Challenging Biblical boundaries: Jeanette Winterson’s postmodern feminist subversion of Biblical discourse in Oranges are not the only fruit (1985) and Boating for beginners (1985)
- Authors: Erasmus, Shirley
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Criticism and interpretation , Bible -- Feminist criticism , Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc , Postmodernism -- Religious aspects , Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Oranges are not the only fruit , Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Boating for beginners , Patriarchy in literature , Sex discrimination in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59121 , vital:27430
- Description: This thesis investigates the subversion of Biblical discourse in Jeanette Winterson’s first two novels, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit and Boating for Beginners. By rewriting Biblical stories Winterson challenges traditional Western religious discourses and their rules for heteronormative social and sexual behaviours and desires. Winterson’s texts respond to the patriarchal nature of socially pervasive texts, such as the Bible, by encouraging her readers to regard these texts with suspicion, thus highlighting what can be seen as a ‘postmodern concern’ with the notion of ‘truth’. Chapter One of this thesis comprises a discussion of Biblical boundaries. These boundaries, I argue, are a process of historical oppression which serves to subjugate and control women, a practice inherent in the Bible and modern society. The Biblical boundaries within which women are expected to live, are carefully portrayed in Oranges and then comically and blasphemously mocked in Boating. Chapter One also argues that Winterson’s sexuality plays an important role in the understanding of her texts, despite her desire for her sexuality to remain ‘outside’ her writing. Chapter Two of this thesis, examines the mix of fact and fiction in Oranges, in order to create a new genre: fictional memoir. The chapter introduces the concept of the ‘autobiographical pact’ and the textual agreement which Winterson creates with her readers. In this chapter, I examine Winterson’s powerful subversion of Biblical discourse, through her narration of Jeanette’s ‘coming out’ within a Biblical framework. Chapter Three of this thesis examines Winterson’s second book, Boating, and the serious elements of this comic book. This chapter studies the various postmodern narrative techniques used in Boating in order to subvert Biblical and historical discourse. Chapter Three highlights Winterson’s postmodern concern with the construction of history as ‘truth’. Finally, Chapter Four compares Oranges and Boating, showing the texts as differing, yet equally relevant textual counterparts. This chapter examines the anti-feminine characters in both texts and Winterson’s ability to align her reader with a feminist or lesbian viewpoint. This thesis argues that Winterson’s first two texts deliberately challenge Biblical discourse in favour of a postmodern feminist viewpoint.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Erasmus, Shirley
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Criticism and interpretation , Bible -- Feminist criticism , Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc , Postmodernism -- Religious aspects , Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Oranges are not the only fruit , Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Boating for beginners , Patriarchy in literature , Sex discrimination in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59121 , vital:27430
- Description: This thesis investigates the subversion of Biblical discourse in Jeanette Winterson’s first two novels, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit and Boating for Beginners. By rewriting Biblical stories Winterson challenges traditional Western religious discourses and their rules for heteronormative social and sexual behaviours and desires. Winterson’s texts respond to the patriarchal nature of socially pervasive texts, such as the Bible, by encouraging her readers to regard these texts with suspicion, thus highlighting what can be seen as a ‘postmodern concern’ with the notion of ‘truth’. Chapter One of this thesis comprises a discussion of Biblical boundaries. These boundaries, I argue, are a process of historical oppression which serves to subjugate and control women, a practice inherent in the Bible and modern society. The Biblical boundaries within which women are expected to live, are carefully portrayed in Oranges and then comically and blasphemously mocked in Boating. Chapter One also argues that Winterson’s sexuality plays an important role in the understanding of her texts, despite her desire for her sexuality to remain ‘outside’ her writing. Chapter Two of this thesis, examines the mix of fact and fiction in Oranges, in order to create a new genre: fictional memoir. The chapter introduces the concept of the ‘autobiographical pact’ and the textual agreement which Winterson creates with her readers. In this chapter, I examine Winterson’s powerful subversion of Biblical discourse, through her narration of Jeanette’s ‘coming out’ within a Biblical framework. Chapter Three of this thesis examines Winterson’s second book, Boating, and the serious elements of this comic book. This chapter studies the various postmodern narrative techniques used in Boating in order to subvert Biblical and historical discourse. Chapter Three highlights Winterson’s postmodern concern with the construction of history as ‘truth’. Finally, Chapter Four compares Oranges and Boating, showing the texts as differing, yet equally relevant textual counterparts. This chapter examines the anti-feminine characters in both texts and Winterson’s ability to align her reader with a feminist or lesbian viewpoint. This thesis argues that Winterson’s first two texts deliberately challenge Biblical discourse in favour of a postmodern feminist viewpoint.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Form and idea in the fiction and non-fiction of John Fowles
- Authors: Etter, Julie-Anne
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Fowles, John, 1926-2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2179 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001830
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
- Authors: Etter, Julie-Anne
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Fowles, John, 1926-2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2179 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001830
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986
An "unobtrusive art" : Elizabeth Gaskell's use of place in Ruth, North and South, and Wives and Daughters
- Authors: Eve, Vivian Jeanette
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865 , Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865 -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2173 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001824
