“Don’t be alarmed. It’s to do with sex.” Sherlock Holmes fanfiction and freedom of the imaginary domain
- Authors: van der Nest, Megan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fan fiction , Fans (Persons) -- Fiction , Holmes, Sherlock , Literature and the internet , Sex in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124208 , vital:35576
- Description: In this thesis I argue that, for the individual fan, reading and writing fanfiction texts, and engaging with the online fandom communities within which these texts are produced, is a potentially valuable experience. This is because the kind of social and creative spaces found in these communities allow for, and celebrate, the free imaginative play with romantic and sexual desires, identities, and relationships. To articulate the importance of these spaces, I draw on Drucilla Cornell’s concept of the imaginary domain, defined as the psychic space each individual uses to explore different sexual desires and personae, which exploration is necessary for the development of full personhood. I also argue that the growing visibility and influence of fandom in modern society means that it could serve as a mechanism for social change, particularly in the acceptance and support of multiple sexual identities and forms of love. Selected texts, drawn from the Sherlock fandom, are discussed as representative of the approach taken within fanfiction communities towards various aspects of sexuality and sexual ethics. This approach combines the enthusiastic exploration of sexual desires without shame or fear of judgment with an ongoing, critical interrogation of sexual ethics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: van der Nest, Megan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fan fiction , Fans (Persons) -- Fiction , Holmes, Sherlock , Literature and the internet , Sex in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124208 , vital:35576
- Description: In this thesis I argue that, for the individual fan, reading and writing fanfiction texts, and engaging with the online fandom communities within which these texts are produced, is a potentially valuable experience. This is because the kind of social and creative spaces found in these communities allow for, and celebrate, the free imaginative play with romantic and sexual desires, identities, and relationships. To articulate the importance of these spaces, I draw on Drucilla Cornell’s concept of the imaginary domain, defined as the psychic space each individual uses to explore different sexual desires and personae, which exploration is necessary for the development of full personhood. I also argue that the growing visibility and influence of fandom in modern society means that it could serve as a mechanism for social change, particularly in the acceptance and support of multiple sexual identities and forms of love. Selected texts, drawn from the Sherlock fandom, are discussed as representative of the approach taken within fanfiction communities towards various aspects of sexuality and sexual ethics. This approach combines the enthusiastic exploration of sexual desires without shame or fear of judgment with an ongoing, critical interrogation of sexual ethics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
“Don’t forget to be awesome”: the role of social learning as a component of belonging in virtual communities: a case study of the Youtube fan community “Nerdfighteria”
- Authors: Steenkamp, Elri Colleen
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Nerdfighteria (Online) , Social learning , Online social networks , Belonging (Social psychology) , Communities of practice , YouTube (Firm)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63753 , vital:28484
- Description: The growth of the Internet has allowed fans who consume various media products, to interact and convene with other who share similar interests in online fan communities. Historically the study of fans has focused on pleasure and enjoyment as the main motivating factors why individual fans join, stay and participate in fan communities. This study, however, suggests that learning as a component of belonging has been underestimated within contemporary fan studies. Close examination of the literature of fan studies and the social practices of online fan communities reveal that these spaces may serve as fertile spaces for learning and the sharing of knowledge. Daily learning occurs within multiple spheres, including personal interests, peer culture, and academic content; all elements which can be found within fan communities. This study used the social learning theory “communities of practice” (CoP) model developed by Wenger (1998) to understand of this element of learning and knowledge sharing that seems to take places within fan communities. This study explores learning as a component of belonging to online fan communities by using the fan community of the YouTube personalities Vlogbrothers, which has named itself Nerdfighteria, as a case study. Through a qualitative research approach, which includes participation observation methods and qualitative interviews, this thesis has analysed the fan community Nerdfighteria, and used two Nerdfighter fan Facebook groups, the global NERDFIGHTEIRIA and local Nerdfighters South Africa, as case studies to evaluate whether the elements of learning taking place within these spaces serves as a motivating factor for belonging and participation. The results of this research support the idea that learning plays a role within the fan community Nerdfighteria and thus that it functions as a CoP. Fans within the global NERDFIGHTERIA Facebook group use this fan space to discuss and debate content related to their media of choice; thereby learning and acquiring knowledge as a CoP. The Nerdfighters South Africa Facebook group, despite the learning potential, fails to function as a CoP because it is no longer functionally allows for shared learning. Online fan communities, this research found, have the potential to serve as functioning communities of practice (CoP) only if they embody the characteristics and practicalities consistent with a learning space. Overall these fan groups may be categorised as communities of interests but sub-sections within these communities fit the criteria of a community of practice due to the kind of learning that is taking place. This research supports an alternative, yet promising, approach to the study of fan online communities which prioritises learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Steenkamp, Elri Colleen
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Nerdfighteria (Online) , Social learning , Online social networks , Belonging (Social psychology) , Communities of practice , YouTube (Firm)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63753 , vital:28484
- Description: The growth of the Internet has allowed fans who consume various media products, to interact and convene with other who share similar interests in online fan communities. Historically the study of fans has focused on pleasure and enjoyment as the main motivating factors why individual fans join, stay and participate in fan communities. This study, however, suggests that learning as a component of belonging has been underestimated within contemporary fan studies. Close examination of the literature of fan studies and the social practices of online fan communities reveal that these spaces may serve as fertile spaces for learning and the sharing of knowledge. Daily learning occurs within multiple spheres, including personal interests, peer culture, and academic content; all elements which can be found within fan communities. This study used the social learning theory “communities of practice” (CoP) model developed by Wenger (1998) to understand of this element of learning and knowledge sharing that seems to take places within fan communities. This study explores learning as a component of belonging to online fan communities by using the fan community of the YouTube personalities Vlogbrothers, which has named itself Nerdfighteria, as a case study. Through a qualitative research approach, which includes participation observation methods and qualitative interviews, this thesis has analysed the fan community Nerdfighteria, and used two Nerdfighter fan Facebook groups, the global NERDFIGHTEIRIA and local Nerdfighters South Africa, as case studies to evaluate whether the elements of learning taking place within these spaces serves as a motivating factor for belonging and participation. The results of this research support the idea that learning plays a role within the fan community Nerdfighteria and thus that it functions as a CoP. Fans within the global NERDFIGHTERIA Facebook group use this fan space to discuss and debate content related to their media of choice; thereby learning and acquiring knowledge as a CoP. The Nerdfighters South Africa Facebook group, despite the learning potential, fails to function as a CoP because it is no longer functionally allows for shared learning. Online fan communities, this research found, have the potential to serve as functioning communities of practice (CoP) only if they embody the characteristics and practicalities consistent with a learning space. Overall these fan groups may be categorised as communities of interests but sub-sections within these communities fit the criteria of a community of practice due to the kind of learning that is taking place. This research supports an alternative, yet promising, approach to the study of fan online communities which prioritises learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
“Evaluating the ‘reality’ of South Africa’s first season of Big Brother among a select group of Rhodes University students”
- Authors: Pillay, Krivani
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7044 , vital:21212
- Description: This study analyses the reasons audiences watched South Africa’s first reality television series, Big Brother, and sets out to determine which discourse of realism attracted audiences to the programme. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the audience reception of South African reality television and to determine why audiences are attracted to this genre. The South African reality television programme, Big Brother, will be used as a case study to determine audience pleasures. This research also involves an examination of the ‘reality’ constructed by television producers and stakeholders. It will also investigate which discourse of realism viewers draw on when explaining the pleasures they obtain from watching Big Brother. What do audiences understand by the concept ‘reality television’? Is there awareness of the fact that the series is highly constructed? This study outlines how the producers represent Big Brother and how they sell the programme as a reality television programme. This study also determines the producers’ preferred meaning and sets out to reveal whether the audiences merely accept the producers’ preferred reading of Big Brother. Audience ratings in the form of TAMS show that Big Brother is popular (Telmar; 2001). Fiske (1987) writes that in order for a television show to be popular, it has to be read and enjoyed by a diverse audience. Popular texts are polysemic in that their meanings can be inflected differently by various social groups watching the programme. This study examines how audiences understand the notion of reality television and if audience pleasures come from the myth that reality television represents reality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Pillay, Krivani
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7044 , vital:21212
- Description: This study analyses the reasons audiences watched South Africa’s first reality television series, Big Brother, and sets out to determine which discourse of realism attracted audiences to the programme. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the audience reception of South African reality television and to determine why audiences are attracted to this genre. The South African reality television programme, Big Brother, will be used as a case study to determine audience pleasures. This research also involves an examination of the ‘reality’ constructed by television producers and stakeholders. It will also investigate which discourse of realism viewers draw on when explaining the pleasures they obtain from watching Big Brother. What do audiences understand by the concept ‘reality television’? Is there awareness of the fact that the series is highly constructed? This study outlines how the producers represent Big Brother and how they sell the programme as a reality television programme. This study also determines the producers’ preferred meaning and sets out to reveal whether the audiences merely accept the producers’ preferred reading of Big Brother. Audience ratings in the form of TAMS show that Big Brother is popular (Telmar; 2001). Fiske (1987) writes that in order for a television show to be popular, it has to be read and enjoyed by a diverse audience. Popular texts are polysemic in that their meanings can be inflected differently by various social groups watching the programme. This study examines how audiences understand the notion of reality television and if audience pleasures come from the myth that reality television represents reality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“Examining mentors’ practices in facilitating career development and providing psychosocial support to trainee teachers during teaching practice: A case study of one teachers’ college in Zimbabwe”
