The role of psychosocial factors in academic performance of first year psychology students at a historically white university
- Authors: Dlamini, Sipho Solomon
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students , Academic achievement , Undergraduates -- South Africa , Dropouts -- South Africa , College students -- South Africa , Psychology students -- South Africa , Minorities -- Education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5150 , vital:20781
- Description: The success rate of students in higher education has been a cause for concern in South Africa (Letseka & Maile, 2008; Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015). This has been particularly concerning for first-year students, where the rate of attrition is especially high (Letseka, Cosser, Breier, and Visser, 2010). A number of factors have been identified in past research as having an effect on academic performance, which influences attrition and graduation. These factors include age (Justice, & Dornan, 2001), gender (Buchmann, & DiPrete, 2006), socio-economic status which is confounded by race (Letseka & Breier, 2008), type of educational background (Spreen, & Vally, 2006), and whether a student is a domestic or international student (Li, Chen, Duanmu, 2009), social capital (Young & Strelitz, 2014), whether the student is a first language speaker of the language of instruction at the university (Snowball, and Boughey, 2012), student wellbeing (Quinn, & Duckworth, 2007), locus of control (Findley, & Cooper, 1983), and frequency of lecture attendance (van Wallbeek, 2004). The study was conducted at Rhodes University, a small historically white South African institution. For this study, academic performance was measured using the participant’s midyear exam results for an introductory psychology cause, a course that straddles faculties. Of the 690 students registered for the course, 361 (52%) completed an electronic survey that explored the various factors associated with academic performance. A hierarchical regression analysis indicates that pre-university factors (age, gender, race, nationality, language, type of school, and socio-economic status) were the only significant predictors of academic performance, contributing 11% of the effect. Race and nationality, when all the other factors were controlled for, were the only predictors of academic performance. The implications of these findings pose troubling questions of the institutional culture at the university.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Dlamini, Sipho Solomon
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students , Academic achievement , Undergraduates -- South Africa , Dropouts -- South Africa , College students -- South Africa , Psychology students -- South Africa , Minorities -- Education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5150 , vital:20781
- Description: The success rate of students in higher education has been a cause for concern in South Africa (Letseka & Maile, 2008; Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015). This has been particularly concerning for first-year students, where the rate of attrition is especially high (Letseka, Cosser, Breier, and Visser, 2010). A number of factors have been identified in past research as having an effect on academic performance, which influences attrition and graduation. These factors include age (Justice, & Dornan, 2001), gender (Buchmann, & DiPrete, 2006), socio-economic status which is confounded by race (Letseka & Breier, 2008), type of educational background (Spreen, & Vally, 2006), and whether a student is a domestic or international student (Li, Chen, Duanmu, 2009), social capital (Young & Strelitz, 2014), whether the student is a first language speaker of the language of instruction at the university (Snowball, and Boughey, 2012), student wellbeing (Quinn, & Duckworth, 2007), locus of control (Findley, & Cooper, 1983), and frequency of lecture attendance (van Wallbeek, 2004). The study was conducted at Rhodes University, a small historically white South African institution. For this study, academic performance was measured using the participant’s midyear exam results for an introductory psychology cause, a course that straddles faculties. Of the 690 students registered for the course, 361 (52%) completed an electronic survey that explored the various factors associated with academic performance. A hierarchical regression analysis indicates that pre-university factors (age, gender, race, nationality, language, type of school, and socio-economic status) were the only significant predictors of academic performance, contributing 11% of the effect. Race and nationality, when all the other factors were controlled for, were the only predictors of academic performance. The implications of these findings pose troubling questions of the institutional culture at the university.