- Description: The purpose of this study is to show how Elizabeth Gaskell creates a sense of place and why place is important in her novels. Gaskell's life and works indicate an interest in place and an ability to recreate it, but, although most critics mention her descriptive powers, few examine how a sense of place is achieved. Indeed, setting as a tool of analysis has received critical attention only fairly recently. Here the term 'place' has been chosen because it embraces the social, physical, and personal aspects of setting as well as the objects with which spaces are furnished, and for the purpose of discussing its significance a model of the novel has been devised which shows the interrelationships of character, action, setting, language, and ideas, as well as the influence of context (Introduction). Gaskell creates a sense of place in many unobtrusive ways, but particularly important are point of view, windows as vantage points, the connection of place with memory, and similarities in perception between scenes in the novels and fashions in painting (Chapter One). An analysis of Ruth illustrates the interrelationship of character and place. Ruth's journey mirrors her spiritual development, and character is often revealed through response to environment or the displacement of emotions onto it, while place is also used to signify innocence and to emphasize the plea for understanding of the unmarried mother and her child (Chapter Two). Places in North and South represent important aspects of newly industrialized Britain, and are significant to the novel's vision of a coherent society; an examination of how apparently irreconcilable communities are shown to be mutually dependent underlines the importance of place to the novel's ideas (Chapter Three). Wives and Daughters has a complicated plot based on a number of parallel, interlocking stories each centred on a home in the neighbourhood of Hollingford. How event, story, and plot are connected to these places shows their relationship with action (Chapter Four). Thus is an appreciation of Gaskell's literary achievement enhanced, and place shown to be a significant element in her novels.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
- Authors: Eve, Vivian Jeanette
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865 , Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865 -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2173 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001824
- Description: The purpose of this study is to show how Elizabeth Gaskell creates a sense of place and why place is important in her novels. Gaskell's life and works indicate an interest in place and an ability to recreate it, but, although most critics mention her descriptive powers, few examine how a sense of place is achieved. Indeed, setting as a tool of analysis has received critical attention only fairly recently. Here the term 'place' has been chosen because it embraces the social, physical, and personal aspects of setting as well as the objects with which spaces are furnished, and for the purpose of discussing its significance a model of the novel has been devised which shows the interrelationships of character, action, setting, language, and ideas, as well as the influence of context (Introduction). Gaskell creates a sense of place in many unobtrusive ways, but particularly important are point of view, windows as vantage points, the connection of place with memory, and similarities in perception between scenes in the novels and fashions in painting (Chapter One). An analysis of Ruth illustrates the interrelationship of character and place. Ruth's journey mirrors her spiritual development, and character is often revealed through response to environment or the displacement of emotions onto it, while place is also used to signify innocence and to emphasize the plea for understanding of the unmarried mother and her child (Chapter Two). Places in North and South represent important aspects of newly industrialized Britain, and are significant to the novel's vision of a coherent society; an examination of how apparently irreconcilable communities are shown to be mutually dependent underlines the importance of place to the novel's ideas (Chapter Three). Wives and Daughters has a complicated plot based on a number of parallel, interlocking stories each centred on a home in the neighbourhood of Hollingford. How event, story, and plot are connected to these places shows their relationship with action (Chapter Four). Thus is an appreciation of Gaskell's literary achievement enhanced, and place shown to be a significant element in her novels.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
The promotion of a racially integrated Catholic community at King William's Town : challenges and opportunities
- Authors: Fahy, Paul
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:1218 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001548
- Description: Taking as its point of departure the model of the Church as a sacrament of unity, this study explores its implications for the fostering of a racially integrated Catholic community within an apartheid society. The particular context within which the investigation is conducted is the Sacred Heart Church, King William's Town, where the writer is pastor to a multiracial congregation. A dialogical approach is adopted between theology and praxis, in terms of which the data from a social analysis of the community are brought into a creative dialogue with the Vatican II vision of the Church. Findings from the analysis show that the attitudes of congregants to a racially integrated community are generally ambivalent. Historical, theological, psychosocial and political factors are seen to play an important role in shaping these attitudes. Arising from the dialogue between theology and praxis, the model of a pilgrim Church suggests itself as more relevant and realistic. This model constitutes a proximate goal. The sacrament model of the Church provides direction and focus for the pilgrim Church and is viewed as the ultimate goal. These models must be seen as complementary. The study concludes with a pastoral plan aimed at attaining the goals described. The main thrust of this plan is directed at changing congregants' attitudes to a racially integrated community. The strategies suggested involve the motivation of congregants to become actively involved, the transformation of congregants' attitudes, the promotion of a positive attitude to conflict and the challenging of apartheid structures. A differential approach is suggested in the pursuit of these objectives. A final conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the search for community is never-ending and that the fostering of a racially integrated Catholic community is a slow and painful process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Fahy, Paul
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:1218 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001548
