Walking the Spatial Triad: how do Rhodians experience Rhodes University as a place?
- Authors: Mtolo, Siyathokoza
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36082 , vital:24476
- Description: Globally and locally the documentation of the experience of the tertiary education institution as a place in the human or cultural geography sense of the word is an under-utilised academic exercise. Locally, however, with the 2015 #RhodesMustFall moment which highlighted South Africa's tertiary education institutions as places of meaning and accompanying experience, the documentation of such overlooked place experience became ever more pressing. The purpose of this thesis is to document how some members of the population of one South African tertiary education, the Rhodians of Rhodes University, experience that university as the place that it is to them. This is a phenomenological documentation of experience as the thesis makes it a point to look at a selection of Rhodians and their experience of emplacement in the place that is Rhodes University. In-depth mobile interviews, closely related to transect walks, were conducted with 12 Rhodians randomly selected in the hope for maximum sample variation. The interviews were conducted with the aid of a camera recording each participant’s daily transit route through campus as they reflected on their experience of Rhodes University as the place it is for them. The thesis finds that the experience of Rhodes University as a place is highly informed by the university's built and decorated environment being a visual experience that is both walked through as part of living in the place, and wherein people find themselves engaging in social relations with other Rhodians. The thesis also finds that the experience of Rhodes University as a place is also highly informed by previous experiences of places as visual and social activity entities - that the participants bring other places with them into this place. The Rhodians who participated in this research experience the placeness of Rhodes University as an emplacement that is part old, part modern, part intrigue, and part contest. Socially the university is found to be both challenging and negotiable in line with what the individual Rhodian is and is not willing to do in accordance with their emplacement and its social demands. Ultimately, the experience of Rhodes University as a place is highly determined by the individual Rhodian's past experiences of emplacement and the expectations that they bring with them which shape what their present place is to them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mtolo, Siyathokoza
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36082 , vital:24476
- Description: Globally and locally the documentation of the experience of the tertiary education institution as a place in the human or cultural geography sense of the word is an under-utilised academic exercise. Locally, however, with the 2015 #RhodesMustFall moment which highlighted South Africa's tertiary education institutions as places of meaning and accompanying experience, the documentation of such overlooked place experience became ever more pressing. The purpose of this thesis is to document how some members of the population of one South African tertiary education, the Rhodians of Rhodes University, experience that university as the place that it is to them. This is a phenomenological documentation of experience as the thesis makes it a point to look at a selection of Rhodians and their experience of emplacement in the place that is Rhodes University. In-depth mobile interviews, closely related to transect walks, were conducted with 12 Rhodians randomly selected in the hope for maximum sample variation. The interviews were conducted with the aid of a camera recording each participant’s daily transit route through campus as they reflected on their experience of Rhodes University as the place it is for them. The thesis finds that the experience of Rhodes University as a place is highly informed by the university's built and decorated environment being a visual experience that is both walked through as part of living in the place, and wherein people find themselves engaging in social relations with other Rhodians. The thesis also finds that the experience of Rhodes University as a place is also highly informed by previous experiences of places as visual and social activity entities - that the participants bring other places with them into this place. The Rhodians who participated in this research experience the placeness of Rhodes University as an emplacement that is part old, part modern, part intrigue, and part contest. Socially the university is found to be both challenging and negotiable in line with what the individual Rhodian is and is not willing to do in accordance with their emplacement and its social demands. Ultimately, the experience of Rhodes University as a place is highly determined by the individual Rhodian's past experiences of emplacement and the expectations that they bring with them which shape what their present place is to them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Wh-question formation in South African sign language: a case study
- Authors: De Barros, Courtney Leigh
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South African sign language , South African sign language -- Syntax , Sign language -- Grammar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/42800 , vital:25237
- Description: This thesis is a case study investigating wh-question formation in South African Sign Language (SASL). It provides the first descriptive and syntactic analysis of wh-question formation in this language, based on a collected sample. The evidence gathered for this study shows that SASL makes use of non-manual features to mark wh-question formation and possesses a full question word paradigm including WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHO and HOW. In the methodology, I critically engage with two issues: informant selection and data elicitation. These can greatly impact data validity – specifically with respect to sign language research. Ultimately, I adopt a novel, multi-layered data collection approach to ensure a valid sample. The data reveals SASL’s almost exclusive placement of wh-question words in the right periphery. The absence of moved sentence-initial wh-elements in SASL poses problems for syntactic analysis using only leftward movement. It seems typologically unusual that a language predominantly selecting the right periphery as a position for wh-words would allow a complex syntactic derivation involving some null wh-element in a leftward Spec, CP and then allow for another ‘copy’ to appear in the right periphery. On the other hand, having Spec, CP on the right allows for far less complex derivations of wh-movement. In SASL, as in spoken language, the wh-word moves to Spec, CP to check the [WH] feature in C. The difference is that this movement is rightward. Further support for a rightward analysis comes from SASL’s distribution of non-manual features, and its hierarchy of negative elements and adverbials. This research represents a first step towards filling a gap in the SASL literature concerning wh-question formation, as well as a contribution to the growing body of research surrounding sign languages. Furthermore, at a higher level, this study evaluates current linguistic theory on sign languages, challenging the current cross-linguistic generalisation that wh-movement is leftward.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: De Barros, Courtney Leigh
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South African sign language , South African sign language -- Syntax , Sign language -- Grammar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/42800 , vital:25237
- Description: This thesis is a case study investigating wh-question formation in South African Sign Language (SASL). It provides the first descriptive and syntactic analysis of wh-question formation in this language, based on a collected sample. The evidence gathered for this study shows that SASL makes use of non-manual features to mark wh-question formation and possesses a full question word paradigm including WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHO and HOW. In the methodology, I critically engage with two issues: informant selection and data elicitation. These can greatly impact data validity – specifically with respect to sign language research. Ultimately, I adopt a novel, multi-layered data collection approach to ensure a valid sample. The data reveals SASL’s almost exclusive placement of wh-question words in the right periphery. The absence of moved sentence-initial wh-elements in SASL poses problems for syntactic analysis using only leftward movement. It seems typologically unusual that a language predominantly selecting the right periphery as a position for wh-words would allow a complex syntactic derivation involving some null wh-element in a leftward Spec, CP and then allow for another ‘copy’ to appear in the right periphery. On the other hand, having Spec, CP on the right allows for far less complex derivations of wh-movement. In SASL, as in spoken language, the wh-word moves to Spec, CP to check the [WH] feature in C. The difference is that this movement is rightward. Further support for a rightward analysis comes from SASL’s distribution of non-manual features, and its hierarchy of negative elements and adverbials. This research represents a first step towards filling a gap in the SASL literature concerning wh-question formation, as well as a contribution to the growing body of research surrounding sign languages. Furthermore, at a higher level, this study evaluates current linguistic theory on sign languages, challenging the current cross-linguistic generalisation that wh-movement is leftward.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
What are the barriers and prospects for integrating environmental sustainability into the curriculum?
- Authors: Rorke, Joshua
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5522 , vital:20938
- Description: This study attempts to investigate the extent to which environmental sustainability has been integrated into the curriculum of the Humanities Faculty at Rhodes University as well as the barriers and prospects for further integration. This thesis argues that the integration of environmental sustainability has been very limited. The three main components of environmental sustainability, namely environmental content, interdisciplinarity and participatory curriculum formation, are all lacking in most departments' curricula. This is despite all departments' affirmation that environmental issues are among the most critical problems the world faces today. Most of the departments are arguably only paying lip-service to environmental issues while making little to no effort toward integrating the environment into their curriculum. A lack of space in the curriculum is a frequently suggested barrier to introducing environmental sustainability into a course. However, this thesis argues that the environmentally conscious transformation of a curriculum cannot be achieved simply by adding content to the existing syllabus, but requires a restructuring of the curriculum itself. Many of the other barriers found by this study can be overcome through sufficient will on the part of departments to change their curricula. However, generating this will is difficult, as students are not ostensibly interested in environmental concerns. It is then incumbent on the lecturers themselves to educate the students on critical environmental issues, as well as on students to urge their lecturers to bring about change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Rorke, Joshua
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5522 , vital:20938
- Description: This study attempts to investigate the extent to which environmental sustainability has been integrated into the curriculum of the Humanities Faculty at Rhodes University as well as the barriers and prospects for further integration. This thesis argues that the integration of environmental sustainability has been very limited. The three main components of environmental sustainability, namely environmental content, interdisciplinarity and participatory curriculum formation, are all lacking in most departments' curricula. This is despite all departments' affirmation that environmental issues are among the most critical problems the world faces today. Most of the departments are arguably only paying lip-service to environmental issues while making little to no effort toward integrating the environment into their curriculum. A lack of space in the curriculum is a frequently suggested barrier to introducing environmental sustainability into a course. However, this thesis argues that the environmentally conscious transformation of a curriculum cannot be achieved simply by adding content to the existing syllabus, but requires a restructuring of the curriculum itself. Many of the other barriers found by this study can be overcome through sufficient will on the part of departments to change their curricula. However, generating this will is difficult, as students are not ostensibly interested in environmental concerns. It is then incumbent on the lecturers themselves to educate the students on critical environmental issues, as well as on students to urge their lecturers to bring about change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
What are the discursive resources surrounding “beer goggles” and their implications within the South African university context?