- Authors: Madzore, Rosemary
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mentoring in education Mentoring
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Education)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16621 , vital:40737
- Description: This study examined mentors’ practices in facilitating career development and providing psychosocial support to trainee teachers during teaching practice in one teachers’ college in Zimbabwe. The study employed the interpretive paradigm and used the qualitative approach and case study research design. Purposive sampling was used to select 27 participants who were perceived to be rich informants. These participants included 6 mentors, 15 trainee teachers, 5 college lecturers, 2 lecturers from the teaching practice office, 3 senior lecturers in charge and 1 university lecturer who is a link person between the college and the Department of Teacher Education. Data were obtained through face to face interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The study revealed that mentors performed both career development and psychosocial support roles during teaching practice, although the psychosocial roles were not very prominent. The interviewed mentors and trainee teachers also indicated that, although mentors knew how they should perform their duties, they encountered various challenges which hindered the effectiveness of the mentorship programme. The participants from the three schools revealed that mentors employed both good and bad strategies to provide career development and psychosocial support to trainee teachers during teaching practice. There was also evidence that colleges and schools use different mentoring mechanisms in facilitating career development and providing psychosocial support to trainee teachers during teaching practice.The data also revealed that there were challenges encountered in the use of these mentoring mechanisms. The participants also acknowledged that, despite these challenges, there were good practices and benefits of mentorship. However, there were gaps noted in the mentors’ practices in facilitating career development and providing psychosocial support. It emerged that there was lack of qualified school mentors resulting in inadequate provision of career development and psychosocial support. It was also established that financial constraints affected the effectiveness of mentorship. The study found that there were loopholes in mentor selection. Financial constraints also hindered capacity building programmes for mentors. The study established strategies that can be used to improve mentorship. Teachers’ colleges and schools should be adequately resourced to ensure effective mentorship during teaching practice. This could be done through adequate material resources, workshops, updates of schools and college activities supervision, review of mentorship iii programmes, incentives, orientation and induction for mentors. The study also recommended that the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development (MoHTESTD), the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE), colleges and schools consider a mentorship policy that fuses global and national trends. Resources should also be mobilised by all the stakeholders involved who include the MoHTEST, MoPSE, teacher training colleges and secondary schools, for effective mentorship.The study recommended considering alternative mentorship models with regard to the provision of career development and psychosocial support to trainee teachers from secondary teacher-training colleges in Zimbabwe.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Madzore, Rosemary
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mentoring in education Mentoring
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Education)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16621 , vital:40737
- Description: This study examined mentors’ practices in facilitating career development and providing psychosocial support to trainee teachers during teaching practice in one teachers’ college in Zimbabwe. The study employed the interpretive paradigm and used the qualitative approach and case study research design. Purposive sampling was used to select 27 participants who were perceived to be rich informants. These participants included 6 mentors, 15 trainee teachers, 5 college lecturers, 2 lecturers from the teaching practice office, 3 senior lecturers in charge and 1 university lecturer who is a link person between the college and the Department of Teacher Education. Data were obtained through face to face interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The study revealed that mentors performed both career development and psychosocial support roles during teaching practice, although the psychosocial roles were not very prominent. The interviewed mentors and trainee teachers also indicated that, although mentors knew how they should perform their duties, they encountered various challenges which hindered the effectiveness of the mentorship programme. The participants from the three schools revealed that mentors employed both good and bad strategies to provide career development and psychosocial support to trainee teachers during teaching practice. There was also evidence that colleges and schools use different mentoring mechanisms in facilitating career development and providing psychosocial support to trainee teachers during teaching practice.The data also revealed that there were challenges encountered in the use of these mentoring mechanisms. The participants also acknowledged that, despite these challenges, there were good practices and benefits of mentorship. However, there were gaps noted in the mentors’ practices in facilitating career development and providing psychosocial support. It emerged that there was lack of qualified school mentors resulting in inadequate provision of career development and psychosocial support. It was also established that financial constraints affected the effectiveness of mentorship. The study found that there were loopholes in mentor selection. Financial constraints also hindered capacity building programmes for mentors. The study established strategies that can be used to improve mentorship. Teachers’ colleges and schools should be adequately resourced to ensure effective mentorship during teaching practice. This could be done through adequate material resources, workshops, updates of schools and college activities supervision, review of mentorship iii programmes, incentives, orientation and induction for mentors. The study also recommended that the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development (MoHTESTD), the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE), colleges and schools consider a mentorship policy that fuses global and national trends. Resources should also be mobilised by all the stakeholders involved who include the MoHTEST, MoPSE, teacher training colleges and secondary schools, for effective mentorship.The study recommended considering alternative mentorship models with regard to the provision of career development and psychosocial support to trainee teachers from secondary teacher-training colleges in Zimbabwe.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
“Exploring barriers to citizen participation in development: a case study of a participatory broadcasting project in rural Malawi”
- Authors: Mtelera, Prince
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Political participation -- Malawi , Malawi -- Citizen participation , Citizen journalism -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3539 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016360
- Description: In Malawi, as in many newly-democratic countries in the developing world, donor organisations and NGOs have embarked on projects aimed at making reforms in governance which have generated a profusion of new spaces for citizen engagement. This thesis critically examines one such project in Malawi against the backdrop of a democratic nation emerging from a background of dictatorial regime. For thirty years, until 1994, Malawi was under the one-party regime of Kamuzu Banda which was characterised by dictatorial tendencies, in which participatory processes were non-existent and development was defined in terms of client-patronage relationships between the state and society (Cammack, 2004: 17). In 1994, however, Malawi embraced a multiparty system of government, paving way to various political and social reforms, which adopted participatory approaches to development. Drawing on a number of literatures, this thesis seeks to historicize the relationship which developed during the pre democracy era between the state and society in Malawi to underscore its influence on the current dispositions displayed by both bureaucrats and citizens as they engage in participatory decision making processes. This is achieved through a critical realist case study of a participatory radio project in Malawi called Ndizathuzomwe which works through a network of community-based radio production structures popularly known as ‘Radio Listening Clubs’(RLCs) where communities are mobilised at village level to first identify and define development problems through consensus and then secondly engage state bureaucrats, politicians, and members of other relevant service delivery organisations in making decisions aimed at resolving community-identified development problems (Chijere-Chirwa et al, 2000). Unlike during the pre-democracy era, there is now a shift in the discourse of participation in development, from the participation of ‘beneficiaries’ in projects, to the more political and rights-based definitions of participation by citizens who are the ‘makers and shapers’ of their own development (Cornwall and Gaventa, 2000). The findings of this thesis, however point to the fact that, there remains a gap between normative expectations and empirical realities in that spaces for participation are not neutral, but are themselves shaped by power relations (Cornwall, 2002). A number of preconditions exist for entry into participatory institutions as such entry of certain interests and actors into public spaces is privileged over others through a prevailing mobilisation of bias or rules of the game (Lukes, 1974: I)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mtelera, Prince
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Political participation -- Malawi , Malawi -- Citizen participation , Citizen journalism -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3539 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016360
- Description: In Malawi, as in many newly-democratic countries in the developing world, donor organisations and NGOs have embarked on projects aimed at making reforms in governance which have generated a profusion of new spaces for citizen engagement. This thesis critically examines one such project in Malawi against the backdrop of a democratic nation emerging from a background of dictatorial regime. For thirty years, until 1994, Malawi was under the one-party regime of Kamuzu Banda which was characterised by dictatorial tendencies, in which participatory processes were non-existent and development was defined in terms of client-patronage relationships between the state and society (Cammack, 2004: 17). In 1994, however, Malawi embraced a multiparty system of government, paving way to various political and social reforms, which adopted participatory approaches to development. Drawing on a number of literatures, this thesis seeks to historicize the relationship which developed during the pre democracy era between the state and society in Malawi to underscore its influence on the current dispositions displayed by both bureaucrats and citizens as they engage in participatory decision making processes. This is achieved through a critical realist case study of a participatory radio project in Malawi called Ndizathuzomwe which works through a network of community-based radio production structures popularly known as ‘Radio Listening Clubs’(RLCs) where communities are mobilised at village level to first identify and define development problems through consensus and then secondly engage state bureaucrats, politicians, and members of other relevant service delivery organisations in making decisions aimed at resolving community-identified development problems (Chijere-Chirwa et al, 2000). Unlike during the pre-democracy era, there is now a shift in the discourse of participation in development, from the participation of ‘beneficiaries’ in projects, to the more political and rights-based definitions of participation by citizens who are the ‘makers and shapers’ of their own development (Cornwall and Gaventa, 2000). The findings of this thesis, however point to the fact that, there remains a gap between normative expectations and empirical realities in that spaces for participation are not neutral, but are themselves shaped by power relations (Cornwall, 2002). A number of preconditions exist for entry into participatory institutions as such entry of certain interests and actors into public spaces is privileged over others through a prevailing mobilisation of bias or rules of the game (Lukes, 1974: I)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
“Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda”: reciting performative memories at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument
- Authors: Mama, Luthando Vukile James
