A multimodal analysis of the representation of voter disillusionment in social media memes distributed on Twitter in the lead up to the 2019 South African general election
- Authors: Jeftha, Courtney Alexandra
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Elections South Africa 21st century , Culture Study and teaching South Africa , Mass media Study and teaching South Africa , Social media South Africa , Memes South Africa , Visual sociology , Textual Analysis , Critical discourse analysis , Modality (Linguistics)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405930 , vital:70220
- Description: This study is situated in the context of the 2019 South African general election, which saw the lowest voter turnout since its first democratic election in 1994. Many have questioned the capabilities of the African National Congress (ANC) since they came into power in 1994, due to allegations of corruption, maladministration and poor leadership. The concerns about the party’s ability to manage the country’s various social issues have led to a drop in voter turnout. There was much discussion in the media about the lack of voter turnout amongst young people in South Africa. This topic became a trending topic on social media under the #iwanttovotebut hashtag. The sentiments expressed by South African Twitter users in the #iwanttovotebut memes are explored in this study. The analysis of the memes draws on the works of Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996; 2006) visual social semiotics, Fairclough’s (1989) approach to Critical discourse analysis (CDA), and Thompson’s operation of ideologies. VSS allows for the description of the various semiotic resources that memers use to construct their meaning from multimodal texts. The tools provided by CDA go beyond the description of VSS and develop a more detailed analysis of how the memers construct their discourses of democracy/governance. Thompson’s (1991) approach to understanding how ideology operates in language enables the deepening of the understanding of the dominant and naturalised notions of democracy/governance. The findings indicate that memers have a limited understanding of democracy. They also have a limited understanding of how political parties operate and their responsibilities in the form of government and various agencies. In addition, it is not surprising that young people are not voting in the 2019 general election. This is a phenomenon that the media has characterized as “apathy.” However, this research indicates that it would be more accurate to describe it as “disillusionment.” , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Settling in: Investigating the experiences of social media use of a group of international students in their integration into the Rhodes University environment
- Authors: Losa Reinoso, Kelia
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Students, Foreign South Africa , Social media and society South Africa , Students, Foreign Social conditions , Student adjustment South Africa , Students, Foreign Social networks , Social media and college students South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405941 , vital:70221
- Description: The South African government and its institutions of higher education take deliberate measures to attract international students to this country which is marketed as an appealing option for for international study because it is cheaper than in European countries and the US, courses that may be unavailable or difficult to get into in their home countries are available in South Africa, there is a high quality of education, a greater variety of qualifications, technologically advanced facilities and a geographical proximity of South Africa to international students’ home countries in the SADC region. While many international students find living in a new country exciting, fulfilling and stimulating, it may at the same time be frustrating and confusing. Students may find it difficult to adjust to their general living arrangements, new housing and transportation environments and dealing with financial and health care concerns. Also, there may be academic challenges and socio-cultural difficulties to navigate. Problems of adjustment may force international students into isolation, creating feelings of alienation and so they develop mechanisms to adjust, to feel better integrated and cope with situations that they might find difficult and alienating. One of the most important of these is to find social support which can come from friends, family, academic staff, classmates or colleagues. Social networking through social media is also important as it can ameliorate feelings of alienation and contribute significantly to the creation of an active social network and its use is therefore associated with social support for, and social adjustment of international students. This study investigates the positive and negative impacts of social media on the integration of international students into the Rhodes University environment. The study uses an exploratory survey, focus groups and semi-structured interviews to gather data which was analysed using a thematic analysis. This analysis shows that international students make use of a variety social media platforms, each with its own specific purpose – WhatsApp to communicate with friends and family, Twitter for news, Instagram for entertainment and Facebook for information and entertainment, etc. Interestingly, while social media is used in the maintenance of strong social connections it is not used to create those relationships. Rather, meeting new people and the initiation and building of relationships was done through meeting at parties and pubs and in university organised social events, clubs and societies. While social media reporting of issues like xenophobic attacks made international students anxious, none of those involved in the study were subjected to such attacks through social media. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
A multimodal analysis of the representations of gender in contemporary South African children’s picture books produced by Book Dash
- Authors: Heydenrych, Ellen Frances
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Book Dash (South Africa) , Picture books for children -- South Africa , Sex role in literature , Patriarchy in literature , Children's literature, South African (English) -- 21st century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164284 , vital:41106
- Description: In response to a demand for quality children’s picture books written and published by South Africans for local children, Book Dash – a South African non-profit organisation – has devised a publishing model in which they produce high quality children’s picture books in a twelve-hour period. Their aim is to publish books that represent a diverse range of South African children. However, while their objective is to create books that are representative of many races, this representation happens through gendered characters. In this thesis, I explore the representation of gender in Book Dash’s picture books. I use a combination of visual social semiotics, narrative theory, and critical discourse analysis, specifically focusing on the gendered ways in which the characters are represented. My analysis of these books shows how complex it can be to contest regimes of representation that work to fix patriarchal discourses and gender inequality. My findings reveal a paradox in the representation of gender norms in female characters, as some girl child characters are represented in roles that challenge gender norms, while female adult characters are consistently represented as conforming to the patriarchal feminine ideal. There is also a notable lack of father figures in these books. Such portrayals may contribute to the perpetuation of patriarchal discourses and gender inequality, particularly if these books are held up as examples of equality.
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- Date Issued: 2020
An ideological analysis of the construction of masculinity in the South African superhero comic book, Kwezi
- Authors: Reyneke, Brendon George
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Mkize, Loyiso, 1987- -- Kwezi , Superheroes -- South Africa , Comic books, strips, etc. -- South Africa , Graphic novels -- South Africa , Masculinity in literature , Violence in literature , Superheroes, Black
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144533 , vital:38354
- Description: In 2014, South African artist and comic book illustrator, Loyiso Mkize created Kwezi, South Africa’s first superhero comic book. His comic features the titular Kwezi as a young, black man living alone on the outskirts of Gold City who discovers he has superpowers. Along with Kwezi, the comic is populated by predominantly black African characters – both good and bad. The creation of Kwezi is an important step in the development of comic books in South Africa as it draws from the cultural and physical landscape of the country and speaks to young black people without them having to look outside of the country for superheroes to identify with. Stuart Hall (Hall, 1997, pp. 272-274) asserts that attempts to reclaim the black subject in popular culture tend to go through two phases. In the first phase blackness is liberated from negative representations and is replaced with more positive depictions. Thereafter though, the black subject is produced inside contemporary “regimes of representation”. In this thesis, I will show how Mkize’s representation of Kwezi follows Stuart Hall’s description of the reclamation of black subjectivity. Using narrative theory, visual social semiotics and Thompson’s modes of operational ideology I will show how in his attempt to represent African blackness positively, Mkize overlooks normative genre representations of masculinity and produces a story of a South African that remains unliberated from patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity. Mkize reproduces many of the hegemonic discourses concerning the masculine body, the power difference between male and female characters and subscribes to the justified, violent actions of the masculine superhero. Typically, in superhero comics there is an erasure of the ordinary man in favour of an excessive and powerful one-dimensional masculine ideal (Brown, 1999, pp. 31-32) At the end of my analysis I will show that Kwezi is constructed in this way as a physically strong and muscular, violent and emotionless, self-made man who is in control and overcomes all obstacles.
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- Date Issued: 2020