- Authors: Stuart, Michael Jason
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4602 , vital:20697
- Description: Exploring student drinking, this research provides an in-depth investigation into how “beer goggles” is constructed discursively and what implications that has within the South African university context. In doing so, research attempted to: 1) map out the discursive resources operating in the empirical research literature, public domain texts and individual talk; 2) identify the subject positions and action orientation of these constructions, and 3) to establish what gendered subjectivities are reproduced within that framework. With a qualitative and social constructionist background, this study utilised a Foucauldian discourse analytic method that included ideas from discursive research. Data collection involved five mainstream videos, three focus groups and three interviews. Along with the research literature, the videos represented the wider social constructions around “beer goggles” that are played out in the micro contexts displayed by the latter participant material. Based on their popularity on YouTube, consideration was given to videos that were the most relevant and theoretically interesting to the research project. The focus groups and interviews involved current, full time, male and female, Rhodes University students over the age of 18. Analysis revealed a common sense construction of the phenomenon that has various discursive implications. While embarrassing and sometimes out of control; “beer goggles” is constructed as a socially profitable altered state of mind that is deemed a normal and heterosexual experience in the university drinking culture. Highlighting the importance of a discursive investigation, this study provided new and alternative information that can assist further research and shed light on the debates surrounding the phenomenon. Additional research is recommended.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Stuart, Michael Jason
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4602 , vital:20697
- Description: Exploring student drinking, this research provides an in-depth investigation into how “beer goggles” is constructed discursively and what implications that has within the South African university context. In doing so, research attempted to: 1) map out the discursive resources operating in the empirical research literature, public domain texts and individual talk; 2) identify the subject positions and action orientation of these constructions, and 3) to establish what gendered subjectivities are reproduced within that framework. With a qualitative and social constructionist background, this study utilised a Foucauldian discourse analytic method that included ideas from discursive research. Data collection involved five mainstream videos, three focus groups and three interviews. Along with the research literature, the videos represented the wider social constructions around “beer goggles” that are played out in the micro contexts displayed by the latter participant material. Based on their popularity on YouTube, consideration was given to videos that were the most relevant and theoretically interesting to the research project. The focus groups and interviews involved current, full time, male and female, Rhodes University students over the age of 18. Analysis revealed a common sense construction of the phenomenon that has various discursive implications. While embarrassing and sometimes out of control; “beer goggles” is constructed as a socially profitable altered state of mind that is deemed a normal and heterosexual experience in the university drinking culture. Highlighting the importance of a discursive investigation, this study provided new and alternative information that can assist further research and shed light on the debates surrounding the phenomenon. Additional research is recommended.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
William Blake’s animal symbols: tensions and intersections between science and allegory In Eighteenth-Century attitudes towards animals
- Authors: Singh, Jyoti
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4590 , vital:20696
- Description: This thesis explores the tensions and intersections between science, allegory, and related eighteenth-century attitudes towards animals in William Blake’s poetry through detailed analysis of individual animal symbols and tropes. It will focus specifically on the period between 1794 and 1820, to coincide with the dates of Blake’s major works. Chapter One outlines Blake’s key philosophies, concentrating on his particular approach to symbolism. By rejecting certain Enlightenment ideals and beliefs surrounding allegory, Blake created his own form of the literary tradition, and the subjects and symbols of his poetry clearly demonstrate shifting allegorical frames. The chapter also explains why he argued for the recognition, and even valorisation, of the imaginative faculty, or “Poetic Genius”, in an era which accepted reason and rational thinking as one of the main means of apprehending the world. Chapter Two considers the significance of Blake’s use of predatory animals in the SONGS Of INNOCENCE and Of EXPERIENCE. In focussing on symbolic animals, the chapter assesses whether the ‘real’ animals (with all their scientific associations) are alluded to, and the extent to which they influence their symbolic counterparts. In choosing these symbols to represent key themes throughout his oeuvre, Blake drew on some familiar associations and contemporary attitudes towards animals, but offered no critique of society’s attitudes to animals. Chapter Three identifies and analyses the “fragments of Eternity” represented in the contraries of “Good” and “Evil”, and “Energy” and “Reason” embodied by the animals in THE MARRIAGE of HEAVEN and HELL. The symbols’ division between “Reason” and “Energy” develops an understanding of the complex attitudes towards animals, both in Blake’s mind, and in that of the eighteenth-century British public. Chapter Four is concerned with Blake’s depictions of the Worm and Serpent in his poetry, and how his conception of “Beulah” provides more insight into these symbols and their functions. It also grapples with Rod Preece’s argument that the poet recognised the sanctity and divinity in all forms of life, and sought to endorse these beliefs through his animal symbols. As the thesis illustrates, though, Blake is not arguing for the sanctity of all life to be upheld, nor does he see any divinity in the beings and objects found in nature. Sanctity and divinity are constructs of the imagination, and it is through exercising the imaginative faculty - the “Poetic Genius’’ - along with our senses and instincts, that we are able to make sense of the world. The study thus concludes by considering the extent to which ‘real’ animals intrude upon Blake’s oeuvre, and attempts to determine the value of reading the symbols through an “animal studies” paradigm. It also argues that ‘real’ animals are inseparable from their cultural and symbolic representations, because these are the only means of interpretation we have.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Singh, Jyoti
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4590 , vital:20696
- Description: This thesis explores the tensions and intersections between science, allegory, and related eighteenth-century attitudes towards animals in William Blake’s poetry through detailed analysis of individual animal symbols and tropes. It will focus specifically on the period between 1794 and 1820, to coincide with the dates of Blake’s major works. Chapter One outlines Blake’s key philosophies, concentrating on his particular approach to symbolism. By rejecting certain Enlightenment ideals and beliefs surrounding allegory, Blake created his own form of the literary tradition, and the subjects and symbols of his poetry clearly demonstrate shifting allegorical frames. The chapter also explains why he argued for the recognition, and even valorisation, of the imaginative faculty, or “Poetic Genius”, in an era which accepted reason and rational thinking as one of the main means of apprehending the world. Chapter Two considers the significance of Blake’s use of predatory animals in the SONGS Of INNOCENCE and Of EXPERIENCE. In focussing on symbolic animals, the chapter assesses whether the ‘real’ animals (with all their scientific associations) are alluded to, and the extent to which they influence their symbolic counterparts. In choosing these symbols to represent key themes throughout his oeuvre, Blake drew on some familiar associations and contemporary attitudes towards animals, but offered no critique of society’s attitudes to animals. Chapter Three identifies and analyses the “fragments of Eternity” represented in the contraries of “Good” and “Evil”, and “Energy” and “Reason” embodied by the animals in THE MARRIAGE of HEAVEN and HELL. The symbols’ division between “Reason” and “Energy” develops an understanding of the complex attitudes towards animals, both in Blake’s mind, and in that of the eighteenth-century British public. Chapter Four is concerned with Blake’s depictions of the Worm and Serpent in his poetry, and how his conception of “Beulah” provides more insight into these symbols and their functions. It also grapples with Rod Preece’s argument that the poet recognised the sanctity and divinity in all forms of life, and sought to endorse these beliefs through his animal symbols. As the thesis illustrates, though, Blake is not arguing for the sanctity of all life to be upheld, nor does he see any divinity in the beings and objects found in nature. Sanctity and divinity are constructs of the imagination, and it is through exercising the imaginative faculty - the “Poetic Genius’’ - along with our senses and instincts, that we are able to make sense of the world. The study thus concludes by considering the extent to which ‘real’ animals intrude upon Blake’s oeuvre, and attempts to determine the value of reading the symbols through an “animal studies” paradigm. It also argues that ‘real’ animals are inseparable from their cultural and symbolic representations, because these are the only means of interpretation we have.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Working for ecosystems: an account of how pathways of learning lead to SMME development in a municipal social-ecological programme within a green economy context
- Burger, Margaret Hendrieka Margo
- Authors: Burger, Margaret Hendrieka Margo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Working for Ecosystems (South Africa) , Small business -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa -- Durban , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Durban
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7735 , vital:21291
- Description: Global climate change alters climatic zones to the extent that species invasion and, in particular, invasive alien plant growth, is regarded as one of the biggest threats to ecosystem functioning. Socio-ecological adaptive management practices have emerged from these threats as opportunities in developing countries where the immediacy of poverty relief acts as a political drawcard and potential for job creation. Local workers in the eThekwini Municipality’s ‘Working for Ecosystems’ biodiversity management programme (WFE) are emerging as micro-enterprise contractors (SMMEs). The transition from worker to entrepreneur has been part of the ethos and long-term planning of the Working for Ecosystems programme at a management level with a view to economic inclusion and realising long-term sustainable livelihoods. Evidence from narratives support claims of transformative outcomes. The findings of this study show that transformation is accessed at various levels: at a management level, at a well-established SMME level and from worker-to- SMME level. These show an “articulation of learning pathways and the connections that are made without a formally structured pathway of learning being in place” (Lotz-Sisitka & Ramsarup, 2013, p. 33). The routes followed to knowledge, practice and sustainability competences by participants in Working for Ecosystems are examined within the complex constellation of material- economic, social-political and cultural-discursive structures and are conceptualised as learning pathways. To fully appreciate the evolving and multidimensional nature of the emergence of SMME practice learning in the Working for Ecosystems programme, relational ontology as a perspective was introduced, with the intention of emphasising the relationship between practice, knowledge and context. Narrative enquiry and extensive data analysis was used as the method to examine workplace learning pathways. These workplace learning pathways can be enriched by more explicitly integrating observation of local