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Memorialization , Collective memory in art , Memorials in art , Memorials -- South Africa -- Dimbaza , Imperialism in art , Ntaba kaNdoda Monument (Dimbaza, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63866 , vital:28499
- Description: “Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda”: Reciting Performative Memories at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument serves as a theoretical examination of the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument as a commemorative marker. My mini-thesis unpacks the notions of memory and performative memorialisation at a nationalist memorial in the former Ciskei by examining the concepts of place, memory and memorialisation, which are theoretically integral in my professional practice. This research initiates an investigation into the effects on memory in a situation where the construction of the Monument disrupted an efficacious memorialisation by the communities of Ntaba kaNdoda. In my accompanying MFA exhibition Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda, I explore notions of place, memory and memorialisation through installations of a variety of photographic processes that are based on what I call ‘de-monumental’ and performative monuments (Widrich2014). The written component of my MFA submission relates directly to my professional art practice, developing and situating it within a relevant context. In my mini-thesis, I consider photographers working with notions of place, memory and memorialisation. Lebohang Kganye and Nassim Rouchiche’s works retrace and recall past memory in the present, while David Goldblatt and Cedric Nunn, who have photographed the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument, point the viewer to the values and histories of the communities most affected by colonialism and apartheid. These photographers’ works operate as mnemonic devices that seek to translate a lived experience at a particular place. I use Widrich’s (2009; 2014) conception of “performative monuments”, Lippard’s (1997) “sense of place” and Nora’s (1989) “lieu[x] de mémoire” and “milieux de mémoire” in approaching my professional art practice and my research into the Ntaba kaNdoda memorial. Using these entwining nodes of theories in formulating what I term ‘demonumentalisation’ in my photography practice at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument, my photography functions as both performative memorialisation and de-monumentalisation. Remembrance, using photography as a vehicle to represent this notion at Ntaba kaNdoda, transcends the materiality of the Monument. My exhibition, in conjunction with this mini-thesis, therefore reframes and reconfigures theNtaba kaNdoda Monument as a multiplex memory place.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mama, Luthando Vukile James
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Memorialization , Collective memory in art , Memorials in art , Memorials -- South Africa -- Dimbaza , Imperialism in art , Ntaba kaNdoda Monument (Dimbaza, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63866 , vital:28499
- Description: “Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda”: Reciting Performative Memories at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument serves as a theoretical examination of the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument as a commemorative marker. My mini-thesis unpacks the notions of memory and performative memorialisation at a nationalist memorial in the former Ciskei by examining the concepts of place, memory and memorialisation, which are theoretically integral in my professional practice. This research initiates an investigation into the effects on memory in a situation where the construction of the Monument disrupted an efficacious memorialisation by the communities of Ntaba kaNdoda. In my accompanying MFA exhibition Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda, I explore notions of place, memory and memorialisation through installations of a variety of photographic processes that are based on what I call ‘de-monumental’ and performative monuments (Widrich2014). The written component of my MFA submission relates directly to my professional art practice, developing and situating it within a relevant context. In my mini-thesis, I consider photographers working with notions of place, memory and memorialisation. Lebohang Kganye and Nassim Rouchiche’s works retrace and recall past memory in the present, while David Goldblatt and Cedric Nunn, who have photographed the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument, point the viewer to the values and histories of the communities most affected by colonialism and apartheid. These photographers’ works operate as mnemonic devices that seek to translate a lived experience at a particular place. I use Widrich’s (2009; 2014) conception of “performative monuments”, Lippard’s (1997) “sense of place” and Nora’s (1989) “lieu[x] de mémoire” and “milieux de mémoire” in approaching my professional art practice and my research into the Ntaba kaNdoda memorial. Using these entwining nodes of theories in formulating what I term ‘demonumentalisation’ in my photography practice at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument, my photography functions as both performative memorialisation and de-monumentalisation. Remembrance, using photography as a vehicle to represent this notion at Ntaba kaNdoda, transcends the materiality of the Monument. My exhibition, in conjunction with this mini-thesis, therefore reframes and reconfigures theNtaba kaNdoda Monument as a multiplex memory place.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
“How can you build a nation without telling its stories?”: Transgressive, Testimonial Fiction in Post-TRC South Africa
- Authors: Collett, Keenan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) , Violence in literature , South Africa -- In literature , AIDS (Disease) in literature , Duiker, K Sello -- Thirteen cents , Moele, Kgebetli -- The book of the dead , Staggie, Jason -- Risk
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147092 , vital:38592
- Description: Transgressive fiction refers to works of literature that are fundamentally concerned with the provocation of their reader. This effect is typically accomplished by authors crafting novels that feature upsetting content: extreme violence, taboo sex acts, and drug abuse – often narrated by protagonists who are either the recipients or enactors of violence and trauma. Given their rootedness in familiar social settings, these works of fiction manage to relay critiques of their particular societies. Over the past three decades, transgressive fiction has amassed a small critical reception with focus predominantly directed toward texts from the United States and the United Kingdom. In an attempt to build on existing scholarship, this thesis explores recent and disturbing works of South African literature in order to gauge whether the markers of transgressive fiction are as easily applicable in a new national setting. K. Sello Duiker’s Thirteen Cents, Kgebetli Moele’s The Book of the Dead and Jason Staggie’s Risk form the basis of the discussion. Each novel exposes a concern with social developments within a ‘post-apartheid’ South Africa, and codes its respective critique in narratives concerned with the violation of consent, as depicted in profoundly unsettling ways. The spread of publication dates across the three novels also allows for an examination of morphing social critique from 2000-2013.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Collett, Keenan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) , Violence in literature , South Africa -- In literature , AIDS (Disease) in literature , Duiker, K Sello -- Thirteen cents , Moele, Kgebetli -- The book of the dead , Staggie, Jason -- Risk
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147092 , vital:38592
- Description: Transgressive fiction refers to works of literature that are fundamentally concerned with the provocation of their reader. This effect is typically accomplished by authors crafting novels that feature upsetting content: extreme violence, taboo sex acts, and drug abuse – often narrated by protagonists who are either the recipients or enactors of violence and trauma. Given their rootedness in familiar social settings, these works of fiction manage to relay critiques of their particular societies. Over the past three decades, transgressive fiction has amassed a small critical reception with focus predominantly directed toward texts from the United States and the United Kingdom. In an attempt to build on existing scholarship, this thesis explores recent and disturbing works of South African literature in order to gauge whether the markers of transgressive fiction are as easily applicable in a new national setting. K. Sello Duiker’s Thirteen Cents, Kgebetli Moele’s The Book of the Dead and Jason Staggie’s Risk form the basis of the discussion. Each novel exposes a concern with social developments within a ‘post-apartheid’ South Africa, and codes its respective critique in narratives concerned with the violation of consent, as depicted in profoundly unsettling ways. The spread of publication dates across the three novels also allows for an examination of morphing social critique from 2000-2013.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
“I am 22 Million”: reading Winnie Madikizela as the intellectual face of anti-apartheid popular struggle
- Authors: Valela, Ntombizikhona
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/40802 , vital:25029
- Description: The purpose of this research is to read Winnie Madikizela Mandela as an intellectual. Through this research I want to examine whether Madikizela Mandela emerges from an intellectual tradition influenced by the political and intellectual discourse that existed at the time within the country such as the ideology of the African National Congress (not to say that this was without external influence but I would argue that the ideology of the ANC evolved to fit the domestic politics of the day), the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party and Black Consciousness. Through trying to understand Madikizela Mandela’s intellectual journey this thesis will explore the larger question of intellectual production. Lewis Gordon argues that it is often presumed that theory is north and experience is south.1 As a result black people are often excluded from being possible intellectuals and shapers of intellectual discourse but are rather relegated to the categories of ‘actors’ rather than thinkers. The point of departure of my research will be through Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s image as it provides a clue into the type of intellectual influences and ideologies that she subscribed to. This flows from Charles R. Garoian and Yvonne M. Gaudelius’ “The Spectacle of Visual Culture” where they argue for images teaching us what to see and think.2 Winnie Madikizela Mandela was a frequently photographed person and it is through these images that we witness an evolution in the way she presented herself which, as this research argues, is influenced by certain intellectual traditions that guide the black liberation struggle. In What’s My Name: Black Vernacular Intellectuals, Grant Farred explores the role of clothing in the conveying of intellectualism influenced by a certain ideology. Therefore I argue that Winnie Madikizela’s iconicity is more than conventional standards of beauty, or her link to her husband Nelson Mandela. It is rather a tool that she uses to convey an ideology and this complements that which she says when she chooses to speak.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Valela, Ntombizikhona
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/40802 , vital:25029
- Description: The purpose of this research is to read Winnie Madikizela Mandela as an intellectual. Through this research I want to examine whether Madikizela Mandela emerges from an intellectual tradition influenced by the political and intellectual discourse that existed at the time within the country such as the ideology of the African National Congress (not to say that this was without external influence but I would argue that the ideology of the ANC evolved to fit the domestic politics of the day), the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party and Black Consciousness. Through trying to understand Madikizela Mandela’s intellectual journey this thesis will explore the larger question of intellectual production. Lewis Gordon argues that it is often presumed that theory is north and experience is south.1 As a result black people are often excluded from being possible intellectuals and shapers of intellectual discourse but are rather relegated to the categories of ‘actors’ rather than thinkers. The point of departure of my research will be through Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s image as it provides a clue into the type of intellectual influences and ideologies that she subscribed to. This flows from Charles R. Garoian and Yvonne M. Gaudelius’ “The Spectacle of Visual Culture” where they argue for images teaching us what to see and think.2 Winnie Madikizela Mandela was a frequently photographed person and it is through these images that we witness an evolution in the way she presented herself which, as this research argues, is influenced by certain intellectual traditions that guide the black liberation struggle. In What’s My Name: Black Vernacular Intellectuals, Grant Farred explores the role of clothing in the conveying of intellectualism influenced by a certain ideology. Therefore I argue that Winnie Madikizela’s iconicity is more than conventional standards of beauty, or her link to her husband Nelson Mandela. It is rather a tool that she uses to convey an ideology and this complements that which she says when she chooses to speak.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“I just want to live”: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of separation abuse in South African heterosexual relationships
