing of the thesis and the book.

I benefited from the support of colleagues when I was writing the thesis that would later lead to the research for this book: David Paton, who was a mentor to me during the time I was writing the book, Ruth Lipschitz and Karin Basel, who helped me manage my teaching while writing, and Brenda Schmahmann, who advised me when I was working on the thesis, along with several others. Christa van Zyl worked many hours on the layout and cover design for the thesis. Thanks also goes to Ahmed Wadee, who has been my coach and has had many conversations with me about academia and life. Colleagues at the University of Groningen were also of great help over the years, particularly Julian Hanich, who first suggested I write this book, along with Jakob Boer and Tom Slootweg. I am grateful to the series editor, Martin Rossouw, for the opportunity to publish this work, and for his unwavering support and kindness. Cynthia Felando’s editing of the draft was an invaluable addition to Martin’s feedback at a critical stage in the process. I also appreciate the faith that the publishers at Brill, Masja Horn and Iulia Ivana had in me, and for their willingness to engage with me on all the little details that writing a book requires. Elizabeth Rankin’s insightful editing and enthusiasm for the project have been invaluable. I am grateful also for the opportunity to correspond with Neill Blomkamp in 2020, and for his generosity in sharing his thoughts and some of his process when making District 9. Many of the images that appear in this book were shared by practitioners themselves, and some, including Zander Blom and Jonathan Kovel, also engaged in substantial email exchanges with me.

I have been lucky to have the support of friends over the years as well, Julie, Jordan and Jules who have all heard far too much about this book, along with friends who know who they are. While many of those already mentioned have inspired my passion for Johannesburg, I learned most about the medium of film from my greatest supporter, Dillon. You are a true rock and have been my anchor in difficult times; thank you for being there through it all.