and indigenous knowledge of biodiversity in everyday work and practice. However, intermittent contractual work causes disruption in learning pathways formation and results in a lack of stability in conflict with the aims of the programme’s objectives of building capacity and robustness. Findings show that skills development in terms of workplace learning with intersecting, diverse levels of participation and knowledge flow, is particularly important for learning pathways development in the field of invasive alien plant control where divergent values, norms and levels of practice are operational. Prior knowledge, of either indigenous plants or business functioning mechanisms, scaffolds SMME skills through relevance and connected learning in the two fields of practice pertaining to the Working for Ecosystems programme. Clarity of management roles and solidarity within management enhances SMME functioning and learning pathway development for all participants. The Expanded Public Works Programmes (such as Working for Ecosystems) are examined as an opportunity for acquisition of knowledge, competence and new skills development. A prime competence for sustainability understanding is interpersonal skills as these form an essential link with most other competences and as such should be foregrounded in training and learning pathway development. Site selection and time in the programme is a critical factor for expansive learning pathways and environmental stewardship development. Ultimately, in examining and reflecting on the Education for Sustainable Development and green economy potential, it is apparent that learning pathway development needs more support to realise the possibility of entrepreneurship and its political and social significance in terms of sustainable livelihoods. There is a need to recognise diversity, multiple ways of knowing and learning, in learning pathways development “to build joint capacity to cope with complex sustainability challenges” (Wiek, Withycombe, & Redman, 2011).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Burger, Margaret Hendrieka Margo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Working for Ecosystems (South Africa) , Small business -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa -- Durban , Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Durban
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7735 , vital:21291
- Description: Global climate change alters climatic zones to the extent that species invasion and, in particular, invasive alien plant growth, is regarded as one of the biggest threats to ecosystem functioning. Socio-ecological adaptive management practices have emerged from these threats as opportunities in developing countries where the immediacy of poverty relief acts as a political drawcard and potential for job creation. Local workers in the eThekwini Municipality’s ‘Working for Ecosystems’ biodiversity management programme (WFE) are emerging as micro-enterprise contractors (SMMEs). The transition from worker to entrepreneur has been part of the ethos and long-term planning of the Working for Ecosystems programme at a management level with a view to economic inclusion and realising long-term sustainable livelihoods. Evidence from narratives support claims of transformative outcomes. The findings of this study show that transformation is accessed at various levels: at a management level, at a well-established SMME level and from worker-to- SMME level. These show an “articulation of learning pathways and the connections that are made without a formally structured pathway of learning being in place” (Lotz-Sisitka & Ramsarup, 2013, p. 33). The routes followed to knowledge, practice and sustainability competences by participants in Working for Ecosystems are examined within the complex constellation of material- economic, social-political and cultural-discursive structures and are conceptualised as learning pathways. To fully appreciate the evolving and multidimensional nature of the emergence of SMME practice learning in the Working for Ecosystems programme, relational ontology as a perspective was introduced, with the intention of emphasising the relationship between practice, knowledge and context. Narrative enquiry and extensive data analysis was used as the method to examine workplace learning pathways. These workplace learning pathways can be enriched by more explicitly integrating observation of local and indigenous knowledge of biodiversity in everyday work and practice. However, intermittent contractual work causes disruption in learning pathways formation and results in a lack of stability in conflict with the aims of the programme’s objectives of building capacity and robustness. Findings show that skills development in terms of workplace learning with intersecting, diverse levels of participation and knowledge flow, is particularly important for learning pathways development in the field of invasive alien plant control where divergent values, norms and levels of practice are operational. Prior knowledge, of either indigenous plants or business functioning mechanisms, scaffolds SMME skills through relevance and connected learning in the two fields of practice pertaining to the Working for Ecosystems programme. Clarity of management roles and solidarity within management enhances SMME functioning and learning pathway development for all participants. The Expanded Public Works Programmes (such as Working for Ecosystems) are examined as an opportunity for acquisition of knowledge, competence and new skills development. A prime competence for sustainability understanding is interpersonal skills as these form an essential link with most other competences and as such should be foregrounded in training and learning pathway development. Site selection and time in the programme is a critical factor for expansive learning pathways and environmental stewardship development. Ultimately, in examining and reflecting on the Education for Sustainable Development and green economy potential, it is apparent that learning pathway development needs more support to realise the possibility of entrepreneurship and its political and social significance in terms of sustainable livelihoods. There is a need to recognise diversity, multiple ways of knowing and learning, in learning pathways development “to build joint capacity to cope with complex sustainability challenges” (Wiek, Withycombe, & Redman, 2011).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Workplace health promotion: a case of Rhodes University support staff
- Chigumete, Tinatsei Gabriella
- Authors: Chigumete, Tinatsei Gabriella
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Employees -- Health and hygiene , Employee health promotion -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/44509 , vital:25414
- Description: Background: Non-communicable diseases are rapidly advancing as leading causes of morbidity and mortality across social classes, exerting pressure on existing financial, organizational, and human resources. Health promotion is a common practice in the prevention of noncommunicable diseases, but workplace health promotion has not yet been well established in many workplaces. Identification of past workplace initiatives and exploring their facilitating and limiting factors is thus important to take into consideration when planning future initiatives. Well-informed and guided workplace health promotion initiatives are essential to improve the general health of staff, and these also need to take the broader cultural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors influencing non-communicable diseases in the target population into account. This two-phase study was conducted at Rhodes University. A needs assessment was conducted to identify current policies and practices of workplace health promotion and to identify any shortcomings of the initiatives that have previously been attempted to raise awareness of non-communicable diseases at Rhodes University. The second phase of this project aimed to address concerns raised in the first phase through a health promotion initiative for support staff that focuses on the prevention of noncommunicable diseases through heart healthy diets and physical activity. Method: The first phase of the current study involved working with the support staff and key stakeholders. Using the participatory action research approach and the PRECEDE-PROCEED model to guide the research, 11 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and 10 focus group discussions were conducted with support staff members to identify factors affecting workplace health promotion. Participant opinions on how to improve these initiatives were sought. The participants were asked to identify areas on which the intended intervention should focus, as well as to identify their preferred means of communicating health messages. During this phase, a group of support staff members who volunteered their involvement in the design and delivery of the educational intervention was also identified. They chose to go by the name, the Health Awareness Group.In an interim phase of the study, three health information leaflets informed by the results from the above activities were designed. These leaflets underwent a series of qualitative evaluations by other health professionals, a culture and African languages expert, and the Health Awareness Group, to assess content validity, context specificity, and cultural appropriateness for the target group. A series of quantitative tests for readability, suitability, and actionability was also conducted. The health information leaflets were then used as written materials in the educational intervention of the project. Members of the Health Awareness Group were also trained as peer educators through a series of workshops. This enabled them to promote and raise awareness of heart healthy diets and physical activity to others in the workplace. Workshops were participatory in nature and were guided by the Social Cognitive Theory. They were also equipped with the completed health information leaflets to distribute to their peers and to use as reference sources of information when needed. Results: Participants in the semi-structured interviews reported that some health promotion initiatives have previously been attempted and advertised to support staff, but the turnout was poor and most staff did not seem to understand the health benefits of these initiatives. The support staff, in turn, stated that most health talks were conducted in English, contained medical jargon, and that they would have preferred these initiatives either to be simplified or presented in their home language, and to display cultural sensitivity. Support staff have also reported that advertisements were too cliche to elicit their interest. They also suggested incentivising initiatives for better participation. Another key suggestion was to facilitate these initiatives in the university departments they work or other convenient venues, rather than at central venues. It was also suggested that these initiatives be part of the work calendar, as they are often 'impromptu' and, as a result, staff members did not have enough notice to take time off work. Several staff members requested 're-runs of these initiatives because one-time show cases are often inadequate'. Colourful visual representations on posters or leaflets, short plays or films were also proposed as modes of delivering health information. During the design of the material to be used for this project's intended intervention, the health information leaflets were deemed readable, suitable, actionable, context-specific, and culturally appropriate. Workshops conducted during Phase 2 of the study proved to be valuable in training peer educators. Members of the Health Awareness Group also deemed the workshops useful, and reported their readiness to be agents of change in the workplace. Conclusions: Based on the input of key stakeholders and support staff, health promotion policies and protocols for non-communicable diseases have not yet been developed. Health promotion initiatives, especially for support staff, that address non-communicable diseases have previously been attempted at the university but were not well-received. Factors affecting workplace health promotion were identified. Knowledge of these factors was useful in designing and tailoring the written educational materials and the educational intervention to the needs of the support staff and to redress the deficiencies of previous initiatives. The health leaflets were deemed appropriate for use by the target population. They addressed pertinent information needs. The health information leaflets and workshops were useful in equipping the Health Awareness Group with knowledge on heart healthy diets and promotion of physical activity. Continued the involvement of representatives from the Human Resources and Wellness offices will assist in ensuring the sustainability of this workplace health initiative.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Chigumete, Tinatsei Gabriella