- Authors: Johnson, Samantha-Sue
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Phenomenological psychology , Family violence -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Intimate partner violence -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164626 , vital:41149
- Description: A key strategy for ending IPV, would be to make it possible for potential victims to safely leave their abusers. However, the abuse may persist, often with devastating consequences. The current literature on separation a buse primarily makes use of quantitative research to explain the phenomenon as is visible in the large amounts of quantitative research that was cit ed throughout this research project. Therefore, the aim of this research was to qualitatively explore the lived experiences of South African women who had experienced separation a buse . The Power and Control Wheel, located within Feminis t Theory, was used as the theoretical framework as it offers an illustrative understanding of the types of abuse that exists within a relationship and was adjusted to suit post - separation a buse . The research was conducted in Makhanda (formerly known as Grah amstown ) , Eastern Cape with the assistance of the local Families South Africa (FAMSA) office. Four participants were interviewed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach. IPA was chosen as it involves a detailed exploration of how p articipants make sense of their personal and social worlds as well as determining the meanings that participants relate to their personal experiences and events in their lives. Data was collected through semi - structured interviews which were conducted by t he researcher with the assistance of a translator for the participants who preferred to speak Isi - Xhosa. Each participant initially participated in a screening interview conducted by a FAMSA staff member before being interviewed to minimize harm that could be caused through speaking about their experience before they were ready. The interviews were analysed through the use of IPA techniques where themes were extracted from the data. Five superordinate themes emerged from the analysis, namely “types of abuse experienced post-separation”, “children and abusive relationships”, “drinking and substance SEPARATION ABUSE IN SOUTH AFRICA ii abuse”, “protection order” and “hope for the future”. The findings revealed the ways in which the abusers continued their abuse during the separation period, the participant’s experiences of separation abuse as well as the experiences they believed their children had throughout the process. Two of the participant’s also revealed they feared for their lives, which resulted in them applying for protection orders. Despite the years of abuse suffered at the hands of their ex -partners, all four participants remained hopeful that they could become independent enough to provide for their children and themselves. While there have been South African studies which look at stalking victimization, the IPV female mortality rate and power and powerlessness experienced by women leaving abusive relationships, there is currently no published study in South Africa that explicitly focuses on separation abuse in heterosexual relationships in South Africa. Therefore, it was be neficial to conduct this research as the need exists to conduct research that not only focuses on the homicide rates of females at the hands of their partners but also the types of separation abuse that exists.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Johnson, Samantha-Sue
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Phenomenological psychology , Family violence -- South Africa -- Case studies , Women -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Case studies , Intimate partner violence -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164626 , vital:41149
- Description: A key strategy for ending IPV, would be to make it possible for potential victims to safely leave their abusers. However, the abuse may persist, often with devastating consequences. The current literature on separation a buse primarily makes use of quantitative research to explain the phenomenon as is visible in the large amounts of quantitative research that was cit ed throughout this research project. Therefore, the aim of this research was to qualitatively explore the lived experiences of South African women who had experienced separation a buse . The Power and Control Wheel, located within Feminis t Theory, was used as the theoretical framework as it offers an illustrative understanding of the types of abuse that exists within a relationship and was adjusted to suit post - separation a buse . The research was conducted in Makhanda (formerly known as Grah amstown ) , Eastern Cape with the assistance of the local Families South Africa (FAMSA) office. Four participants were interviewed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach. IPA was chosen as it involves a detailed exploration of how p articipants make sense of their personal and social worlds as well as determining the meanings that participants relate to their personal experiences and events in their lives. Data was collected through semi - structured interviews which were conducted by t he researcher with the assistance of a translator for the participants who preferred to speak Isi - Xhosa. Each participant initially participated in a screening interview conducted by a FAMSA staff member before being interviewed to minimize harm that could be caused through speaking about their experience before they were ready. The interviews were analysed through the use of IPA techniques where themes were extracted from the data. Five superordinate themes emerged from the analysis, namely “types of abuse experienced post-separation”, “children and abusive relationships”, “drinking and substance SEPARATION ABUSE IN SOUTH AFRICA ii abuse”, “protection order” and “hope for the future”. The findings revealed the ways in which the abusers continued their abuse during the separation period, the participant’s experiences of separation abuse as well as the experiences they believed their children had throughout the process. Two of the participant’s also revealed they feared for their lives, which resulted in them applying for protection orders. Despite the years of abuse suffered at the hands of their ex -partners, all four participants remained hopeful that they could become independent enough to provide for their children and themselves. While there have been South African studies which look at stalking victimization, the IPV female mortality rate and power and powerlessness experienced by women leaving abusive relationships, there is currently no published study in South Africa that explicitly focuses on separation abuse in heterosexual relationships in South Africa. Therefore, it was be neficial to conduct this research as the need exists to conduct research that not only focuses on the homicide rates of females at the hands of their partners but also the types of separation abuse that exists.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
“I won’t say I feel happy or sad”: experiences of siblings of young disabled people in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances
- Authors: Foote, Tamlyn Lou-Ann
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa , Mentally ill children -- Care -- South Africa , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psycnology , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7774 , vital:21296
- Description: The impact of having a disabled sibling has been well researched in first world countries, revealing complex and varied results. However, in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts, where disability has been found to be more prevalent, and where arguably, the functioning and quality of life of a disabled person is more likely to be affected by an impairment, very little is known about how siblings of young disabled people are affected. In response, this qualitative study explores the experiences of five, isiXhosa speaking adolescents, living in Joza Township, Grahamstown, who have a brother or sister with an intellectual, physical or developmental impairment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and an interpretative phenomenological analytic approach was utilized to ascertain how the participants make sense of their worlds in relation to their sibling’s disability. Specifically, this research aimed at developing an understanding of how the participants experienced their family climate, self-concept, interpersonal relations and daily living in relation to their disabled sibling. The results of this study reveal a prevailing sense of incongruity experienced by the participants, although there are variances between their experiences. While family climate was largely experienced as warm, the participants were ambivalent about their relationship with their mothers who are experienced more as providers than nurturers. The participants described oscillating between feelings of protectiveness and alliance, and responsibility and sacrifice toward their sibling. A high incidence of incongruity pertaining to their sense of self was noted; this was described as impacting on their interpersonal relations where an underlying sense of negative public perception in relation to the disability is perceived. Although the participants expressed feeling supported within their homes, it was evident that they experienced little support from peers or the community at large. Four out of the five participants did not report experiencing a sense of deprivation, despite their socio-economic contexts and described a day-to-day existence that allows for their needs to be met. This included adequate time during their day to pursue personal interests as opposed to their time being spent taking care of their disabled sibling or assisting their parents, who may be overburdened due to the added care and responsibilities a disabled child might require. Furthermore, it is suggested that the incongruity experienced by the participants could be the result of various factors including age, gender, birth order and the nature of their sibling’s impairment. On the basis of the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the experiences of siblings of young, disabled people living in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts cannot necessarily be described as being positive or negative, but are highly nuanced. In addition, the participants to some extent experience disability by association and are lacking in adequate support and opportunities to discuss their unique challenges. These insights serve to better inform disability studies in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances. These findings are in accordance with earlier research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Foote, Tamlyn Lou-Ann
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa , Mentally ill children -- Care -- South Africa , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psycnology , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7774 , vital:21296
- Description: The impact of having a disabled sibling has been well researched in first world countries, revealing complex and varied results. However, in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts, where disability has been found to be more prevalent, and where arguably, the functioning and quality of life of a disabled person is more likely to be affected by an impairment, very little is known about how siblings of young disabled people are affected. In response, this qualitative study explores the experiences of five, isiXhosa speaking adolescents, living in Joza Township, Grahamstown, who have a brother or sister with an intellectual, physical or developmental impairment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and an interpretative phenomenological analytic approach was utilized to ascertain how the participants make sense of their worlds in relation to their sibling’s disability. Specifically, this research aimed at developing an understanding of how the participants experienced their family climate, self-concept, interpersonal relations and daily living in relation to their disabled sibling. The results of this study reveal a prevailing sense of incongruity experienced by the participants, although there are variances between their experiences. While family climate was largely experienced as warm, the participants were ambivalent about their relationship with their mothers who are experienced more as providers than nurturers. The participants described oscillating between feelings of protectiveness and alliance, and responsibility and sacrifice toward their sibling. A high incidence of incongruity pertaining to their sense of self was noted; this was described as impacting on their interpersonal relations where an underlying sense of negative public perception in relation to the disability is perceived. Although the participants expressed feeling supported within their homes, it was evident that they experienced little support from peers or the community at large. Four out of the five participants did not report experiencing a sense of deprivation, despite their socio-economic contexts and described a day-to-day existence that allows for their needs to be met. This included adequate time during their day to pursue personal interests as opposed to their time being spent taking care of their disabled sibling or assisting their parents, who may be overburdened due to the added care and responsibilities a disabled child might require. Furthermore, it is suggested that the incongruity experienced by the participants could be the result of various factors including age, gender, birth order and the nature of their sibling’s impairment. On the basis of the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the experiences of siblings of young, disabled people living in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts cannot necessarily be described as being positive or negative, but are highly nuanced. In addition, the participants to some extent experience disability by association and are lacking in adequate support and opportunities to discuss their unique challenges. These insights serve to better inform disability studies in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances. These findings are in accordance with earlier research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“Investigating the negative impact of emotional labour on full-time permanent academic staff in the Social Sciences Departments at Rhodes University”