- Description: Taking as its point of departure the model of the Church as a sacrament of unity, this study explores its implications for the fostering of a racially integrated Catholic community within an apartheid society. The particular context within which the investigation is conducted is the Sacred Heart Church, King William's Town, where the writer is pastor to a multiracial congregation. A dialogical approach is adopted between theology and praxis, in terms of which the data from a social analysis of the community are brought into a creative dialogue with the Vatican II vision of the Church. Findings from the analysis show that the attitudes of congregants to a racially integrated community are generally ambivalent. Historical, theological, psychosocial and political factors are seen to play an important role in shaping these attitudes. Arising from the dialogue between theology and praxis, the model of a pilgrim Church suggests itself as more relevant and realistic. This model constitutes a proximate goal. The sacrament model of the Church provides direction and focus for the pilgrim Church and is viewed as the ultimate goal. These models must be seen as complementary. The study concludes with a pastoral plan aimed at attaining the goals described. The main thrust of this plan is directed at changing congregants' attitudes to a racially integrated community. The strategies suggested involve the motivation of congregants to become actively involved, the transformation of congregants' attitudes, the promotion of a positive attitude to conflict and the challenging of apartheid structures. A differential approach is suggested in the pursuit of these objectives. A final conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the search for community is never-ending and that the fostering of a racially integrated Catholic community is a slow and painful process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
The meaning of community: the viability of Public Sphere theory and Social Cohesion on social media groups: a reception study of the ‘Grahamstown’ Facebook Group
- Authors: Ferreira, Ettioné
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Digital media -- Social aspects , Facebook (Firm) , Social participation -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Public sphere -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Group identity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Grahamstown Facebook Group
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/114870 , vital:34043 , Digital media -- Social aspects , Facebook (Firm) , Social participation -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Public sphere -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Group identity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Grahamstown Facebook Group
- Description: This study explores the meaning of community to Grahamstown’s online social media community, through a case study of the ‘Grahamstown’ Facebook group (GFG). The study explores the possibilities of social media as a public sphere and the way geographically-based social media sites might contribute to social cohesion in a community. The study explores what kinds of discussions take place on the GFG and why they are happening. It investigates whether these discussions can promote understanding and social solidarity, and whether useful deliberations are taking place, in some kind of approximation of a public sphere. Is this Group contributing to the wellbeing of the community, and how? Drawing on public sphere theory and various conceptions of the concept of social cohesion, the dissertation aims to find out how much of an impact the GFG has on Grahamstown/Makhanda inhabitants’ lives and sense of community. The study argues that with the advent of digital media, another ‘structural transformation’ in Habermasian terms, is underway, both empirically and theoretically. Through more than a dozen in-depth interviews combined with content analysis (via participant observation), the study finds that participation in and exposure to the GFG does lead, for many, to a sense of belonging and social cohesion as community members come together to act in relation to the state, local business and other institutions. The viability of ideas of highly localised (in time and space) ‘public sphericules’ as an alternative to broader more overarching concepts of a public sphere, is explored in this study. The study also suggests a typology of users, identifying the frequency, tone of voice and motives for participating on the GFG and attempts a periodisation of the GFG’s changing role in the community over the past decade.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Ferreira, Ettioné
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Digital media -- Social aspects , Facebook (Firm) , Social participation -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Public sphere -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Group identity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Grahamstown Facebook Group
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/114870 , vital:34043 , Digital media -- Social aspects , Facebook (Firm) , Social participation -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Public sphere -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Group identity -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Grahamstown Facebook Group
- Description: This study explores the meaning of community to Grahamstown’s online social media community, through a case study of the ‘Grahamstown’ Facebook group (GFG). The study explores the possibilities of social media as a public sphere and the way geographically-based social media sites might contribute to social cohesion in a community. The study explores what kinds of discussions take place on the GFG and why they are happening. It investigates whether these discussions can promote understanding and social solidarity, and whether useful deliberations are taking place, in some kind of approximation of a public sphere. Is this Group contributing to the wellbeing of the community, and how? Drawing on public sphere theory and various conceptions of the concept of social cohesion, the dissertation aims to find out how much of an impact the GFG has on Grahamstown/Makhanda inhabitants’ lives and sense of community. The study argues that with the advent of digital media, another ‘structural transformation’ in Habermasian terms, is underway, both empirically and theoretically. Through more than a dozen in-depth interviews combined with content analysis (via participant observation), the study finds that participation in and exposure to the GFG does lead, for many, to a sense of belonging and social cohesion as community members come together to act in relation to the state, local business and other institutions. The viability of ideas of highly localised (in time and space) ‘public sphericules’ as an alternative to broader more overarching concepts of a public sphere, is explored in this study. The study also suggests a typology of users, identifying the frequency, tone of voice and motives for participating on the GFG and attempts a periodisation of the GFG’s changing role in the community over the past decade.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Interactivity in online journalism: a case study of the interactive nature of Nigeria's online Guardian