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Employees -- Health and hygiene , Employee health promotion -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/44509 , vital:25414
- Description: Background: Non-communicable diseases are rapidly advancing as leading causes of morbidity and mortality across social classes, exerting pressure on existing financial, organizational, and human resources. Health promotion is a common practice in the prevention of noncommunicable diseases, but workplace health promotion has not yet been well established in many workplaces. Identification of past workplace initiatives and exploring their facilitating and limiting factors is thus important to take into consideration when planning future initiatives. Well-informed and guided workplace health promotion initiatives are essential to improve the general health of staff, and these also need to take the broader cultural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors influencing non-communicable diseases in the target population into account. This two-phase study was conducted at Rhodes University. A needs assessment was conducted to identify current policies and practices of workplace health promotion and to identify any shortcomings of the initiatives that have previously been attempted to raise awareness of non-communicable diseases at Rhodes University. The second phase of this project aimed to address concerns raised in the first phase through a health promotion initiative for support staff that focuses on the prevention of noncommunicable diseases through heart healthy diets and physical activity. Method: The first phase of the current study involved working with the support staff and key stakeholders. Using the participatory action research approach and the PRECEDE-PROCEED model to guide the research, 11 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and 10 focus group discussions were conducted with support staff members to identify factors affecting workplace health promotion. Participant opinions on how to improve these initiatives were sought. The participants were asked to identify areas on which the intended intervention should focus, as well as to identify their preferred means of communicating health messages. During this phase, a group of support staff members who volunteered their involvement in the design and delivery of the educational intervention was also identified. They chose to go by the name, the Health Awareness Group.In an interim phase of the study, three health information leaflets informed by the results from the above activities were designed. These leaflets underwent a series of qualitative evaluations by other health professionals, a culture and African languages expert, and the Health Awareness Group, to assess content validity, context specificity, and cultural appropriateness for the target group. A series of quantitative tests for readability, suitability, and actionability was also conducted. The health information leaflets were then used as written materials in the educational intervention of the project. Members of the Health Awareness Group were also trained as peer educators through a series of workshops. This enabled them to promote and raise awareness of heart healthy diets and physical activity to others in the workplace. Workshops were participatory in nature and were guided by the Social Cognitive Theory. They were also equipped with the completed health information leaflets to distribute to their peers and to use as reference sources of information when needed. Results: Participants in the semi-structured interviews reported that some health promotion initiatives have previously been attempted and advertised to support staff, but the turnout was poor and most staff did not seem to understand the health benefits of these initiatives. The support staff, in turn, stated that most health talks were conducted in English, contained medical jargon, and that they would have preferred these initiatives either to be simplified or presented in their home language, and to display cultural sensitivity. Support staff have also reported that advertisements were too cliche to elicit their interest. They also suggested incentivising initiatives for better participation. Another key suggestion was to facilitate these initiatives in the university departments they work or other convenient venues, rather than at central venues. It was also suggested that these initiatives be part of the work calendar, as they are often 'impromptu' and, as a result, staff members did not have enough notice to take time off work. Several staff members requested 're-runs of these initiatives because one-time show cases are often inadequate'. Colourful visual representations on posters or leaflets, short plays or films were also proposed as modes of delivering health information. During the design of the material to be used for this project's intended intervention, the health information leaflets were deemed readable, suitable, actionable, context-specific, and culturally appropriate. Workshops conducted during Phase 2 of the study proved to be valuable in training peer educators. Members of the Health Awareness Group also deemed the workshops useful, and reported their readiness to be agents of change in the workplace. Conclusions: Based on the input of key stakeholders and support staff, health promotion policies and protocols for non-communicable diseases have not yet been developed. Health promotion initiatives, especially for support staff, that address non-communicable diseases have previously been attempted at the university but were not well-received. Factors affecting workplace health promotion were identified. Knowledge of these factors was useful in designing and tailoring the written educational materials and the educational intervention to the needs of the support staff and to redress the deficiencies of previous initiatives. The health leaflets were deemed appropriate for use by the target population. They addressed pertinent information needs. The health information leaflets and workshops were useful in equipping the Health Awareness Group with knowledge on heart healthy diets and promotion of physical activity. Continued the involvement of representatives from the Human Resources and Wellness offices will assist in ensuring the sustainability of this workplace health initiative.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
‘Beyond Buhari, Jonathan’: an assessment of four Nigerian newspapers’ (The Guardian, Vanguard, Independent and Leadership) editorial coverage of the 2015 Nigerian general elections
- Authors: Eze, Ogemdi Uchenna
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Elections -- Nigeria -- Press coverage , Mass media -- Political aspects -- Nigeria , Guardian (Lagos, Nigeria) , Vanguard (Lagos, Nigeria) , Independent (Lagos, Nigeria) , Leadership (Abuja, Nigeria)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7656 , vital:21282
- Description: The success of Nigeria’s 2015 general elections was unexpected, given the tense political and security climate in which the polls were conducted. It is against this backdrop that this study explores the contribution of four newspapers (The Guardian, Vanguard, Independent and Leadership) and, in particular, their editorials, to the relatively peaceful and mostly credible 2015 general elections in Nigeria. This qualitative study, located with an interpretivist tradition, draws on both in-depth individual interviews with editorial writers, and thematic content analysis of selected editorials to explore three themes: - violence-free polls, rational voting and credible electoral process. These newspaper editorials made moral and ethical appeals urging “supra-national” and patriotic attitudes as well as more detailed process interventions. Drawing from the theories of argumentation, the research suggests that three kinds (forensic, epideictic and deliberative) of arguments were made and three modes of argumentation (logos, pathos and ethos) were used by editorial writers to advance their arguments. This study examines what the editorial writers hoped to achieve and the normative ideals they drew on in the discharge of what they saw as their editorial duties. Drawing on theoretical insights from normative theories of journalism, and particularly social responsibility theory, this research posits that editorial writers hoped to arrest the spate of violence in the Nigerian polity, raise the level of discussion and redirect the attention of politicians in particular to core issues confronting ordinary Nigerians. The study finds a correlation between the editorials written and the normative ideals embodied in the social responsibility theory, which, the study finds, is the most influential normative ideal in the ‘mainstream’ Nigerian news media, at least in print. This study thus argues that in view of the range and frequency of focus on three core themes, and the persuasive power of writing, a case can be made for the editorials of these four major newspapers playing a constructive and positive role and making some contribution to the eventual peaceful and credible outcome of 2015 national elections in Nigeria.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Eze, Ogemdi Uchenna
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Elections -- Nigeria -- Press coverage , Mass media -- Political aspects -- Nigeria , Guardian (Lagos, Nigeria) , Vanguard (Lagos, Nigeria) , Independent (Lagos, Nigeria) , Leadership (Abuja, Nigeria)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7656 , vital:21282
- Description: The success of Nigeria’s 2015 general elections was unexpected, given the tense political and security climate in which the polls were conducted. It is against this backdrop that this study explores the contribution of four newspapers (The Guardian, Vanguard, Independent and Leadership) and, in particular, their editorials, to the relatively peaceful and mostly credible 2015 general elections in Nigeria. This qualitative study, located with an interpretivist tradition, draws on both in-depth individual interviews with editorial writers, and thematic content analysis of selected editorials to explore three themes: - violence-free polls, rational voting and credible electoral process. These newspaper editorials made moral and ethical appeals urging “supra-national” and patriotic attitudes as well as more detailed process interventions. Drawing from the theories of argumentation, the research suggests that three kinds (forensic, epideictic and deliberative) of arguments were made and three modes of argumentation (logos, pathos and ethos) were used by editorial writers to advance their arguments. This study examines what the editorial writers hoped to achieve and the normative ideals they drew on in the discharge of what they saw as their editorial duties. Drawing on theoretical insights from normative theories of journalism, and particularly social responsibility theory, this research posits that editorial writers hoped to arrest the spate of violence in the Nigerian polity, raise the level of discussion and redirect the attention of politicians in particular to core issues confronting ordinary Nigerians. The study finds a correlation between the editorials written and the normative ideals embodied in the social responsibility theory, which, the study finds, is the most influential normative ideal in the ‘mainstream’ Nigerian news media, at least in print. This study thus argues that in view of the range and frequency of focus on three core themes, and the persuasive power of writing, a case can be made for the editorials of these four major newspapers playing a constructive and positive role and making some contribution to the eventual peaceful and credible outcome of 2015 national elections in Nigeria.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“Evaluating the ‘reality’ of South Africa’s first season of Big Brother among a select group of Rhodes University students”
- Authors: Pillay, Krivani
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7044 , vital:21212