- Full Text:
The tablet teacher: learning literacy through technology in Northern Sotho
- Authors: Shiohira, Kelly
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7034 , vital:21211
- Description: This study evaluates the efficacy of the Bridges to the Future Initiative - South Africa 2 (BFI) tablet program on early literacy skills, as well as the ways in which learner-operated technology interacts with a traditional South African education system. The BFI is a curriculum-aligned early literacy development intervention implemented through technology in grades 2 and 3 in Northern Sotho1 first-language schools. A mixed-methods research design was utilized, involving three components: a literacy skills test administered through a time sequence trial design; a curriculum-aligned uptake and retention test using a pre-post design; and a qualitative research component including classroom observation, participant interviews and prompted drawings by learners. Paired sample t-tests show significantly higher gains during the treatment period in fluency and comprehension, and significantly higher gains in the control period in decoding individual words. It is theorized that this is due to teacher emphasis on emergent literacy. When initial ability is taken into consideration, all ability levels gain more on average during the treatment period in at least one measured skill. Regression analysis determines that time spent on the BFI program is not the most significant determiner of gains in the intervention period. Qualitative analysis supports this finding and suggests that program use cannot replace quality classroom practice in advancing literacy skills. Learners performed better after a delayed retention period than in an initial uptake test, indicating high rates of retention of knowledge gained through program use and traditional instruction, but inconsistent access to literacy skills gained.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Shiohira, Kelly
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7034 , vital:21211
- Description: This study evaluates the efficacy of the Bridges to the Future Initiative - South Africa 2 (BFI) tablet program on early literacy skills, as well as the ways in which learner-operated technology interacts with a traditional South African education system. The BFI is a curriculum-aligned early literacy development intervention implemented through technology in grades 2 and 3 in Northern Sotho1 first-language schools. A mixed-methods research design was utilized, involving three components: a literacy skills test administered through a time sequence trial design; a curriculum-aligned uptake and retention test using a pre-post design; and a qualitative research component including classroom observation, participant interviews and prompted drawings by learners. Paired sample t-tests show significantly higher gains during the treatment period in fluency and comprehension, and significantly higher gains in the control period in decoding individual words. It is theorized that this is due to teacher emphasis on emergent literacy. When initial ability is taken into consideration, all ability levels gain more on average during the treatment period in at least one measured skill. Regression analysis determines that time spent on the BFI program is not the most significant determiner of gains in the intervention period. Qualitative analysis supports this finding and suggests that program use cannot replace quality classroom practice in advancing literacy skills. Learners performed better after a delayed retention period than in an initial uptake test, indicating high rates of retention of knowledge gained through program use and traditional instruction, but inconsistent access to literacy skills gained.
- Full Text:
Towards a holistic view of land and water management in the Gamtoos River catchment: applying a political geoecology approach
- Authors: Robb, Breanne Nicola
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7914 , vital:21323
- Description: The Eastern Cape of South Africa is characterised by water scarcity, constraint on usage, and inter-basin transfers. Water from the Gamtoos River catchment supplies water users both within the catchment and outside the catchment boundaries. This requires careful management of water and land to prevent overexploitation. However, management is complex as it is divided among various stakeholders with differing interests. Political geoecology is an approach that has the potential to provide holistic insight into the catchment’s water context. It was proposed to account for spatial patterns underlying interrelationships between resource distribution, human productive activity, and power relations by integrating the fields of political ecology and geoecology. This research was undertaken to further develop political geoecology as an approach for examining human-environment relations in geography through a case study of land and water management in the Gamtoos River catchment and its subcatchments. Distribution of resources and human influences were elucidated through generation of maps. To facilitate spatial analysis, the study area was delineated into catchment zones. Additionally, stakeholders were identified and classified at local, regional, national, and international levels. Power relations between stakeholders were investigated through qualitative content analysis of transcribed semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires that were administered to 34 research participants (selected through purposive and snowball sampling) directly involved in resource management in the catchment. Findings were spatially interpreted for each of the zones. The source zone was characterised by natural vegetation, steep, rugged topography, limited access ability, and power relations around restoration and conservation interests, which arose most significantly in the Baviaanskloof. The natural recapture zone was characterised by irrigated cultivation in areas of less harsh terrain in the upstream (Baviaanskloof and Kouga) sub-catchments. In the marginal Baviaanskloof, localised power relations over water distribution primarily arose. In the thriving commercial farming context of the Kouga, power relations included a local upstream-downstream legal conflict, competing levels of governance, issues