- Authors: Mumba, Lomadinga
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: College teachers -- Social conditions -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College teachers -- Psychology -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College teachers -- Mental health-- South Africa -- Makhanda , College teachers -- Job stress -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students -- Attitudes , Universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Sociological aspects , Discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Sex discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Age discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rhodes University. Department of Sociology , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148740 , vital:38769
- Description: In investigating the prevalence of emotional labour among academics within the student/ academic staff relationship, this study expands from Arlie Hochschild’s theoretical orientation of ‘emotional labour’. Through this lens, this study documents the manner in which the adoption of neoliberal ideologies by higher education institutions have transformed it into the service industry and redefined students as consumers and academic staff as service providers. Drawing from previous research in academia, the central argument of the study is that the university system is now an increasingly corporatized and marketized institution that creates an expectation for academic staff to perform emotional labour. However, there is limited literature that looks at emotional labour in academia and more especially within the South African context. Therefore, the focus of this research is how academic work, particularly with students, has shifted to emotion work in an effort to provide quality services. The study was conducted at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape Province with academic staff who work in the social sciences department. The research methodology employed is qualitative and evidence was derived from semi structured interviews to establish the negative consequences of emotional labour on the wellbeing of academic staff. Data was analysed and thematically presented in line with the research objectives. The research finds evidence of increased emotional labour in academic staff, it argues that this is largely as a result of the effects of corporatization which included intensified workloads, entitled students, increasing pastoral care and discontentment from the transformations. It was revealed that emotional labour was differentially experienced for females, younger academics and those in lower/ initial positions in academia, it explored the gendered expectations and concluded that based on certain organizational and personal characteristics, emotion management differed in academics. Lastly, discussions regarding implications and recommendations for further research were made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Mumba, Lomadinga
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: College teachers -- Social conditions -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College teachers -- Psychology -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College teachers -- Mental health-- South Africa -- Makhanda , College teachers -- Job stress -- South Africa -- Makhanda , College students -- Attitudes , Universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Sociological aspects , Discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Sex discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Age discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rhodes University. Department of Sociology , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148740 , vital:38769
- Description: In investigating the prevalence of emotional labour among academics within the student/ academic staff relationship, this study expands from Arlie Hochschild’s theoretical orientation of ‘emotional labour’. Through this lens, this study documents the manner in which the adoption of neoliberal ideologies by higher education institutions have transformed it into the service industry and redefined students as consumers and academic staff as service providers. Drawing from previous research in academia, the central argument of the study is that the university system is now an increasingly corporatized and marketized institution that creates an expectation for academic staff to perform emotional labour. However, there is limited literature that looks at emotional labour in academia and more especially within the South African context. Therefore, the focus of this research is how academic work, particularly with students, has shifted to emotion work in an effort to provide quality services. The study was conducted at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape Province with academic staff who work in the social sciences department. The research methodology employed is qualitative and evidence was derived from semi structured interviews to establish the negative consequences of emotional labour on the wellbeing of academic staff. Data was analysed and thematically presented in line with the research objectives. The research finds evidence of increased emotional labour in academic staff, it argues that this is largely as a result of the effects of corporatization which included intensified workloads, entitled students, increasing pastoral care and discontentment from the transformations. It was revealed that emotional labour was differentially experienced for females, younger academics and those in lower/ initial positions in academia, it explored the gendered expectations and concluded that based on certain organizational and personal characteristics, emotion management differed in academics. Lastly, discussions regarding implications and recommendations for further research were made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
“It’s something you kind of get used to”: female academics at South African universities narrate their experiences of contrapower harassment
- Authors: Munyuki, Chipo Lidia
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Power (Social sciences) , Sex discrimination in higher education -- South Africa , Women college teachers -- South Africa , Sexual harassment in universities and colleges -- South Africa , Sexual harassment of women -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92875 , vital:30758
- Description: Sexual harassment continues to be a pernicious problem in institutions of higher education globally and findings indicate that women are the main victims. Extant research has focused largely on experiences of sexual harassment on the part of students. Under-researched are the experiences of academics concerning what Benson (1984) terms “contrapower” harassment -- that is, harassment experienced by academics from subordinates such as students. South Africa’s Ministerial Committee on Transformation and Social Cohesion and the Elimination of Discrimination in Public Higher Education Institutions reported that there exists a culture of silencing around the prevalence of sexual harassment in higher education institutions in South Africa (Soudien Report 2008:37). The concept of power has been pointed out as central to understanding sexual harassment (Cleveland and Kerst 1993:49). Utilising three main constructs in Michel Foucault’s conception of power, namely the idea that power is ubiquitous and omnipresent in social relations; that power disciplines – creating docile bodies and the internalisation of self-regulation, and finally the idea that power is productive – power produces knowledge, truth and forms of resistance, I interpret the experiences of contrapower harassment in its sexual and non-sexual forms on the part of female academics at various universities in South Africa. Given that there is a paucity of qualitative research documenting experiences of contrapower harassment on the part of female academics, this thesis draws on 13 in-depth qualitative interviews with female academics at various South African universities who have experienced contrapower harassment from their students and subordinates at any point in their teaching careers. Their narrated experiences provide insight into the phenomenon of contrapower harassment. These insights provide a window into how female academics continue to experience themselves as being out of place in post-apartheid institutions that are expected to be accommodating of all.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Munyuki, Chipo Lidia
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Power (Social sciences) , Sex discrimination in higher education -- South Africa , Women college teachers -- South Africa , Sexual harassment in universities and colleges -- South Africa , Sexual harassment of women -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92875 , vital:30758
- Description: Sexual harassment continues to be a pernicious problem in institutions of higher education globally and findings indicate that women are the main victims. Extant research has focused largely on experiences of sexual harassment on the part of students. Under-researched are the experiences of academics concerning what Benson (1984) terms “contrapower” harassment -- that is, harassment experienced by academics from subordinates such as students. South Africa’s Ministerial Committee on Transformation and Social Cohesion and the Elimination of Discrimination in Public Higher Education Institutions reported that there exists a culture of silencing around the prevalence of sexual harassment in higher education institutions in South Africa (Soudien Report 2008:37). The concept of power has been pointed out as central to understanding sexual harassment (Cleveland and Kerst 1993:49). Utilising three main constructs in Michel Foucault’s conception of power, namely the idea that power is ubiquitous and omnipresent in social relations; that power disciplines – creating docile bodies and the internalisation of self-regulation, and finally the idea that power is productive – power produces knowledge, truth and forms of resistance, I interpret the experiences of contrapower harassment in its sexual and non-sexual forms on the part of female academics at various universities in South Africa. Given that there is a paucity of qualitative research documenting experiences of contrapower harassment on the part of female academics, this thesis draws on 13 in-depth qualitative interviews with female academics at various South African universities who have experienced contrapower harassment from their students and subordinates at any point in their teaching careers. Their narrated experiences provide insight into the phenomenon of contrapower harassment. These insights provide a window into how female academics continue to experience themselves as being out of place in post-apartheid institutions that are expected to be accommodating of all.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
“Just trying to live our lives”: gay, lesbian and bisexual students’ experiences of being “at home” in university residence life
- Authors: Munyuki, Chipo Lidia
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Homosexuality and education -- South Africa , Gay students , Lesbian students , Bisexual students , Transsexual students , Student housing , Discrimination in higher education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2893 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020341