- Authors: Folayan, Oluseyi Olukemi
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Guardian (Nigeria) Online journalism Electronic publishing -- Nigeria Electronic newspapers -- Nigeria Electronic news gathering -- Nigeria Nigeria -- Newspapers
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3429 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002883
- Description: Interactivity is a distinguishing feature of the online environment but online newspapers have been slow in recognising interactivity as an essential condition of effective Web communication. Existing research show online newspapers generally offer few and token interactive options. This research explored interactivity in online journalism using Nigeria's online Guardian as a case study exploring the nature, levels and utilisation of interactivity and interactive features on the site. This study found that few interactive options are offered in Nigeria's online Guardian and those interactive options on offer just produced an illusion of interactivity; it was apparent that little effort was made to give interactive options on the site the significant attention they deserve. The study highlighted the difference between the availability and use of interactive features on an online newspaper site: the mere presence of such features does not necessarily speak to the levels or nature of interactivity on the site. The difficulty in obtaining findings for the qualitative aspect of this study spoke significantly to the findings in light of the fact that these were attempts using interactive options provided by the newspaper site. They stress what relevant literature highlights: the mere presence of interactive features is not in itself interactivity . Factors contributing to the low levels of interactivity in Nigeria's online Guardian include lack of technical expertise plus human and financial resources and the persistence of a mindset that hinders the development and integration of new information communication technologies and interactivity in online journalism. Theoretically, the possibilities are vast but the likelihood of translating theory into reality appears slim. For Nigeria's online Guardian to become interactive in a participatory way, it must undergo changes and choices about values, goals and standards. There must be a shift in attitudes and approaches towards news-content production and delivery as well as the problematic commercial aspects of electronic publishing routines and the effect of such choices on management and newsroom organisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Folayan, Oluseyi Olukemi
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Guardian (Nigeria) Online journalism Electronic publishing -- Nigeria Electronic newspapers -- Nigeria Electronic news gathering -- Nigeria Nigeria -- Newspapers
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3429 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002883
- Description: Interactivity is a distinguishing feature of the online environment but online newspapers have been slow in recognising interactivity as an essential condition of effective Web communication. Existing research show online newspapers generally offer few and token interactive options. This research explored interactivity in online journalism using Nigeria's online Guardian as a case study exploring the nature, levels and utilisation of interactivity and interactive features on the site. This study found that few interactive options are offered in Nigeria's online Guardian and those interactive options on offer just produced an illusion of interactivity; it was apparent that little effort was made to give interactive options on the site the significant attention they deserve. The study highlighted the difference between the availability and use of interactive features on an online newspaper site: the mere presence of such features does not necessarily speak to the levels or nature of interactivity on the site. The difficulty in obtaining findings for the qualitative aspect of this study spoke significantly to the findings in light of the fact that these were attempts using interactive options provided by the newspaper site. They stress what relevant literature highlights: the mere presence of interactive features is not in itself interactivity . Factors contributing to the low levels of interactivity in Nigeria's online Guardian include lack of technical expertise plus human and financial resources and the persistence of a mindset that hinders the development and integration of new information communication technologies and interactivity in online journalism. Theoretically, the possibilities are vast but the likelihood of translating theory into reality appears slim. For Nigeria's online Guardian to become interactive in a participatory way, it must undergo changes and choices about values, goals and standards. There must be a shift in attitudes and approaches towards news-content production and delivery as well as the problematic commercial aspects of electronic publishing routines and the effect of such choices on management and newsroom organisation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Explored Vygotsky’s concept of mediation in a biliteracy project in the foundation phase of a township school
- Authors: Frans, Nompumelelo Grace
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Literacy -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Bilingual -- South Africa -- Case studies , Vygotskiĭ, L S (Lev Semenovich), 1896-1934 , Biliteracy Project (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147204 , vital:38602
- Description: The research reported on in this thesis explored teacher mediation when a biliteracy approach through task-based teaching and learning is used in a Foundation Phase classroom in a township school in the Eastern Cape. It is an action research aimed at understanding and systematically investigating how and what it means to work with bilingual mediation to ensure cognition, with emphasis on task design, facilitation for cognition, mediation forms and language use. This thesis was motivated by three issues that are still not being adequately addressed: the low level of cognitive work in South African schools, the failure to use the home languages of children throughout schooling as a medium of instruction and assessment (while providing excellent access to English as subject), and a top-down approach to both policy development and teacher professionalisation. These three issues drove me to explore theories that can help address them, and that is how I came to rely mostly on mediation, biliteracy and a task-based approach to teaching. For this research, on data handling I prepared and taught six lessons, but only three of the six lessons were recorded, transcribed