- Description: This study analyses the reasons audiences watched South Africa’s first reality television series, Big Brother, and sets out to determine which discourse of realism attracted audiences to the programme. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the audience reception of South African reality television and to determine why audiences are attracted to this genre. The South African reality television programme, Big Brother, will be used as a case study to determine audience pleasures. This research also involves an examination of the ‘reality’ constructed by television producers and stakeholders. It will also investigate which discourse of realism viewers draw on when explaining the pleasures they obtain from watching Big Brother. What do audiences understand by the concept ‘reality television’? Is there awareness of the fact that the series is highly constructed? This study outlines how the producers represent Big Brother and how they sell the programme as a reality television programme. This study also determines the producers’ preferred meaning and sets out to reveal whether the audiences merely accept the producers’ preferred reading of Big Brother. Audience ratings in the form of TAMS show that Big Brother is popular (Telmar; 2001). Fiske (1987) writes that in order for a television show to be popular, it has to be read and enjoyed by a diverse audience. Popular texts are polysemic in that their meanings can be inflected differently by various social groups watching the programme. This study examines how audiences understand the notion of reality television and if audience pleasures come from the myth that reality television represents reality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Pillay, Krivani
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7044 , vital:21212
- Description: This study analyses the reasons audiences watched South Africa’s first reality television series, Big Brother, and sets out to determine which discourse of realism attracted audiences to the programme. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the audience reception of South African reality television and to determine why audiences are attracted to this genre. The South African reality television programme, Big Brother, will be used as a case study to determine audience pleasures. This research also involves an examination of the ‘reality’ constructed by television producers and stakeholders. It will also investigate which discourse of realism viewers draw on when explaining the pleasures they obtain from watching Big Brother. What do audiences understand by the concept ‘reality television’? Is there awareness of the fact that the series is highly constructed? This study outlines how the producers represent Big Brother and how they sell the programme as a reality television programme. This study also determines the producers’ preferred meaning and sets out to reveal whether the audiences merely accept the producers’ preferred reading of Big Brother. Audience ratings in the form of TAMS show that Big Brother is popular (Telmar; 2001). Fiske (1987) writes that in order for a television show to be popular, it has to be read and enjoyed by a diverse audience. Popular texts are polysemic in that their meanings can be inflected differently by various social groups watching the programme. This study examines how audiences understand the notion of reality television and if audience pleasures come from the myth that reality television represents reality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“I am 22 Million”: reading Winnie Madikizela as the intellectual face of anti-apartheid popular struggle
- Authors: Valela, Ntombizikhona
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/40802 , vital:25029
- Description: The purpose of this research is to read Winnie Madikizela Mandela as an intellectual. Through this research I want to examine whether Madikizela Mandela emerges from an intellectual tradition influenced by the political and intellectual discourse that existed at the time within the country such as the ideology of the African National Congress (not to say that this was without external influence but I would argue that the ideology of the ANC evolved to fit the domestic politics of the day), the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party and Black Consciousness. Through trying to understand Madikizela Mandela’s intellectual journey this thesis will explore the larger question of intellectual production. Lewis Gordon argues that it is often presumed that theory is north and experience is south.1 As a result black people are often excluded from being possible intellectuals and shapers of intellectual discourse but are rather relegated to the categories of ‘actors’ rather than thinkers. The point of departure of my research will be through Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s image as it provides a clue into the type of intellectual influences and ideologies that she subscribed to. This flows from Charles R. Garoian and Yvonne M. Gaudelius’ “The Spectacle of Visual Culture” where they argue for images teaching us what to see and think.2 Winnie Madikizela Mandela was a frequently photographed person and it is through these images that we witness an evolution in the way she presented herself which, as this research argues, is influenced by certain intellectual traditions that guide the black liberation struggle. In What’s My Name: Black Vernacular Intellectuals, Grant Farred explores the role of clothing in the conveying of intellectualism influenced by a certain ideology. Therefore I argue that Winnie Madikizela’s iconicity is more than conventional standards of beauty, or her link to her husband Nelson Mandela. It is rather a tool that she uses to convey an ideology and this complements that which she says when she chooses to speak.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Valela, Ntombizikhona
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/40802 , vital:25029
- Description: The purpose of this research is to read Winnie Madikizela Mandela as an intellectual. Through this research I want to examine whether Madikizela Mandela emerges from an intellectual tradition influenced by the political and intellectual discourse that existed at the time within the country such as the ideology of the African National Congress (not to say that this was without external influence but I would argue that the ideology of the ANC evolved to fit the domestic politics of the day), the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party and Black Consciousness. Through trying to understand Madikizela Mandela’s intellectual journey this thesis will explore the larger question of intellectual production. Lewis Gordon argues that it is often presumed that theory is north and experience is south.1 As a result black people are often excluded from being possible intellectuals and shapers of intellectual discourse but are rather relegated to the categories of ‘actors’ rather than thinkers. The point of departure of my research will be through Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s image as it provides a clue into the type of intellectual influences and ideologies that she subscribed to. This flows from Charles R. Garoian and Yvonne M. Gaudelius’ “The Spectacle of Visual Culture” where they argue for images teaching us what to see and think.2 Winnie Madikizela Mandela was a frequently photographed person and it is through these images that we witness an evolution in the way she presented herself which, as this research argues, is influenced by certain intellectual traditions that guide the black liberation struggle. In What’s My Name: Black Vernacular Intellectuals, Grant Farred explores the role of clothing in the conveying of intellectualism influenced by a certain ideology. Therefore I argue that Winnie Madikizela’s iconicity is more than conventional standards of beauty, or her link to her husband Nelson Mandela. It is rather a tool that she uses to convey an ideology and this complements that which she says when she chooses to speak.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“I won’t say I feel happy or sad”: experiences of siblings of young disabled people in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances
- Authors: Foote, Tamlyn Lou-Ann
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa , Mentally ill children -- Care -- South Africa , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psycnology , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7774 , vital:21296
- Description: The impact of having a disabled sibling has been well researched in first world countries, revealing complex and varied results. However, in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts, where disability has been found to be more prevalent, and where arguably, the functioning and quality of life of a disabled person is more likely to be affected by an impairment, very little is known about how siblings of young disabled people are affected. In response, this qualitative study explores the experiences of five, isiXhosa speaking adolescents, living in Joza Township, Grahamstown, who have a brother or sister with an intellectual, physical or developmental impairment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and an interpretative phenomenological analytic approach was utilized to ascertain how the participants make sense of their worlds in relation to their sibling’s disability. Specifically, this research aimed at developing an understanding of how the participants experienced their family climate, self-concept, interpersonal relations and daily living in relation to their disabled sibling. The results of this study reveal a prevailing sense of incongruity experienced by the participants, although there are variances between their experiences. While family climate was largely experienced as warm, the participants were ambivalent about their relationship with their mothers who are experienced more as providers than nurturers. The participants described oscillating between feelings of protectiveness and alliance, and responsibility and sacrifice toward their sibling. A high incidence of incongruity pertaining to their sense of self was noted; this was described as impacting on their interpersonal relations where an underlying sense of negative public perception in relation to the disability is perceived. Although the participants expressed feeling supported within their homes, it was evident that they experienced little support from peers or the community at large. Four out of the five participants did not report experiencing a sense of deprivation, despite their socio-economic contexts and described a day-to-day existence that allows for their needs to be met. This included adequate time during their day to pursue personal interests as opposed to their time being spent taking care of their disabled sibling or assisting their parents, who may be overburdened due to the added care and responsibilities a disabled child might require. Furthermore, it is suggested that the incongruity experienced by the participants could be the result of various factors including age, gender, birth order and the nature of their sibling’s impairment. On the basis of the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the experiences of siblings of young, disabled people living in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts cannot necessarily be described as being positive or negative, but are highly nuanced. In addition, the participants to some extent experience disability by association and are lacking in adequate support and opportunities to discuss their unique challenges. These insights serve to better inform disability studies in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances. These findings are in accordance with earlier research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Foote, Tamlyn Lou-Ann
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa , Mentally ill children -- Care -- South Africa , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psycnology , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7774 , vital:21296