- Description: Higher education in South Africa is faced with a paramount task to help erode the social and structural inequalities that have been inherited from the Apartheid system (Department of Education 1997; Council on Higher Education 2000:12). The findings from the Soudien Report (2008:116-117) point out that the post-Apartheid higher education system in South Africa is characterised by various forms of discrimination and institutional cultures that marginalise some members of institutions resulting in pervasive feelings of alienation. In the South African higher education field, the concept of a “home” for all has been used by a variety of commentators to depict a vision of what transformed, inclusive higher education institutional cultures might look like. In this thesis, I interpret the experiences of residence life on the part of gay, lesbian and bisexual students on a largely residential campus. I ask how gay, lesbian and bisexual students experience being “at home” in the campus’s residence system. The thesis is based on 18 in-depth qualitative interviews with students who self-identify as gay/lesbian or bisexual who have experienced residence life on the campus for a period longer than six months. A wide literature exists on the concept of “home”. Drawing from many different disciplines including anthropology, history, philosophy, geography, psychology, architecture and sociology, I distil the essential features of “at homeness” as incorporating comfort, privacy, security, acceptance, companionship and community. The research was concerned to inquire into how central the idea of home is to human flourishing and then into how gay, lesbian and bisexual students are routinely denied many of the essential comforts associated with being “at home” that heterosexual students have the privilege of taking for granted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Munyuki, Chipo Lidia
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Homosexuality and education -- South Africa , Gay students , Lesbian students , Bisexual students , Transsexual students , Student housing , Discrimination in higher education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2893 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020341
- Description: Higher education in South Africa is faced with a paramount task to help erode the social and structural inequalities that have been inherited from the Apartheid system (Department of Education 1997; Council on Higher Education 2000:12). The findings from the Soudien Report (2008:116-117) point out that the post-Apartheid higher education system in South Africa is characterised by various forms of discrimination and institutional cultures that marginalise some members of institutions resulting in pervasive feelings of alienation. In the South African higher education field, the concept of a “home” for all has been used by a variety of commentators to depict a vision of what transformed, inclusive higher education institutional cultures might look like. In this thesis, I interpret the experiences of residence life on the part of gay, lesbian and bisexual students on a largely residential campus. I ask how gay, lesbian and bisexual students experience being “at home” in the campus’s residence system. The thesis is based on 18 in-depth qualitative interviews with students who self-identify as gay/lesbian or bisexual who have experienced residence life on the campus for a period longer than six months. A wide literature exists on the concept of “home”. Drawing from many different disciplines including anthropology, history, philosophy, geography, psychology, architecture and sociology, I distil the essential features of “at homeness” as incorporating comfort, privacy, security, acceptance, companionship and community. The research was concerned to inquire into how central the idea of home is to human flourishing and then into how gay, lesbian and bisexual students are routinely denied many of the essential comforts associated with being “at home” that heterosexual students have the privilege of taking for granted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
“Like walking barefoot on the gravel road”: the experience of caring for a child with physical disabilities
- Authors: Ndlovu, Nokanyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: PhotoVoice , Photography in the social sciences , Action research , Children with disabilites -- Care -- South Africa , Children with disabilites -- Care -- South Africa -- Case studies , Caregivers -- South Africa -- Case studies , Caregivers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72479 , vital:30057
- Description: The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the experiences of caregivers of children with physical disabilities and to explore ways of improving this experience. Although there is a considerable amount of international research on the experiences of caring for children with disabilities, the focus of the methods of enquiry has mainly been on knowledge production and there is limited research conducted using an approach like participatory action research. Secondly, in South Africa, there is still inadequate information regarding the experiences of caregivers who are from low socio-economic backgrounds. It is for these reasons that the current study, which employed PhotoVoice, a participatory research data collection tool, to explore the lived experiences of caregivers of children with physical disabilities from low socio-economic backgrounds was embarked upon. The research methodology comprised two main parts: firstly, a study of relevant literature on the subject matter, in order to gain in-depth understanding of the field; and secondly, qualitative data collection, using PhotoVoice. A sample of six participants between the ages of 22-57 years was selected through purposive and convenience sampling. Cameras were distributed to participants and after processing of images narratives were shared around selected photographs and this was later followed by focused group discussions. This analysis process provided two master themes, which are supported by subordinate themes. The master themes are: 1) The challenges associated with the caregiving experience, 2) The positive side of the caregiving experience. Participants experienced a lack of resources, challenges of mobility, the hopelessness of the situation, loneliness of the experience and the financial burden of caring for a child with physical disabilities as challenges associated with the caregiving role. Whereas the joy brought about by support from family, the health service providers and the Association for People with Physical Disabilities personnel; precious moments shared with the child; and personal growth were associated with the positive side of the caregiving experience. These findings support and expand on the growing knowledge of caring for children with physical disabilities. This research culminated in a sharing of the narratives with stakeholders by caregivers themselves as a way of seeking to influence policy, enhance their well-being and engage in a discussion of exploring ways of improving their experience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Ndlovu, Nokanyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: PhotoVoice , Photography in the social sciences , Action research , Children with disabilites -- Care -- South Africa , Children with disabilites -- Care -- South Africa -- Case studies , Caregivers -- South Africa -- Case studies , Caregivers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72479 , vital:30057
- Description: The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the experiences of caregivers of children with physical disabilities and to explore ways of improving this experience. Although there is a considerable amount of international research on the experiences of caring for children with disabilities, the focus of the methods of enquiry has mainly been on knowledge production and there is limited research conducted using an approach like participatory action research. Secondly, in South Africa, there is still inadequate information regarding the experiences of caregivers who are from low socio-economic backgrounds. It is for these reasons that the current study, which employed PhotoVoice, a participatory research data collection tool, to explore the lived experiences of caregivers of children with physical disabilities from low socio-economic backgrounds was embarked upon. The research methodology comprised two main parts: firstly, a study of relevant literature on the subject matter, in order to gain in-depth understanding of the field; and secondly, qualitative data collection, using PhotoVoice. A sample of six participants between the ages of 22-57 years was selected through purposive and convenience sampling. Cameras were distributed to participants and after processing of images narratives were shared around selected photographs and this was later followed by focused group discussions. This analysis process provided two master themes, which are supported by subordinate themes. The master themes are: 1) The challenges associated with the caregiving experience, 2) The positive side of the caregiving experience. Participants experienced a lack of resources, challenges of mobility, the hopelessness of the situation, loneliness of the experience and the financial burden of caring for a child with physical disabilities as challenges associated with the caregiving role. Whereas the joy brought about by support from family, the health service providers and the Association for People with Physical Disabilities personnel; precious moments shared with the child; and personal growth were associated with the positive side of the caregiving experience. These findings support and expand on the growing knowledge of caring for children with physical disabilities. This research culminated in a sharing of the narratives with stakeholders by caregivers themselves as a way of seeking to influence policy, enhance their well-being and engage in a discussion of exploring ways of improving their experience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
“Munhu wese ihama yako (everyone is your relative)”: Ubuntu and the social inclusion of students with disabilities at South African universities
- Authors: Chiwandire, Desire
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: College students with disabilities -- Education -- South Africa , Inclusive education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/170578 , vital:41938 , 10.21504/10962/170578
- Description: Background: During apartheid, South African students with disabilities (SWDs) were educated in special schools and taught an inferior curriculum. Black learners with disabilities were discriminated against on grounds of both race and disability. Following South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) government put in place arrange of new laws to address the educational and other needs of those disadvantaged under apartheid, including persons with disabilities (PWDs). The South African government is a signatory of the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which has resulted in the country assuming obligations to promote inclusive education for ASWDs. However, research (see, for instance, Chiwandire & Vincent 2019; Chiwandire 2019; Mutanga 2019; Majoko & Phasha 2018; Mutanga et al. 2018; Mutanga 2017a; Chiwandire 2017; Israel 2017) has shown that SWDs continue to fare differently in comparison to their non-disabled peers in terms of participation in education with the likelihood of success. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have thus been urged to create conducive environments for the academic inclusion of SWDs with particular attention being paid to lecturers employing inclusive instructional strategies as well as flexible curricula, if they are to ensure the equal opportunity for academic success of SWDs in the regular classroom setting. The focus, to date, on academic inclusion, while important, has meant that issues relating to the social inclusion of SWDs have received minimal attention. Purpose: To date, there is a dearth of South African studies which have investigated the social inclusion needs of SWDs on South African campuses. Although a number of studies have given voice to the perspectives of SWDs and lecturers, with respect to their experiences in relation to matters of academic inclusion in South African higher education (HE), few have focused on Disability Unit Staff Members(DUSMs) who are pivotal to ensuring fair and equitable policies and practices for SWDs in HEIs. Disability Studies (DS) as a field has been criticised for being dominated by voices from the Global North, which fail to consider or effectively theorise Global South disability experiences in a contextually relevant way. The thesis argues that the failure to recognise the value of diversity and to treat SWDs as valued and welcomed participants in South African HEIs partly stems from policy, practice and relationships being informed by the Western individualist paradigm that prizes individual achievement and success rather than cooperation and mutuality. The African philosophy of Ubuntu, which stresses values of communalism, hospitality and respect for human dignity is offered here as an alternative starting point for achieving genuinely inclusive campuses. Methods: In-depth face-to-face qualitative interviews were conducted with 40 participants, most of whom were, at the time of being interviewed, Heads of Disability Units and DUSMs based at 10 different universities in four of South Africa’s nine provinces. Data were coded and analysed using Braun & Clarke’s (2006) method of inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Results: The findings of this study indicate that South African campuses are ableist spaces in which the social needs of SWDs are not prioritised. The thesis argues that in order for campuses to become genuinely inclusive, South African campuses ought to seek to inculcate in their members the values of the African worldview Ubuntu, in contrast to the dominant Western individualist orthodoxy. SWDs are being excluded and denied a sense of belonging and equal participation despite universities giving lip service to embracing such inclusive education-oriented values as co-operative learning. Non-disabled students steeped in Western individualism, which affirms the solitary pursuit of individual success rather than the value of interdependence and diversity, end up marginalising SWDs who are seen as less capable. DUSMs addressing the needs of SWDs through an ableist/Western individualist lens are not challenging unfair practices which are impairing the dignity of SWDs, particularly students with physical disabilities who are being forced to “fit into” oppressive inaccessible built environments on campuses. These DUSMs may unwittingly re-inscribe ableist assumptions that normalise discrimination against SWDs. Conclusions and Recommendations: Ubuntu values offer a starting point for building mutual respect and interdependence between SWDs and their non-disabled peers. The thesis finds however that as was the case in traditional African communities, which embraced the values of Ubuntu, acts of leadership are required if Ubuntu’s values of human dignity, mutual respect and acceptance are to be fostered on campuses. In a range of important ways, the dignity of SWDs is not respected at HEIs in South Africa. This includes, for example, such practical matters as the inaccessibility of toilets to wheelchair users and the lack of appropriate signage for blind students. Disrespectful attitudes and assumptions about SWDs on the part of non-disabled university members also result in SWDs’ human dignity being impaired. Ubuntu’s value of hospitality stresses the importance of promoting relations of group solidarity and interdependence between SWDs and their non-disabled peers. Both academic inclusion-oriented programmes and the promotion of a wide range of social activities, involving both SWDs and non-disabled students, can play an important role in cultivating the formation of long-term fruitful and respectful friendships between SWDs and non-disabled students. An enabling classroom environment alone is not enough to holistically address the social inclusion needs of SWDs. South African HEIs that embrace the Ubuntu values of communalism, human dignity and hospitality will be in a position to respect the needs of SWDs as “whole persons”. Amongst other things, this requires DUSMs to be fully empowered to make important decisions regarding vital matters such as disability inclusion, and it necessitates university management to relinquish their power, so that they may work collaboratively with DUSMs and SWDs, all on equal footing, to ensure that HE funding allocation, policy and planning also prioritises the social needs of SWDs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Chiwandire, Desire
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: College students with disabilities -- Education -- South Africa , Inclusive education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/170578 , vital:41938 , 10.21504/10962/170578
- Description: Background: During apartheid, South African students with disabilities (SWDs) were educated in special schools and taught an inferior curriculum. Black learners with disabilities were discriminated against on grounds of both race and disability. Following South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) government put in place arrange of new laws to address the educational and other needs of those disadvantaged under apartheid, including persons with disabilities (PWDs). The South African government is a signatory of the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which has resulted in the country assuming obligations to promote inclusive education for ASWDs. However, research (see, for instance, Chiwandire & Vincent 2019; Chiwandire 2019; Mutanga 2019; Majoko & Phasha 2018; Mutanga et al. 2018; Mutanga 2017a; Chiwandire 2017; Israel 2017) has shown that SWDs continue to fare differently in comparison to their non-disabled peers in terms of participation in education with the likelihood of success. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have thus been urged to create conducive environments for the academic inclusion of SWDs with particular attention being paid to lecturers employing inclusive instructional strategies as well as flexible curricula, if they are to ensure the equal opportunity for academic success of SWDs in the regular classroom setting. The focus, to date, on academic inclusion, while important, has meant that issues relating to the social inclusion of SWDs have received minimal attention. Purpose: To date, there is a dearth of South African studies which have investigated the social inclusion needs of SWDs on South African campuses. Although a number of studies have given voice to the perspectives of SWDs and lecturers, with respect to their experiences in relation to matters of academic inclusion in South African higher education (HE), few have focused on Disability Unit Staff Members(DUSMs) who are pivotal to ensuring fair and equitable policies and practices for SWDs in HEIs. Disability Studies (DS) as a field has been criticised for being dominated by voices from the Global North, which fail to consider or effectively theorise Global South disability experiences in a contextually relevant way. The thesis argues that the failure to recognise the value of diversity and to treat SWDs as valued and welcomed participants in South African HEIs partly stems from policy, practice and relationships being informed by the Western individualist paradigm that prizes individual achievement and success rather than cooperation and mutuality. The African philosophy of Ubuntu, which stresses values of communalism, hospitality and respect for human dignity is offered here as an alternative starting point for achieving genuinely inclusive campuses. Methods: In-depth face-to-face qualitative interviews were conducted with 40 participants, most of whom were, at the time of being interviewed, Heads of Disability Units and DUSMs based at 10 different universities in four of South Africa’s nine provinces. Data were coded and analysed using Braun & Clarke’s (2006) method of inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Results: The findings of this study indicate that South African campuses are ableist spaces in which the social needs of SWDs are not prioritised. The thesis argues that in order for campuses to become genuinely inclusive, South African campuses ought to seek to inculcate in their members the values of the African worldview Ubuntu, in contrast to the dominant Western individualist orthodoxy. SWDs are being excluded and denied a sense of belonging and equal participation despite universities giving lip service to embracing such inclusive education-oriented values as co-operative learning. Non-disabled students steeped in Western individualism, which affirms the solitary pursuit of individual success rather than the value of interdependence and diversity, end up marginalising SWDs who are seen as less capable. DUSMs addressing the needs of SWDs through an ableist/Western individualist lens are not challenging unfair practices which are impairing the dignity of SWDs, particularly students with physical disabilities who are being forced to “fit into” oppressive inaccessible built environments on campuses. These DUSMs may unwittingly re-inscribe ableist assumptions that normalise discrimination against SWDs. Conclusions and Recommendations: Ubuntu values offer a starting point for building mutual respect and interdependence between SWDs and their non-disabled peers. The thesis finds however that as was the case in traditional African communities, which embraced the values of Ubuntu, acts of leadership are required if Ubuntu’s values of human dignity, mutual respect and acceptance are to be fostered on campuses. In a range of important ways, the dignity of SWDs is not respected at HEIs in South Africa. This includes, for example, such practical matters as the inaccessibility of toilets to wheelchair users and the lack of appropriate signage for blind students. Disrespectful attitudes and assumptions about SWDs on the part of non-disabled university members also result in SWDs’ human dignity being impaired. Ubuntu’s value of hospitality stresses the importance of promoting relations of group solidarity and interdependence between SWDs and their non-disabled peers. Both academic inclusion-oriented programmes and the promotion of a wide range of social activities, involving both SWDs and non-disabled students, can play an important role in cultivating the formation of long-term fruitful and respectful friendships between SWDs and non-disabled students. An enabling classroom environment alone is not enough to holistically address the social inclusion needs of SWDs. South African HEIs that embrace the Ubuntu values of communalism, human dignity and hospitality will be in a position to respect the needs of SWDs as “whole persons”. Amongst other things, this requires DUSMs to be fully empowered to make important decisions regarding vital matters such as disability inclusion, and it necessitates university management to relinquish their power, so that they may work collaboratively with DUSMs and SWDs, all on equal footing, to ensure that HE funding allocation, policy and planning also prioritises the social needs of SWDs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
“Ndingumfana osemncinci, kodwa ndizibonile izinto”
- Authors: Qambela, Gcobani
- Date: 2019
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92236 , vital:30694
- Description: Expected release date-April 2021
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Qambela, Gcobani
- Date: 2019
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92236 , vital:30694
- Description: Expected release date-April 2021
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2019
“New ways of telling”: African textual forms and dissemination in the age of digital media
- Authors: Friedemann, Oriole Megan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Digital media -- Africa , Self-publishing -- Africa , African literature , Literature publishing -- Technological innovations , Blog authorship -- Africa , African Storybook Reader , FunDza Literacy Project , Long Story SHORT
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115105 , vital:34078
- Description: In the age of digital media, creators are using the versatile nature of information and communication technologies and the ubiquity of the web to publish and distribute texts, circumventing traditional gatekeepers such as publishing institutions. In Africa, where web access and digitisation are relatively new, storytellers are eagerly exploring new mediums and the possibilities that they provide for African narratives and African representation. This thesis looks at the digital platforms of the African Storybook Reader, the FunDza Literacy Project, and Long Story SHORT, as well as Dudu Busani-Dube’s novel Hlomu the Wife, which first gained popularity on a blog platform. It examines three different web series, An African City, The Foxy Five, and Tuko Macho, as well as a transmedia documentary, Love Radio. The texts are grouped into literatures disseminated from digital platforms, localised narratives that explore the urban African woman, and narratives that make use of participatory culture. These are texts that make use of digital tools and platforms to create and disseminate African stories, making diverse and indigenous narratives more easily accessible to both local and global audiences. This thesis argues that digitisation and the global nature of the internet have created opportunities for Africans to become producers and exporters of indigenous information and representation, rather than passive consumers of imported knowledge, or subjects of external characterisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Friedemann, Oriole Megan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Digital media -- Africa , Self-publishing -- Africa , African literature , Literature publishing -- Technological innovations , Blog authorship -- Africa , African Storybook Reader , FunDza Literacy Project , Long Story SHORT
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115105 , vital:34078
- Description: In the age of digital media, creators are using the versatile nature of information and communication technologies and the ubiquity of the web to publish and distribute texts, circumventing traditional gatekeepers such as publishing institutions. In Africa, where web access and digitisation are relatively new, storytellers are eagerly exploring new mediums and the possibilities that they provide for African narratives and African representation. This thesis looks at the digital platforms of the African Storybook Reader, the FunDza Literacy Project, and Long Story SHORT, as well as Dudu Busani-Dube’s novel Hlomu the Wife, which first gained popularity on a blog platform. It examines three different web series, An African City, The Foxy Five, and Tuko Macho, as well as a transmedia documentary, Love Radio. The texts are grouped into literatures disseminated from digital platforms, localised narratives that explore the urban African woman, and narratives that make use of participatory culture. These are texts that make use of digital tools and platforms to create and disseminate African stories, making diverse and indigenous narratives more easily accessible to both local and global audiences. This thesis argues that digitisation and the global nature of the internet have created opportunities for Africans to become producers and exporters of indigenous information and representation, rather than passive consumers of imported knowledge, or subjects of external characterisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