and analysed for empirical data. I chose data handling, as in my previous experience I found it to include all the mathematical problem-solving skills which involve addition subtraction, analysing and comparing information. It also offered opportunities for language use, and meaningful interactive co-construction and acquiring of knowledge in the process of teaching and learning. This turned into a form of theory-driven action research, which was also developmental. I was critically reflective on my practices, and my facilitation for cognition and how I use language to make cognition possible. I also looked at the types of activities that I gave learners to help reach maximum development. The data collected from the classroom interactions, shows how I, in some instances, would take decisions, implement them and then find them not to be effective. It also shows some of the challenges I came across, from myself and the learners. Learners challenges were, unfamiliarity with the systematic build-up of data handling, filling in tables, transferring information from one form into a different form, and constructing and analysing bar graphs. This was part of pedagogynot the policy, which indicated inadequate teacher development. This could be because data handling is allocated minimal weighting from the CAPS document, and teachers do not go as in depth as they need to in dealing with data handling. My challenge was to prepare the grade 3 class for more data handling encounters in the higher grades. I had to ensure they grasped data handling concepts in their mother tongue before the switch to English as LoLT, as prescribed by policy. Learners proved to have little or no knowledge with regards to data handling concepts, which meant I had to start from the basics, as I had nothing to build on, and then progress to grade 3 level in one year. This study suggests that for any concept that has to be taught, cognition must be a priority, and strategies on how to facilitate that needs to be well thought out. Teachers need to be aware of theories that can positively impact on their practices. Teacher development is key to improvement of education, especially in the Eastern Cape. That cannot be done in isolation, but in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Frans, Nompumelelo Grace
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Literacy -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Bilingual -- South Africa -- Case studies , Vygotskiĭ, L S (Lev Semenovich), 1896-1934 , Biliteracy Project (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147204 , vital:38602
- Description: The research reported on in this thesis explored teacher mediation when a biliteracy approach through task-based teaching and learning is used in a Foundation Phase classroom in a township school in the Eastern Cape. It is an action research aimed at understanding and systematically investigating how and what it means to work with bilingual mediation to ensure cognition, with emphasis on task design, facilitation for cognition, mediation forms and language use. This thesis was motivated by three issues that are still not being adequately addressed: the low level of cognitive work in South African schools, the failure to use the home languages of children throughout schooling as a medium of instruction and assessment (while providing excellent access to English as subject), and a top-down approach to both policy development and teacher professionalisation. These three issues drove me to explore theories that can help address them, and that is how I came to rely mostly on mediation, biliteracy and a task-based approach to teaching. For this research, on data handling I prepared and taught six lessons, but only three of the six lessons were recorded, transcribed and analysed for empirical data. I chose data handling, as in my previous experience I found it to include all the mathematical problem-solving skills which involve addition subtraction, analysing and comparing information. It also offered opportunities for language use, and meaningful interactive co-construction and acquiring of knowledge in the process of teaching and learning. This turned into a form of theory-driven action research, which was also developmental. I was critically reflective on my practices, and my facilitation for cognition and how I use language to make cognition possible. I also looked at the types of activities that I gave learners to help reach maximum development. The data collected from the classroom interactions, shows how I, in some instances, would take decisions, implement them and then find them not to be effective. It also shows some of the challenges I came across, from myself and the learners. Learners challenges were, unfamiliarity with the systematic build-up of data handling, filling in tables, transferring information from one form into a different form, and constructing and analysing bar graphs. This was part of pedagogynot the policy, which indicated inadequate teacher development. This could be because data handling is allocated minimal weighting from the CAPS document, and teachers do not go as in depth as they need to in dealing with data handling. My challenge was to prepare the grade 3 class for more data handling encounters in the higher grades. I had to ensure they grasped data handling concepts in their mother tongue before the switch to English as LoLT, as prescribed by policy. Learners proved to have little or no knowledge with regards to data handling concepts, which meant I had to start from the basics, as I had nothing to build on, and then progress to grade 3 level in one year. This study suggests that for any concept that has to be taught, cognition must be a priority, and strategies on how to facilitate that needs to be well thought out. Teachers need to be aware of theories that can positively impact on their practices. Teacher development is key to improvement of education, especially in the Eastern Cape. That cannot be done in isolation, but in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
“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
Exploring the possibility of an Ubuntu-based political philosophy
- Authors: Furman, Katherine Elizabeth
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Ubuntu , Political philosophy , Ethical theories , Law , South Africa , Ubuntu (Philosophy) -- Research -- South Africa , Political science -- Philosophy -- Research , Philosophy, African -- Research , Social values -- Research South Africa , Ethics -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2756 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002003