with establishing water users’ associations (WUAs), and lack of adequate implementation of processes by government. Regional power relations are most prominent in the thriving commercial farming context of the overlapping regulated recapture and final use zones in the downstream Gamtoos sub-catchment. The reliance on upstream sub-catchments and tensions with the city of Port Elizabeth over water use are mediated through decisions made at the national level. Non-location specific power relations included indirect influence through energy, markets, and standards organisations, barriers in government preventing successful process implementation, and equity issues (particularly limiting the success of emerging farmers). These results illustrated that resource distribution, human productive activity, and power relations combine to produce unique characteristics in each of the zones in the Gamtoos catchment. The application of political geoecology in this case study situated the approach as useful for examining human- environment relations in geography.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Robb, Breanne Nicola
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7914 , vital:21323
- Description: The Eastern Cape of South Africa is characterised by water scarcity, constraint on usage, and inter-basin transfers. Water from the Gamtoos River catchment supplies water users both within the catchment and outside the catchment boundaries. This requires careful management of water and land to prevent overexploitation. However, management is complex as it is divided among various stakeholders with differing interests. Political geoecology is an approach that has the potential to provide holistic insight into the catchment’s water context. It was proposed to account for spatial patterns underlying interrelationships between resource distribution, human productive activity, and power relations by integrating the fields of political ecology and geoecology. This research was undertaken to further develop political geoecology as an approach for examining human-environment relations in geography through a case study of land and water management in the Gamtoos River catchment and its subcatchments. Distribution of resources and human influences were elucidated through generation of maps. To facilitate spatial analysis, the study area was delineated into catchment zones. Additionally, stakeholders were identified and classified at local, regional, national, and international levels. Power relations between stakeholders were investigated through qualitative content analysis of transcribed semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires that were administered to 34 research participants (selected through purposive and snowball sampling) directly involved in resource management in the catchment. Findings were spatially interpreted for each of the zones. The source zone was characterised by natural vegetation, steep, rugged topography, limited access ability, and power relations around restoration and conservation interests, which arose most significantly in the Baviaanskloof. The natural recapture zone was characterised by irrigated cultivation in areas of less harsh terrain in the upstream (Baviaanskloof and Kouga) sub-catchments. In the marginal Baviaanskloof, localised power relations over water distribution primarily arose. In the thriving commercial farming context of the Kouga, power relations included a local upstream-downstream legal conflict, competing levels of governance, issues with establishing water users’ associations (WUAs), and lack of adequate implementation of processes by government. Regional power relations are most prominent in the thriving commercial farming context of the overlapping regulated recapture and final use zones in the downstream Gamtoos sub-catchment. The reliance on upstream sub-catchments and tensions with the city of Port Elizabeth over water use are mediated through decisions made at the national level. Non-location specific power relations included indirect influence through energy, markets, and standards organisations, barriers in government preventing successful process implementation, and equity issues (particularly limiting the success of emerging farmers). These results illustrated that resource distribution, human productive activity, and power relations combine to produce unique characteristics in each of the zones in the Gamtoos catchment. The application of political geoecology in this case study situated the approach as useful for examining human- environment relations in geography.
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Understanding as an epistemic virtue : a value-driven non-factive account
- Authors: Rybko, Caitlin
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:21195 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6874
- Description: Understanding has been somewhat undervalued and underexplored in the current literature and often its value is tied into that of either truth or knowledge. This thesis aims to provide an account of understanding that defends its value as an epistemic good that is not contingent on either knowledge or truth. I will aim to construct an account that is value driven rather than nature driven as it seems that this is where the problem lies. In order to do this I will assess two current accounts of understanding and show that they cannot adequately explain the value that we give to understanding, nor do they explain how we understand.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rybko, Caitlin
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:21195 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6874
- Description: Understanding has been somewhat undervalued and underexplored in the current literature and often its value is tied into that of either truth or knowledge. This thesis aims to provide an account of understanding that defends its value as an epistemic good that is not contingent on either knowledge or truth. I will aim to construct an account that is value driven rather than nature driven as it seems that this is where the problem lies. In order to do this I will assess two current accounts of understanding and show that they cannot adequately explain the value that we give to understanding, nor do they explain how we understand.