“Ntombazana, ugayela bani?”: ubunzululwazi beentsimbi
- Authors: Silo, Tolakele Talitha
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Beadwork, Xhosa , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Beadwork, Tembu , Tembu (African people) -- Social life and customs
- Language: Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167487 , vital:41485
- Description: “ NTOMBAZANA, UGAYELA BANI?”: UBUNZULULWAZI BEENTSIMBI is a study on the culture of abaThembu, one of the amaXhosa subgroups. Focusing on beadwork as one of this group’s cultural aspects, this research is an initiative to ensure documentation of such indigenous knowledge as an influence on the lifestyle of abaThembu. It also strives to uplift the use of oral literature to present it a fair chance at being a driving force for change as it has previously been ousted with the acceptability of written literature. Of great surprise is to see that despite western civilization, which affected the people’s culture, beadwork remains a pillar of the abaThembu-amaXhosa culture. This craft has evolved and thus, shows no signs of regression. This thesis is an indigenous knowledge focused research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Silo, Tolakele Talitha
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Beadwork, Xhosa , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Beadwork, Tembu , Tembu (African people) -- Social life and customs
- Language: Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167487 , vital:41485
- Description: “ NTOMBAZANA, UGAYELA BANI?”: UBUNZULULWAZI BEENTSIMBI is a study on the culture of abaThembu, one of the amaXhosa subgroups. Focusing on beadwork as one of this group’s cultural aspects, this research is an initiative to ensure documentation of such indigenous knowledge as an influence on the lifestyle of abaThembu. It also strives to uplift the use of oral literature to present it a fair chance at being a driving force for change as it has previously been ousted with the acceptability of written literature. Of great surprise is to see that despite western civilization, which affected the people’s culture, beadwork remains a pillar of the abaThembu-amaXhosa culture. This craft has evolved and thus, shows no signs of regression. This thesis is an indigenous knowledge focused research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
“Oh, you have a ‘she’?”: exploring the lived experiences of black same-sex females living in Grahamstown, South Africa
- Authors: Haihambo, Naem Patemoshela
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Psychology , Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Public opinion , Lesbianism -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Lesbianism -- South Africa -- Public opinion
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4304 , vital:20646
- Description: The South African Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of a variety of factors including race and gender and sexual orientation. This inclusion came in 1996 after an oppressive apartheid regime was overcome, also positioning the South African Constitution amongst the more liberal, especially in the wider African context. This inclusion and the contextual disparity has caused curiosity about the realities of same-sex sexualities, especially taking into consideration media reports on violence and perceived social opposition of same- sex sexualities in South Africa. Much of this attention has motivated research studies on same-sex sexualities. Within this research, however, black female same-sex sexualities have been positioned as vulnerable and victimised within the heteronormative context, with much of this research focusing on ‘corrective/curative’ rape. There has however been increasing efforts in moving away from this limiting position by a select few (e.g. Zanele Muholi and Zethu Matebeni) in a more explorative direction in attempts to investigate black female sexualities as complex and expressive rather than passive. This study is an interpretive phenomenological investigation of the lived experiences of black female same-sex sexualities and the plurality of identities that influence their everyday experiences. This took into account intersectionality, heteronormativity and queer theory, which provided a theoretical framework for this study. During the interview process, participants described their experiences as black same-sex females in a variety of contexts including their experiences and influences of external factors (such as family and university. From the results of this research, experiences and identities of participants are presented as complex, fluid, expressive and to some extent political. Participants also expressed the difficulties encountered with misinformed friends and families and describe ways in which they assert themselves within their social and personal contexts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Haihambo, Naem Patemoshela
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Psychology , Lesbians, Black -- South Africa -- Public opinion , Lesbianism -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Lesbianism -- South Africa -- Public opinion
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4304 , vital:20646
- Description: The South African Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of a variety of factors including race and gender and sexual orientation. This inclusion came in 1996 after an oppressive apartheid regime was overcome, also positioning the South African Constitution amongst the more liberal, especially in the wider African context. This inclusion and the contextual disparity has caused curiosity about the realities of same-sex sexualities, especially taking into consideration media reports on violence and perceived social opposition of same- sex sexualities in South Africa. Much of this attention has motivated research studies on same-sex sexualities. Within this research, however, black female same-sex sexualities have been positioned as vulnerable and victimised within the heteronormative context, with much of this research focusing on ‘corrective/curative’ rape. There has however been increasing efforts in moving away from this limiting position by a select few (e.g. Zanele Muholi and Zethu Matebeni) in a more explorative direction in attempts to investigate black female sexualities as complex and expressive rather than passive. This study is an interpretive phenomenological investigation of the lived experiences of black female same-sex sexualities and the plurality of identities that influence their everyday experiences. This took into account intersectionality, heteronormativity and queer theory, which provided a theoretical framework for this study. During the interview process, participants described their experiences as black same-sex females in a variety of contexts including their experiences and influences of external factors (such as family and university. From the results of this research, experiences and identities of participants are presented as complex, fluid, expressive and to some extent political. Participants also expressed the difficulties encountered with misinformed friends and families and describe ways in which they assert themselves within their social and personal contexts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
“Please don’t show me on Agataliiko Nfuufu or my husband will beat me like engalabi (long drum)”: young women and tabloid television in Kampala, Uganda
- Authors: Nakacwa, Susan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Television broadcasting of news -- Uganda -- Kampala , Reality television programs -- Uganda -- Kampala , Sexism -- Uganda -- Kampala , Women in mass media , Sensationalism on television , Sensationalism in journalism , Mass media -- Moral and ethical aspects , Sex role on television , Uganda -- Social conditions -- 1979-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3551 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020968
- Description: The “tabloid TV” news genre is a relatively new phenomenon in Uganda and Africa. The genre has been criticised for depoliticising the public by causing cynicism, and lowering the standards of rational public discourse. Despite the criticisms, the genre has been recognised for bringing ‘the private’ into a public space and one of the major ‘private’ issues on the public agenda is women and gender equality. Given these critiques, this study set out to interrogate the meanings that young working class women in Kampala make of the tabloid television news programme Agataliiko Nfuufu and to ask how these meanings relate to the contested notions of femininity in this urban space. In undertaking this audience reception study I interviewed young women between the ages of 18-35 years by means of individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study establishes that Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed in a complex environment where contesting notions of traditionalism and modernity are at play. The study also establishes that while mediating the problems, discomforts and contestations of these young women’s lives, Bukedde TV1 operates within a specific social context and gendered environment where Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed. The study concludes that the bulletin mediates the young women’s negotiations and contestations, but it provides them with a window into other people’s lives and affords them opportunities to compare, judge and appreciate their own. Furthermore, the gendered roles and expectations in this context have become naturalised and have achieved a taken-for-grantedness. Therefore, patriarchy has been legitimised and naturalised to the extent that the respondents define themselves largely in relation to male relatives, and marriage. While the women lament the changes that have taken place in their social contexts which disrupt the natural gender order, they construct themselves as subjects of the prevailing discourses of gender relations that see men as powerful and women as weak and in need of protection.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Nakacwa, Susan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Television broadcasting of news -- Uganda -- Kampala , Reality television programs -- Uganda -- Kampala , Sexism -- Uganda -- Kampala , Women in mass media , Sensationalism on television , Sensationalism in journalism , Mass media -- Moral and ethical aspects , Sex role on television , Uganda -- Social conditions -- 1979-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3551 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020968
- Description: The “tabloid TV” news genre is a relatively new phenomenon in Uganda and Africa. The genre has been criticised for depoliticising the public by causing cynicism, and lowering the standards of rational public discourse. Despite the criticisms, the genre has been recognised for bringing ‘the private’ into a public space and one of the major ‘private’ issues on the public agenda is women and gender equality. Given these critiques, this study set out to interrogate the meanings that young working class women in Kampala make of the tabloid television news programme Agataliiko Nfuufu and to ask how these meanings relate to the contested notions of femininity in this urban space. In undertaking this audience reception study I interviewed young women between the ages of 18-35 years by means of individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study establishes that Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed in a complex environment where contesting notions of traditionalism and modernity are at play. The study also establishes that while mediating the problems, discomforts and contestations of these young women’s lives, Bukedde TV1 operates within a specific social context and gendered environment where Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed. The study concludes that the bulletin mediates the young women’s negotiations and contestations, but it provides them with a window into other people’s lives and affords them opportunities to compare, judge and appreciate their own. Furthermore, the gendered roles and expectations in this context have become naturalised and have achieved a taken-for-grantedness. Therefore, patriarchy has been legitimised and naturalised to the extent that the respondents define themselves largely in relation to male relatives, and marriage. While the women lament the changes that have taken place in their social contexts which disrupt the natural gender order, they construct themselves as subjects of the prevailing discourses of gender relations that see men as powerful and women as weak and in need of protection.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014