- Description: It is typically said that there are two questions that political philosophy seeks to address: ‘who gets what?’ and ‘who decides on who gets what?’ South Africa, along with much of the rest of the world, has answered the second question badly and currently ranks as one of the world’s most unequal societies. Counter-intuitively, South Africa maintains a social-political order that (re)produces this inequality along with great enthusiasm for ubuntu, an African ethic that at a minimum requires that we treat each other humanely. However, due to the view that ubuntu has been co-opted in support of South Africa’s unjust system, ubuntu has largely been ignored by radical thinkers. The aim of this thesis is therefore to explore the possibility of an ubuntu-based political philosophy, with the core assumption that political philosophy is rooted in ethical theory. Three tasks are therefore undertaken in this thesis. Firstly, ubuntu is articulated as an ethic. Secondly, it is compared to similar Western ethical theories in order to determine if there are distinguishing characteristics that make ubuntu a more appropriate founding ethic for South African political philosophy. Finally, whether ubuntu can find real-world applicability will be assessed by looking at the way ubuntu has been used in the law
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Furman, Katherine Elizabeth
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Ubuntu , Political philosophy , Ethical theories , Law , South Africa , Ubuntu (Philosophy) -- Research -- South Africa , Political science -- Philosophy -- Research , Philosophy, African -- Research , Social values -- Research South Africa , Ethics -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2756 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002003
- Description: It is typically said that there are two questions that political philosophy seeks to address: ‘who gets what?’ and ‘who decides on who gets what?’ South Africa, along with much of the rest of the world, has answered the second question badly and currently ranks as one of the world’s most unequal societies. Counter-intuitively, South Africa maintains a social-political order that (re)produces this inequality along with great enthusiasm for ubuntu, an African ethic that at a minimum requires that we treat each other humanely. However, due to the view that ubuntu has been co-opted in support of South Africa’s unjust system, ubuntu has largely been ignored by radical thinkers. The aim of this thesis is therefore to explore the possibility of an ubuntu-based political philosophy, with the core assumption that political philosophy is rooted in ethical theory. Three tasks are therefore undertaken in this thesis. Firstly, ubuntu is articulated as an ethic. Secondly, it is compared to similar Western ethical theories in order to determine if there are distinguishing characteristics that make ubuntu a more appropriate founding ethic for South African political philosophy. Finally, whether ubuntu can find real-world applicability will be assessed by looking at the way ubuntu has been used in the law
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
“When the rainbow is enuf”: black postgraduate women’s experiences and perceptions of higher education and institutional culture – a case study of Rhodes University
- Authors: Gamedze, Ayanda
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Rhodes University , College students, Black -- South Afrca , Women college students, Black -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147215 , vital:38605
- Description: This thesis sets out to investigate the perceptions which Black postgraduate students hold of the present-day toward Historically White Universities (hereafter referred to as HWUs) in South Africa as unique sites from which to investigate institutional culture and the legacy of educational marginalisation. Black women are of particular focus because of the interlocking nature of social inequalities that uniquely influence their comparable experience in the academy. Rhodes University, a top-ranked traditional university provides the institutional site for this investigation into HWUs. This thesis seeks to further explore the suggestion that desegregation of South Africa's institutions of higher learning have meant access, but not always acceptance. The paper explores what Black women students perceive to be Rhodes University's institutional culture and its impact on their lived realities. Subsequently, these women have learned who they are, and what place they occupy in South Africa today, through navigating a space not necessarily accommodating to Blackness and difference. There exists a plethora of literature on the issues which Black women scholars systematically encounter daily in the academy, in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Nonetheless, there needs to be a further inquiry on the question of belonging of Black womanhood in HWU post the student-led movements of the past few years that have renewed the challenge to South Africa's colonial past, its neoliberal present, and its scourge of gender-based violence. This paper captures an ongoing conversation around the role of Black women in addressing transformation in HWU. As a Black woman in an HWU, I found myself wondering whether there are certain experiences students like me have in common – realities with nuances we call to identify with to some extent. I collected data from six Black women with whom I conducted interviews, and used it to compile this report and its analysis. I believe that the social significance of this study speaks to the importance of hearing the stories of subaltern groups that are positioned in spaces of privilege, yet continue to be defined by the disadvantage of their gender, race, and various other factors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Gamedze, Ayanda
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Rhodes University , College students, Black -- South Afrca , Women college students, Black -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147215 , vital:38605
- Description: This thesis sets out to investigate the perceptions which Black postgraduate students hold of the present-day toward Historically White Universities (hereafter referred to as HWUs) in South Africa as unique sites from which to investigate institutional culture and the legacy of educational marginalisation. Black women are of particular focus because of the interlocking nature of social inequalities that uniquely influence their comparable experience in the academy. Rhodes University, a top-ranked traditional university provides the institutional site for this investigation into HWUs. This thesis seeks to further explore the suggestion that desegregation of South Africa's institutions of higher learning have meant access, but not always acceptance. The paper explores what Black women students perceive to be Rhodes University's institutional culture and its impact on their lived realities. Subsequently, these women have learned who they are, and what place they occupy in South Africa today, through navigating a space not necessarily accommodating to Blackness and difference. There exists a plethora of literature on the issues which Black women scholars systematically encounter daily in the academy, in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Nonetheless, there needs to be a further inquiry on the question of belonging of Black womanhood in HWU post the student-led movements of the past few years that have renewed the challenge to South Africa's colonial past, its neoliberal present, and its scourge of gender-based violence. This paper captures an ongoing conversation around the role of Black women in addressing transformation in HWU. As a Black woman in an HWU, I found myself wondering whether there are certain experiences students like me have in common – realities with nuances we call to identify with to some extent. I collected data from six Black women with whom I conducted interviews, and used it to compile this report and its analysis. I believe that the social significance of this study speaks to the importance of hearing the stories of subaltern groups that are positioned in spaces of privilege, yet continue to be defined by the disadvantage of their gender, race, and various other factors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Die begrip verganklikheid as komplekse kode in enkele werke van Hennie Aucamp
