Staging the body and space in television: Jozi H as a case in point

The medical drama series is uniquely positioned to draw together a technology of care as well as a technology of representation. It becomes the nexus where the series’ plot with its dramatic elements and the medium – namely, television, used to represent the narrative – converge. The human body forms the foundation of all television’s narrative. In relation to this, the nature of healing as something that concerns the body as a corporeal and social entity recuperating within a given time frame and within a particular space emerges. The continuity that television lends to the movement and flow of bodies further provides authenticity to the representation of the (healing) human body – a constituent part of the larger body politic itself. This article provides a theoretical and practical exploration by exploring the credits sequence of a South African Canadian medical drama series, Jozi H (2007), set in metropolitan Johannesburg.