- Description: The impact of having a disabled sibling has been well researched in first world countries, revealing complex and varied results. However, in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts, where disability has been found to be more prevalent, and where arguably, the functioning and quality of life of a disabled person is more likely to be affected by an impairment, very little is known about how siblings of young disabled people are affected. In response, this qualitative study explores the experiences of five, isiXhosa speaking adolescents, living in Joza Township, Grahamstown, who have a brother or sister with an intellectual, physical or developmental impairment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and an interpretative phenomenological analytic approach was utilized to ascertain how the participants make sense of their worlds in relation to their sibling’s disability. Specifically, this research aimed at developing an understanding of how the participants experienced their family climate, self-concept, interpersonal relations and daily living in relation to their disabled sibling. The results of this study reveal a prevailing sense of incongruity experienced by the participants, although there are variances between their experiences. While family climate was largely experienced as warm, the participants were ambivalent about their relationship with their mothers who are experienced more as providers than nurturers. The participants described oscillating between feelings of protectiveness and alliance, and responsibility and sacrifice toward their sibling. A high incidence of incongruity pertaining to their sense of self was noted; this was described as impacting on their interpersonal relations where an underlying sense of negative public perception in relation to the disability is perceived. Although the participants expressed feeling supported within their homes, it was evident that they experienced little support from peers or the community at large. Four out of the five participants did not report experiencing a sense of deprivation, despite their socio-economic contexts and described a day-to-day existence that allows for their needs to be met. This included adequate time during their day to pursue personal interests as opposed to their time being spent taking care of their disabled sibling or assisting their parents, who may be overburdened due to the added care and responsibilities a disabled child might require. Furthermore, it is suggested that the incongruity experienced by the participants could be the result of various factors including age, gender, birth order and the nature of their sibling’s impairment. On the basis of the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the experiences of siblings of young, disabled people living in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts cannot necessarily be described as being positive or negative, but are highly nuanced. In addition, the participants to some extent experience disability by association and are lacking in adequate support and opportunities to discuss their unique challenges. These insights serve to better inform disability studies in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances. These findings are in accordance with earlier research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“Oh, you have a ‘she’?”: exploring the lived experiences of black same-sex females living in Grahamstown, South Africa
- Authors: Haihambo, Naem Patemoshela
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Psychology , Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Public opinion , Lesbianism -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Lesbianism -- South Africa -- Public opinion
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4304 , vital:20646
- Description: The South African Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of a variety of factors including race and gender and sexual orientation. This inclusion came in 1996 after an oppressive apartheid regime was overcome, also positioning the South African Constitution amongst the more liberal, especially in the wider African context. This inclusion and the contextual disparity has caused curiosity about the realities of same-sex sexualities, especially taking into consideration media reports on violence and perceived social opposition of same- sex sexualities in South Africa. Much of this attention has motivated research studies on same-sex sexualities. Within this research, however, black female same-sex sexualities have been positioned as vulnerable and victimised within the heteronormative context, with much of this research focusing on ‘corrective/curative’ rape. There has however been increasing efforts in moving away from this limiting position by a select few (e.g. Zanele Muholi and Zethu Matebeni) in a more explorative direction in attempts to investigate black female sexualities as complex and expressive rather than passive. This study is an interpretive phenomenological investigation of the lived experiences of black female same-sex sexualities and the plurality of identities that influence their everyday experiences. This took into account intersectionality, heteronormativity and queer theory, which provided a theoretical framework for this study. During the interview process, participants described their experiences as black same-sex females in a variety of contexts including their experiences and influences of external factors (such as family and university. From the results of this research, experiences and identities of participants are presented as complex, fluid, expressive and to some extent political. Participants also expressed the difficulties encountered with misinformed friends and families and describe ways in which they assert themselves within their social and personal contexts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Haihambo, Naem Patemoshela
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Psychology , Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Public opinion , Lesbianism -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Lesbianism -- South Africa -- Public opinion
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4304 , vital:20646
- Description: The South African Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of a variety of factors including race and gender and sexual orientation. This inclusion came in 1996 after an oppressive apartheid regime was overcome, also positioning the South African Constitution amongst the more liberal, especially in the wider African context. This inclusion and the contextual disparity has caused curiosity about the realities of same-sex sexualities, especially taking into consideration media reports on violence and perceived social opposition of same- sex sexualities in South Africa. Much of this attention has motivated research studies on same-sex sexualities. Within this research, however, black female same-sex sexualities have been positioned as vulnerable and victimised within the heteronormative context, with much of this research focusing on ‘corrective/curative’ rape. There has however been increasing efforts in moving away from this limiting position by a select few (e.g. Zanele Muholi and Zethu Matebeni) in a more explorative direction in attempts to investigate black female sexualities as complex and expressive rather than passive. This study is an interpretive phenomenological investigation of the lived experiences of black female same-sex sexualities and the plurality of identities that influence their everyday experiences. This took into account intersectionality, heteronormativity and queer theory, which provided a theoretical framework for this study. During the interview process, participants described their experiences as black same-sex females in a variety of contexts including their experiences and influences of external factors (such as family and university. From the results of this research, experiences and identities of participants are presented as complex, fluid, expressive and to some extent political. Participants also expressed the difficulties encountered with misinformed friends and families and describe ways in which they assert themselves within their social and personal contexts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“She is my sister although she’s got factory faults”: a psychosocial study of Xhosa women’s sister-sister relationships
- Authors: Moifo, Hunadi Senkoane
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Sisters -- South Africa -- Case studies , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Psychology , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4443 , vital:20671
- Description: The current study examines the constructions that Black, Xhosa women from the working class and in middle adulthood draw on to make meaning of their sister-sister relationships. In addition to this, it aims to uncover their motivations for investing in these meanings. It makes use of a psychosocial theoretical framework that draws on discursive psychology and psychoanalysis. Discursive psychology is used to analyse the constructions the participants used to make meaning of their relationship, while psychoanalysis is used to interpret their investments in these constructions. Six participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The findings emphasise the psychosocial nature of the participants’ sisterly relationships, as caught between ‘inner’ world of feelings and emotions and the ‘outer’ world of social practices and expectations. Their narratives pointed to the obligatory nature of the sister-sister relationship, which drives participants to downplay the hatred or dislike that is present in their relationship and to emphasise traditional scripts of helping each other, promoting solidarity amongst sisters and other women. The analysis highlights the ways in which the participants negotiate and express their gender roles through sistering, reinforcing and challenging the traditional view of femininity and as a result providing for multiple femininities. In addition to these, the findings show that women may choose specific narratives to construct their sister-sister relationships as they allow them to feel safe and in control of their lives. Using psychoanalysis alongside discursive psychology enables the findings to illustrate how the participants invest in different constructions of their relationship in ways that are influenced by their values and life histories.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Moifo, Hunadi Senkoane
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Sisters -- South Africa -- Case studies , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Psychology , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4443 , vital:20671
- Description: The current study examines the constructions that Black, Xhosa women from the working class and in middle adulthood draw on to make meaning of their sister-sister relationships. In addition to this, it aims to uncover their motivations for investing in these meanings. It makes use of a psychosocial theoretical framework that draws on discursive psychology and psychoanalysis. Discursive psychology is used to analyse the constructions the participants used to make meaning of their relationship, while psychoanalysis is used to interpret their investments in these constructions. Six participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The findings emphasise the psychosocial nature of the participants’ sisterly relationships, as caught between ‘inner’ world of feelings and emotions and the ‘outer’ world of social practices and expectations. Their narratives pointed to the obligatory nature of the sister-sister relationship, which drives participants to downplay the hatred or dislike that is present in their relationship and to emphasise traditional scripts of helping each other, promoting solidarity amongst sisters and other women. The analysis highlights the ways in which the participants negotiate and express their gender roles through sistering, reinforcing and challenging the traditional view of femininity and as a result providing for multiple femininities. In addition to these, the findings show that women may choose specific narratives to construct their sister-sister relationships as they allow them to feel safe and in control of their lives. Using psychoanalysis alongside discursive psychology enables the findings to illustrate how the participants invest in different constructions of their relationship in ways that are influenced by their values and life histories.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“Something past provoked by something to come”: the dystopian complex in selected texts by Lauren Beukes
- Authors: Forrest, Catherine
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Beukes, Lauren -- Moxyland , Beukes, Lauren -- Zoo City , Dystopias in literature , Science fiction -- History and criticism , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/18604 , vital:22360