- Authors: Garbers, Marius Wolhuter
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Aucamp, Hennie -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3567 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002090
- Description: Mortality has always been a popular theme in literature. By means of a semiological and narratological approach, it has been endeavoured in this study to prove that transience comprises a complex code constituted by a whole series of codes. In each of the chosen volumes one specific short story is analysed and all the codes related to transience are defined and described. Then these codes are discussed within the context of the volume as a whole. The following codes have been identified and analysed: death and death related codes, decay, distress, frustration, emptiness, loneliness observe, look and see, reproduction, the code of ageing, youth/ageing, lost love, time. The following texts of Aucamp have been used as the object of study: Die Hartseerwals, Spitsuur and 'n Bruidsbed vir Tant Nonnie. The reason these texts were selected, is twofold: They represent the early works of the author. The continuity is essential for making meaningful deductions. The final conclusions are: Man's bond with an environment which is characterised by continual change, influences his existence and makes his life a tentative experience. Transience involves more than merely ageing, obsolescence and death. Transience is a complex experience, related to the physical and mental in man. Besides ageing, sexuality contributes to man's downfall. Loneliness, isolation and frustration determine his actions and stress his experience of transience. The result is a painful experience of life.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
- Authors: Garbers, Marius Wolhuter
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Aucamp, Hennie -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3567 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002090
- Description: Mortality has always been a popular theme in literature. By means of a semiological and narratological approach, it has been endeavoured in this study to prove that transience comprises a complex code constituted by a whole series of codes. In each of the chosen volumes one specific short story is analysed and all the codes related to transience are defined and described. Then these codes are discussed within the context of the volume as a whole. The following codes have been identified and analysed: death and death related codes, decay, distress, frustration, emptiness, loneliness observe, look and see, reproduction, the code of ageing, youth/ageing, lost love, time. The following texts of Aucamp have been used as the object of study: Die Hartseerwals, Spitsuur and 'n Bruidsbed vir Tant Nonnie. The reason these texts were selected, is twofold: They represent the early works of the author. The continuity is essential for making meaningful deductions. The final conclusions are: Man's bond with an environment which is characterised by continual change, influences his existence and makes his life a tentative experience. Transience involves more than merely ageing, obsolescence and death. Transience is a complex experience, related to the physical and mental in man. Besides ageing, sexuality contributes to man's downfall. Loneliness, isolation and frustration determine his actions and stress his experience of transience. The result is a painful experience of life.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
'n Marxisties-feministiese ondersoek van Wilma Stockenström se roman, Die kremetartekspedisie
- Authors: Gardner, Judy Hilary
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Stockenström, Wilma -- Criticism and interpretation , Stockenström, Wilma. Kremetartekspedisie
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3568 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002091
- Description: Chapter is an exploration of the meanings which may underly the title of this novel. I have tried initially to establish what kind of "expedition" is undertaken, and have come to the conclusion that "expedition" has a multidimensional meaning, that it implies a search, an expedition into different things: an expedition to the city of rose-quartz; the slave woman's expeditions from the baobab tree and back; an inner expedition to gain self-knowledge; an expedition into womanhood; an expedition into the history of Africa, into religion, into language. The second part of the chapter examines the nature of "baobab", since this tree, like the "Tree of Life", is regarded as one growing upside-down. It is this upside-down nature of the tree which led me to believe that many existing stereotypes and myths are turned upside-down in the novel: about slaves, about woman, language, the Afrikaans literary tradition, the "traditional" structure of the novel, culture transcending nature, the slave woman's language. In chapter 2 I have examined only one of these expeditions, viz. the slave woman's inner expeditions consisting of her experiences as a slave and her journeys of reminiscence. These journeys at the same time embrace all the other expeditions. Her inner expeditions are signified by a number of codes, which fulfil literally the function of processes of knowledge, of self- knowledge, as well as of systems in which meaning is contained. By undertaking this inner expedition, the woman gains greater clarity of vision concerning her own existence and the existence of man/woman in general. Chapter 3 deals mainly with the concept of possession/ownership, which results in two diametrically opposed groups: the owner class and the owned class. The peculiar institution of slavery has given rise to these two irreconcilable groups, and therefore a brief history of slavery is included in this chapter. The slave woman is initially one of the owned class, but through indoctrination, she too aspires to become a member of the owner class. In the second half of the chapter, then, the woman is discussed as owner. Her position becomes a reflection of the position of her owners, to illustrate the peculiarity of the capitalist system in which there will always be the rulers and the subjects, the oppressor and the oppressed, the owner and the owned.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