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Understanding the policy-planning-implementation disjuncture: a case study of the Amathole District Municipality, Eastern Cape Province
- Authors: Mhlahlo, Andile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Amathole District Municipality (South Africa) -- Planning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168521 , vital:41591
- Description: The aim of this study is to investigate why well planned policies are not getting implemented as intended. The study was conducted in the offices of Amathole District Municipality (ADM) in the Eastern Cape Province, including the cooperative project in Alice as one of the projects that was coordinated by the ADM. Concerning the research design and methodology, a qualitative research design was used. The data collection process involved conducting unstructured interviews with the officers from the Amathole District Municipality office (the ADM officers / the municipality officers) and the members of cooperative projects (cooperatives/projects). Mainly, an ethnographic approach was used; it involved embracing participant observation in the ADM offices for approximately 6 months. As the researcher, I participated as one of the ADM’s officers in different activities, namely: attending meetings and one workshop, and accompanying the development officer while conducting an observation of various projects in Butterworth. The findings in the study disclose that the disjuncture between policy planning and implementation may be attributed to 4 factors, which are associated with the ADM office as the development agency for the Amathole region. These are: the incapability to respond to policy implementation complexities, failure to exploit policy implementation complexities as learning opportunities, the insufficient understanding of ‘process monitoring’ as a tool that could be integrated in projects management, as well as the execution of policy implementation in the absence of policy documents as a guide in implementation processes. Moreover, these factors are examined as being related to each other, and they will be discussed in detail in the course of the thesis.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mhlahlo, Andile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Amathole District Municipality (South Africa) -- Planning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168521 , vital:41591
- Description: The aim of this study is to investigate why well planned policies are not getting implemented as intended. The study was conducted in the offices of Amathole District Municipality (ADM) in the Eastern Cape Province, including the cooperative project in Alice as one of the projects that was coordinated by the ADM. Concerning the research design and methodology, a qualitative research design was used. The data collection process involved conducting unstructured interviews with the officers from the Amathole District Municipality office (the ADM officers / the municipality officers) and the members of cooperative projects (cooperatives/projects). Mainly, an ethnographic approach was used; it involved embracing participant observation in the ADM offices for approximately 6 months. As the researcher, I participated as one of the ADM’s officers in different activities, namely: attending meetings and one workshop, and accompanying the development officer while conducting an observation of various projects in Butterworth. The findings in the study disclose that the disjuncture between policy planning and implementation may be attributed to 4 factors, which are associated with the ADM office as the development agency for the Amathole region. These are: the incapability to respond to policy implementation complexities, failure to exploit policy implementation complexities as learning opportunities, the insufficient understanding of ‘process monitoring’ as a tool that could be integrated in projects management, as well as the execution of policy implementation in the absence of policy documents as a guide in implementation processes. Moreover, these factors are examined as being related to each other, and they will be discussed in detail in the course of the thesis.
- Full Text:
Understanding the policy-planning-implementation disjuncture: a case study of the Amathole District Municipality, Eastern Cape Province
- Authors: Mhlahlo, Andile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Amathole District Municipality (South Africa) -- Planning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4422 , vital:20668
- Description: The aim of this study is to investigate why well planned policies are not getting implemented as intended. The study was conducted in the offices of Amathole District Municipality (ADM) in the Eastern Cape Province, including the cooperative project in Alice as one of the projects that was coordinated by the ADM. Concerning the research design and methodology, a qualitative research design was used. The data collection process involved conducting unstructured interviews with the officers from the Amathole District Municipality office (the ADM officers / the municipality officers) and the members of cooperative projects (cooperatives/projects). Mainly, an ethnographic approach was used; it involved embracing participant observation in the ADM offices for approximately 6 months. As the researcher, I participated as one of the ADM’s officers in different activities, namely: attending meetings and one workshop, and accompanying the development officer while conducting an observation of various projects in Butterworth. The findings in the study disclose that the disjuncture between policy planning and implementation may be attributed to 4 factors, which are associated with the ADM office as the development agency for the Amathole region. These are: the incapability to respond to policy implementation complexities, failure to exploit policy implementation complexities as learning opportunities, the insufficient understanding of ‘process monitoring’ as a tool that could be integrated in projects management, as well as the execution of policy implementation in the absence of policy documents as a guide in implementation processes. Moreover, these factors are examined as being related to each other, and they will be discussed in detail in the course of the thesis.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mhlahlo, Andile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Political planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Amathole District Municipality (South Africa) -- Planning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4422 , vital:20668
- Description: The aim of this study is to investigate why well planned policies are not getting implemented as intended. The study was conducted in the offices of Amathole District Municipality (ADM) in the Eastern Cape Province, including the cooperative project in Alice as one of the projects that was coordinated by the ADM. Concerning the research design and methodology, a qualitative research design was used. The data collection process involved conducting unstructured interviews with the officers from the Amathole District Municipality office (the ADM officers / the municipality officers) and the members of cooperative projects (cooperatives/projects). Mainly, an ethnographic approach was used; it involved embracing participant observation in the ADM offices for approximately 6 months. As the researcher, I participated as one of the ADM’s officers in different activities, namely: attending meetings and one workshop, and accompanying the development officer while conducting an observation of various projects in Butterworth. The findings in the study disclose that the disjuncture between policy planning and implementation may be attributed to 4 factors, which are associated with the ADM office as the development agency for the Amathole region. These are: the incapability to respond to policy implementation complexities, failure to exploit policy implementation complexities as learning opportunities, the insufficient understanding of ‘process monitoring’ as a tool that could be integrated in projects management, as well as the execution of policy implementation in the absence of policy documents as a guide in implementation processes. Moreover, these factors are examined as being related to each other, and they will be discussed in detail in the course of the thesis.