- Description: This thesis examines Lauren Beukes’s novels, Moxyland and Zoo City, in relation to spectral theory, a tool of critique which enables an inspection of the author’s fictional societies, by looking at the return of that which has previously been repressed. It will be argued that, by portraying the country’s future imaginaries in a dystopian light, Beukes predicts the dissatisfaction that continues to be felt in the urbanised present as having extended into the near-future. Such discontent results not solely from the country’s history of apartheid and the poverty-stricken period of recovery that has followed, but in the lack of agency found in the future subject. The concerns of this thesis lie with the programmed conditions placed on the societies depicted in Beukes’s novels and the citizens that are made to inhabit these predetermined spaces. Arising from these fixed conditions are spectral subjectivities, protagonists who, having been denied recognition by the hegemonic powers at hand, are made inherently aware of the discourse of othering imposed upon them. Constructed from the writings of Jacques Derrida and contemporary spectral theorists, I present a framework capable of dealing with the popularity of ghosts/spectres, and the propensity for haunting, within post-transitional literature. Spectrality, then, is understood as a conceptual metaphor and a mode of characterisation that Beukes employs in her writing to highlight various inconsistencies about the spectralised subject and the future. By working with a theory capable of blurring the divide between the living and the dead, the self and other, it is possible to read Beukes’s fiction as possessing the potential to destabilise supposedly secure positions on otherness and alterity. Furthermore, it will be argued that, by tracking the spectre’s capacity to haunt and the multiplicity of responses which it invokes, it is possible to conceive of alterity, and the response which it generates, as responsible for determining the conditions for the coming of a radically unknowable and therefore open future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Forrest, Catherine
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Beukes, Lauren -- Moxyland , Beukes, Lauren -- Zoo City , Dystopias in literature , Science fiction -- History and criticism , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/18604 , vital:22360
- Description: This thesis examines Lauren Beukes’s novels, Moxyland and Zoo City, in relation to spectral theory, a tool of critique which enables an inspection of the author’s fictional societies, by looking at the return of that which has previously been repressed. It will be argued that, by portraying the country’s future imaginaries in a dystopian light, Beukes predicts the dissatisfaction that continues to be felt in the urbanised present as having extended into the near-future. Such discontent results not solely from the country’s history of apartheid and the poverty-stricken period of recovery that has followed, but in the lack of agency found in the future subject. The concerns of this thesis lie with the programmed conditions placed on the societies depicted in Beukes’s novels and the citizens that are made to inhabit these predetermined spaces. Arising from these fixed conditions are spectral subjectivities, protagonists who, having been denied recognition by the hegemonic powers at hand, are made inherently aware of the discourse of othering imposed upon them. Constructed from the writings of Jacques Derrida and contemporary spectral theorists, I present a framework capable of dealing with the popularity of ghosts/spectres, and the propensity for haunting, within post-transitional literature. Spectrality, then, is understood as a conceptual metaphor and a mode of characterisation that Beukes employs in her writing to highlight various inconsistencies about the spectralised subject and the future. By working with a theory capable of blurring the divide between the living and the dead, the self and other, it is possible to read Beukes’s fiction as possessing the potential to destabilise supposedly secure positions on otherness and alterity. Furthermore, it will be argued that, by tracking the spectre’s capacity to haunt and the multiplicity of responses which it invokes, it is possible to conceive of alterity, and the response which it generates, as responsible for determining the conditions for the coming of a radically unknowable and therefore open future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“The Hellenistic ruler cult and Ptolemy I’s quest for legitimacy”
- Authors: Ntuli, Sihle
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6097 , vital:21031
- Description: Alexander III died suddenly in Babylon in 323 BC. With Philip III Arrhidaeus in a mentally deficient state and Alexander IV not being of age, Alexander died without a suitable heir. The task of succeeding one of the most storied legacies in the ancient world was left to the generals of Alexander III. On his deathbed, Alexander was asked who should lead the Macedonians, of which he allegedly replied “the strongest”. Thus began the process of selecting the individual who would succeed Alexander the Great, which ended up becoming a contentious task due to Macedonian succession customs. Subsequently the ‘Successors’ quarrelled over who should succeed Alexander as the true successor. The wars of the Successors are founded on an issue of legitimacy that qualifies the notion of the strongest. Being deemed the true successor of Alexander the Great meant the opportunity to continue a period of Macedonian dominance following the reigns of Philip II and Alexander III. Alexander III is hailed as one of the most extraordinary individuals of the ancient world with his imperial campaigns being widely documented, political stability being pinpointed as one of the Macedonian strong points during the period of their dominance. The ruler cult is a point of reference for the explaining the relative political stability throughout the reign of Alexander the Great. The ruler cult can be understood as a sociopolitical construct that hybridized the notion of the ruler with that of a religious leader. The oriental influence of Alexander’s campaigns in Asia would inform the customs and practices of the divine ruler. The Macedonians’ ability to establish a presence in foreign territories made such a social construct a necessity in the task of centralizing of minds for political stability. Alexander’s rendition of the cult informed the formalized Ptolemaic ruler cult. The similarities and differences of the renditions help us to understand this political tool that Ptolemy I required in order to be deemed the true successor of Alexander the Great. The following will be an investigation into whether Ptolemy I is able to attain legitimacy, firstly as a successor to Alexander the Great, secondly as Pharaoh of Egypt.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Ntuli, Sihle
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6097 , vital:21031
- Description: Alexander III died suddenly in Babylon in 323 BC. With Philip III Arrhidaeus in a mentally deficient state and Alexander IV not being of age, Alexander died without a suitable heir. The task of succeeding one of the most storied legacies in the ancient world was left to the generals of Alexander III. On his deathbed, Alexander was asked who should lead the Macedonians, of which he allegedly replied “the strongest”. Thus began the process of selecting the individual who would succeed Alexander the Great, which ended up becoming a contentious task due to Macedonian succession customs. Subsequently the ‘Successors’ quarrelled over who should succeed Alexander as the true successor. The wars of the Successors are founded on an issue of legitimacy that qualifies the notion of the strongest. Being deemed the true successor of Alexander the Great meant the opportunity to continue a period of Macedonian dominance following the reigns of Philip II and Alexander III. Alexander III is hailed as one of the most extraordinary individuals of the ancient world with his imperial campaigns being widely documented, political stability being pinpointed as one of the Macedonian strong points during the period of their dominance. The ruler cult is a point of reference for the explaining the relative political stability throughout the reign of Alexander the Great. The ruler cult can be understood as a sociopolitical construct that hybridized the notion of the ruler with that of a religious leader. The oriental influence of Alexander’s campaigns in Asia would inform the customs and practices of the divine ruler. The Macedonians’ ability to establish a presence in foreign territories made such a social construct a necessity in the task of centralizing of minds for political stability. Alexander’s rendition of the cult informed the formalized Ptolemaic ruler cult. The similarities and differences of the renditions help us to understand this political tool that Ptolemy I required in order to be deemed the true successor of Alexander the Great. The following will be an investigation into whether Ptolemy I is able to attain legitimacy, firstly as a successor to Alexander the Great, secondly as Pharaoh of Egypt.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“The surprising involvement of the outsider”: an examination of pessimism and Schopenhauerian ethics in J. M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians and Joseph Conrad’s Under Western Eyes
- Authors: Bosman, Sean James
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Coetzee, J. M., 1940- -- Waiting for the barbarians , Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924 -- Under Western eyes , Schopenhauer, Arthur, 1788-1860 , Ethics in literature , Outsiders in literature , Svenska akademien
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36105 , vital:24479
- Description: When the Swedish Academy lauded J. M. Coetzee for portraying situations in which “the distinction between right and wrong, while crystal clear, can be seen to serve no end” (“PR” para. 3), it presented an interpretation of his texts that considers ethics to be legislative and imperative (see Cartwright, NS 255). The Swedish Academy’s assertions are worth exploring, given that this highly respected body’s statements are indicative of the critical debates generated by Coetzee’s work. It identified a common metaphysical malaise between Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians and Conrad’s Under Western Eyes, and offered pessimism as a dubious explanation for this apparent lack of value in choosing between right and wrong action. This thesis takes exception to the logical inconsistencies of this opinion and offers a sustained and systematic counterargument with the aim of suggesting an alternative interpretation of the value of ethical action in the two works. My counterargument uses interpretive and methodological models that draw on the works of Gabriele Helms, cultural narratology and Bakhtinian theory in order to investigate the texts, using the philosophy of one of the foremost German pessimists, Arthur Schopenhauer, as an ideological point of reference. The affinity between Schopenhauerian philosophy and Eastern religions (particularly Brahmanism and Buddhism) suggests, contrary to the implications of the Swedish Academy’s statements, that there is value in ethical and moral choices in systems other than those that posit Judeo-Christian rewards and punishments in an afterlife, and that pessimism cannot legitimately be used to nullify this value. Rather, UWE and WB present an alternative set of ethics - one that is voluntary and virtue-based, valuing acts of compassion above all else. But basing my arguments on the novels’ textual affinities with Schopenhauerian ethics, I maintain that neither Conrad nor Coetzee offers strictly uncomplicated presentations of the value of compassion. Yet the sustained thematic and authorial considerations of compassionate deeds suggest that there is indeed value in deciding between morally right and morally wrong action - even if the ‘rewards’ are not guaranteed and may only - at best - be temporary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bosman, Sean James
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Coetzee, J. M., 1940- -- Waiting for the barbarians , Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924 -- Under Western eyes , Schopenhauer, Arthur, 1788-1860 , Ethics in literature , Outsiders in literature , Svenska akademien
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36105 , vital:24479
- Description: When the Swedish Academy lauded J. M. Coetzee for portraying situations in which “the distinction between right and wrong, while crystal clear, can be seen to serve no end” (“PR” para. 3), it presented an interpretation of his texts that considers ethics to be legislative and imperative (see Cartwright, NS 255). The Swedish Academy’s assertions are worth exploring, given that this highly respected body’s statements are indicative of the critical debates generated by Coetzee’s work. It identified a common metaphysical malaise between Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians and Conrad’s Under Western Eyes, and offered pessimism as a dubious explanation for this apparent lack of value in choosing between right and wrong action. This thesis takes exception to the logical inconsistencies of this opinion and offers a sustained and systematic counterargument with the aim of suggesting an alternative interpretation of the value of ethical action in the two works. My counterargument uses interpretive and methodological models that draw on the works of Gabriele Helms, cultural narratology and Bakhtinian theory in order to investigate the texts, using the philosophy of one of the foremost German pessimists, Arthur Schopenhauer, as an ideological point of reference. The affinity between Schopenhauerian philosophy and Eastern religions (particularly Brahmanism and Buddhism) suggests, contrary to the implications of the Swedish Academy’s statements, that there is value in ethical and moral choices in systems other than those that posit Judeo-Christian rewards and punishments in an afterlife, and that pessimism cannot legitimately be used to nullify this value. Rather, UWE and WB present an alternative set of ethics - one that is voluntary and virtue-based, valuing acts of compassion above all else. But basing my arguments on the novels’ textual affinities with Schopenhauerian ethics, I maintain that neither Conrad nor Coetzee offers strictly uncomplicated presentations of the value of compassion. Yet the sustained thematic and authorial considerations of compassionate deeds suggest that there is indeed value in deciding between morally right and morally wrong action - even if the ‘rewards’ are not guaranteed and may only - at best - be temporary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“Unexpected vicissitudes”: a discursive biography of Noni Jabavu
- Authors: Erskog, Mikaela Nhondo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Jabavu, Noni , Jabavu, Noni. The ochre people , Jabavu, Noni. Drawn in colour: African contrasts , Authors, South African , Woman authors, Black -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/46259 , vital:25594
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Erskog, Mikaela Nhondo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Jabavu, Noni , Jabavu, Noni. The ochre people , Jabavu, Noni. Drawn in colour: African contrasts , Authors, South African , Woman authors, Black -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/46259 , vital:25594
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“We’ve Tamed the World by Framing It”: Islam, ‘Justifiable Warfare,’ and situational responses to the war on terror in selected post-9/11 novels, films and television
- Authors: Sulter, Philip Eric John
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5544 , vital:20940
- Description: This thesis explores geopolitically diverse fictional responses to 9/11 and the War on Terror. Drawing on Judith Butler’s (2009) notion of the “frames of war,” Jacques Derrida’s (2005) conception of the ‘friend’/‘enemy’ binary, and Mahmood Mamdani’s (2004) critique of the ‘good’ Muslim, ‘bad’ Muslim dichotomy (delineated in 2001 by President George W. Bush) I examine how selected examples of contemporary literature, as well as a popular television series, depict the War on Terror; and analyse how these differently situated texts structure their respective depictions of Islam and Muslims. In the first chapter, I focus on how The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), a novel by the Pakistani author, Mohsin Hamid, problematises the ‘good’ Muslim, ‘bad’ Muslim binary, and argue that the protagonist’s decision to leave the United States in the wake of 9/11 represents an important political comment on global perceptions of American foreign policy and the human cost of millennial capitalism. Chapter 2 is an investigation of two novels: The Silent Minaret (2005) and I See You (2014), by the South African writer, Ishtiyaq Shukri. By situating his characters in a variety of geopolitical spaces and temporal realities, Shukri encourages the reader to discard the structuring frames of nation, race, and religion, and links the vulnerability and violence implicit in the War on Terror to a longer history of conquest, colonialism, and apartheid. In the process, Shukri illustrates the importance of understanding repressive local contexts as interwoven with global and historical power dynamics. Chapter 3 is a study of the popular American television series, Homeland (2011—), created by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, and focuses on the manner in which the Central Intelligence Agency’s “Overseas Contingency Operations” are portrayed by the show. I argue that Homeland initially problematises the ‘friend’/‘enemy’ binary, but subsequently collapses into a narrative in which these two polarities are construed by prevailing American attitudes towards Islam and the notion of the War on Terror as a necessity. This thesis concludes that texts that characterise the War on Terror as a global phenomenon, and situate it within a broad historical discourse, are able to subvert the singularity ascribed to the 9/11 attacks, as well as the epochal connotations of the ‘post-9/11 ’ literary genre. I argue that the novels I have chosen scrutinise the ways in which perceptions are framed by dominant forms of media, historiography, and political rhetoric, and not only offer unique insights on the repercussions of the global War on Terror but attempt to conceive of humanity in its totality, and therefore destabilise the ontological and reductive operation of the frame itself.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Sulter, Philip Eric John
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5544 , vital:20940
- Description: This thesis explores geopolitically diverse fictional responses to 9/11 and the War on Terror. Drawing on Judith Butler’s (2009) notion of the “frames of war,” Jacques Derrida’s (2005) conception of the ‘friend’/‘enemy’ binary, and Mahmood Mamdani’s (2004) critique of the ‘good’ Muslim, ‘bad’ Muslim dichotomy (delineated in 2001 by President George W. Bush) I examine how selected examples of contemporary literature, as well as a popular television series, depict the War on Terror; and analyse how these differently situated texts structure their respective depictions of Islam and Muslims. In the first chapter, I focus on how The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), a novel by the Pakistani author, Mohsin Hamid, problematises the ‘good’ Muslim, ‘bad’ Muslim binary, and argue that the protagonist’s decision to leave the United States in the wake of 9/11 represents an important political comment on global perceptions of American foreign policy and the human cost of millennial capitalism. Chapter 2 is an investigation of two novels: The Silent Minaret (2005) and I See You (2014), by the South African writer, Ishtiyaq Shukri. By situating his characters in a variety of geopolitical spaces and temporal realities, Shukri encourages the reader to discard the structuring frames of nation, race, and religion, and links the vulnerability and violence implicit in the War on Terror to a longer history of conquest, colonialism, and apartheid. In the process, Shukri illustrates the importance of understanding repressive local contexts as interwoven with global and historical power dynamics. Chapter 3 is a study of the popular American television series, Homeland (2011—), created by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, and focuses on the manner in which the Central Intelligence Agency’s “Overseas Contingency Operations” are portrayed by the show. I argue that Homeland initially problematises the ‘friend’/‘enemy’ binary, but subsequently collapses into a narrative in which these two polarities are construed by prevailing American attitudes towards Islam and the notion of the War on Terror as a necessity. This thesis concludes that texts that characterise the War on Terror as a global phenomenon, and situate it within a broad historical discourse, are able to subvert the singularity ascribed to the 9/11 attacks, as well as the epochal connotations of the ‘post-9/11 ’ literary genre. I argue that the novels I have chosen scrutinise the ways in which perceptions are framed by dominant forms of media, historiography, and political rhetoric, and not only offer unique insights on the repercussions of the global War on Terror but attempt to conceive of humanity in its totality, and therefore destabilise the ontological and reductive operation of the frame itself.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“You whore; you are so dirty, bitch”: the justification of and resistance to violence in the intimate relationships of female sex workers
- Authors: Bartlett, Elretha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Sex workers -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women, Black -- Abuse of -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sex workers -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women, Black -- Abuse of -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5082 , vital:20764
- Description: The objective of the study is to examine discourses of gender and dimensions of social difference implicated in female sex workers’ (FSWs) justifications of, and resistances to, intimate partner violence (IPV). Individual narrative interviews were conducted with FSWs (n=11) who were affiliated with the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT). The participants were mostly women of colour (n=10), with a low socio-economic status, and between 31 and 51 years of age. Intersectionality and features of Foucauldian discourse analysis, as described by Parker (1992), informed the analysis of the interview data. In personal interviews, participants interrogated aspects of their own and their partners’ lives that they viewed as playing a significant role in the aetiology and experience of IPV. They drew on a discourse of violent black masculinity, developmental discourses, and patriarchal ideology to justify and resist their partners’ violent behaviour. They also positioned themselves and their ‘spoiled’ identities as playing a role in the experience of violence. Participants pointed to the construction of sex work as ‘dirty work’ and the role that this played in legitimising the violence that was directed at them by intimate partners. In relation to this positioning and its consequences in terms of justifications for violence, my analysis highlights occasions in which gender ideology is re-appropriated for the purpose of challenging the legitimacy of these interpretative frames. While gender politics is central to my analytic observations, my analysis demonstrates how intersections with race and class shape the specificities of FSWs experiences of IPV. In doing so, this study aims to broaden current insights into the phenomenon of IPV, as it does not only focus on gender discrimination, but on the complex interaction between various systems of oppression.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bartlett, Elretha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Women -- Violence against -- South Africa , Sex workers -- Violence against -- South Africa , Women, Black -- Abuse of -- South Africa , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Sex workers -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women, Black -- Abuse of -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5082 , vital:20764
- Description: The objective of the study is to examine discourses of gender and dimensions of social difference implicated in female sex workers’ (FSWs) justifications of, and resistances to, intimate partner violence (IPV). Individual narrative interviews were conducted with FSWs (n=11) who were affiliated with the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT). The participants were mostly women of colour (n=10), with a low socio-economic status, and between 31 and 51 years of age. Intersectionality and features of Foucauldian discourse analysis, as described by Parker (1992), informed the analysis of the interview data. In personal interviews, participants interrogated aspects of their own and their partners’ lives that they viewed as playing a significant role in the aetiology and experience of IPV. They drew on a discourse of violent black masculinity, developmental discourses, and patriarchal ideology to justify and resist their partners’ violent behaviour. They also positioned themselves and their ‘spoiled’ identities as playing a role in the experience of violence. Participants pointed to the construction of sex work as ‘dirty work’ and the role that this played in legitimising the violence that was directed at them by intimate partners. In relation to this positioning and its consequences in terms of justifications for violence, my analysis highlights occasions in which gender ideology is re-appropriated for the purpose of challenging the legitimacy of these interpretative frames. While gender politics is central to my analytic observations, my analysis demonstrates how intersections with race and class shape the specificities of FSWs experiences of IPV. In doing so, this study aims to broaden current insights into the phenomenon of IPV, as it does not only focus on gender discrimination, but on the complex interaction between various systems of oppression.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017