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Unity and diversity, love and conflict: an exploration of the philosophy of life in C.S. Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy
- Authors: James, Michael William
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. Space trilogy , Social conflict in literature , Love in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7345 , vital:21245
- Description: The subject of this thesis is to explore the philosophy of life that informs C.S. Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength). These texts are “spiritual adventures” which exemplify Lewis’s phenomenology of spiritual progress - the movement from self-centredness to Other-centredness. I perform a close reading of the trilogy and attempt to understand the way(s) in which the three major thematic threads - Conflict, Love, and the relationship between Unity and Diversity - all contribute to the proposed phenomenology of the spirit. In the final chapter, I use Kierkegaard’s “stages in life’s way” (the aesthetic, ethical and religious) as a structural frame for understanding the trilogy’s dialectical movement. I also take the unusual step of codifying the fruits of my exploration into what I call ‘the Cosmic Manifesto,’ which serves as my creative engagement with the results of the philosophical exploration. My research shows that the philosophy of life is expressed through a tripartite spiritual journey. The traveller firstly visits the sphere of Mars, which entails developing clear perception and overcoming fear of the Other. Next, the traveller must pass through the sphere of Venus, where - through courageous action on behalf of the Other - s/he learns the nature of self-sacrificial love. Successfully traversing these two stages, the traveller then apprehends the spirit of Harmonia, the love-child of Mars and Venus. As a result, the ideal relation between the self and the Other - unity in diversity - is discovered. I conclude that the philosophy of life underlying the trilogy is both aesthetically, ethically and religiously rich, and is an insightful perspective on a “life worth living.”
- Full Text:
- Authors: James, Michael William
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. Space trilogy , Social conflict in literature , Love in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7345 , vital:21245
- Description: The subject of this thesis is to explore the philosophy of life that informs C.S. Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength). These texts are “spiritual adventures” which exemplify Lewis’s phenomenology of spiritual progress - the movement from self-centredness to Other-centredness. I perform a close reading of the trilogy and attempt to understand the way(s) in which the three major thematic threads - Conflict, Love, and the relationship between Unity and Diversity - all contribute to the proposed phenomenology of the spirit. In the final chapter, I use Kierkegaard’s “stages in life’s way” (the aesthetic, ethical and religious) as a structural frame for understanding the trilogy’s dialectical movement. I also take the unusual step of codifying the fruits of my exploration into what I call ‘the Cosmic Manifesto,’ which serves as my creative engagement with the results of the philosophical exploration. My research shows that the philosophy of life is expressed through a tripartite spiritual journey. The traveller firstly visits the sphere of Mars, which entails developing clear perception and overcoming fear of the Other. Next, the traveller must pass through the sphere of Venus, where - through courageous action on behalf of the Other - s/he learns the nature of self-sacrificial love. Successfully traversing these two stages, the traveller then apprehends the spirit of Harmonia, the love-child of Mars and Venus. As a result, the ideal relation between the self and the Other - unity in diversity - is discovered. I conclude that the philosophy of life underlying the trilogy is both aesthetically, ethically and religiously rich, and is an insightful perspective on a “life worth living.”
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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:
- 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.
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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:
- 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:
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:
- 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.
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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:
- 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.
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‘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:
- 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.
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“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:
- 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.
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“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:
- 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.
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“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:
- 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:
“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:
- 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.
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“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:
- 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.
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“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.
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- 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.
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“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.
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- 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.
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“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.
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- 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.
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