- Authors: Gardner, Judy Hilary
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Stockenström, Wilma -- Criticism and interpretation , Stockenström, Wilma. Kremetartekspedisie
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3568 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002091
- Description: Chapter is an exploration of the meanings which may underly the title of this novel. I have tried initially to establish what kind of "expedition" is undertaken, and have come to the conclusion that "expedition" has a multidimensional meaning, that it implies a search, an expedition into different things: an expedition to the city of rose-quartz; the slave woman's expeditions from the baobab tree and back; an inner expedition to gain self-knowledge; an expedition into womanhood; an expedition into the history of Africa, into religion, into language. The second part of the chapter examines the nature of "baobab", since this tree, like the "Tree of Life", is regarded as one growing upside-down. It is this upside-down nature of the tree which led me to believe that many existing stereotypes and myths are turned upside-down in the novel: about slaves, about woman, language, the Afrikaans literary tradition, the "traditional" structure of the novel, culture transcending nature, the slave woman's language. In chapter 2 I have examined only one of these expeditions, viz. the slave woman's inner expeditions consisting of her experiences as a slave and her journeys of reminiscence. These journeys at the same time embrace all the other expeditions. Her inner expeditions are signified by a number of codes, which fulfil literally the function of processes of knowledge, of self- knowledge, as well as of systems in which meaning is contained. By undertaking this inner expedition, the woman gains greater clarity of vision concerning her own existence and the existence of man/woman in general. Chapter 3 deals mainly with the concept of possession/ownership, which results in two diametrically opposed groups: the owner class and the owned class. The peculiar institution of slavery has given rise to these two irreconcilable groups, and therefore a brief history of slavery is included in this chapter. The slave woman is initially one of the owned class, but through indoctrination, she too aspires to become a member of the owner class. In the second half of the chapter, then, the woman is discussed as owner. Her position becomes a reflection of the position of her owners, to illustrate the peculiarity of the capitalist system in which there will always be the rulers and the subjects, the oppressor and the oppressed, the owner and the owned.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
The new Africans: a textual analysis of the construction of 'African-ness' in Chaz Maviyane-Davies' 1996 poster depictions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Authors: Garman, Brian Donald
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Human rights , Posters , African perspective , Stereotypes , Black men , Maviyane-Davies, Chaz -- Criticism and interpretation , Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- Posters -- Research , Ethnicity -- Research -- Africa , Human rights -- Africa , Pan-Africanism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3413 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001844
- Description: In 1996, Zimbabwean graphic designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies created a set of human rights posters which represent several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from what he calls an “African perspective”. In this study I investigate how Maviyane-Davies has constructed ‘African-ness’ and probe what he refers to as the “alternative aesthetic” that he is trying to create. I use a visual social semiotic approach to examine the discourses he draws on to re-image and re-imagine Africa and Africans in a manner that contests the stereotypical representations found in political, news and economic discourses about Africa, paying particular attention to the ways he uses images of the body. My analysis of the posters shows how complex and difficult it can be to contest regimes of representation that work to fix racialised and derogatory meanings. In response to the pejorative stereotypes of the black body, Maviyane-Davies uses images of strong, healthy, and magnificent people (mostly men) to construct a more affirmative representation of Africa and Africans. Significantly, he draws on sports, touristic, traditional and hegemonic discourses of masculinity in an attempt to expand the complexity and range of possible representations of African-ness. In so doing he runs the risk of reproducing many of the stereotypes that sustain not only the racialised and gendered (masculinist) representations of Africa, but also a sentimentalisation and romanticisation of a place, a people and their traditions. Apart from women in prominent positions, other conspicuous absences from these images include white people and hegemonic references to Western modernity. I do not believe he is discarding whites and modernity as un-African, but is rejecting the naturalisation of whiteness as standing in for humanity, and particular icons of Western modernity as significations of ‘modernity’ itself
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Garman, Brian Donald
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Human rights , Posters , African perspective , Stereotypes , Black men , Maviyane-Davies, Chaz -- Criticism and interpretation , Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- Posters -- Research , Ethnicity -- Research -- Africa , Human rights -- Africa , Pan-Africanism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3413 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001844
- Description: In 1996, Zimbabwean graphic designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies created a set of human rights posters which represent several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from what he calls an “African perspective”. In this study I investigate how Maviyane-Davies has constructed ‘African-ness’ and probe what he refers to as the “alternative aesthetic” that he is trying to create. I use a visual social semiotic approach to examine the discourses he draws on to re-image and re-imagine Africa and Africans in a manner that contests the stereotypical representations found in political, news and economic discourses about Africa, paying particular attention to the ways he uses images of the body. My analysis of the posters shows how complex and difficult it can be to contest regimes of representation that work to fix racialised and derogatory meanings. In response to the pejorative stereotypes of the black body, Maviyane-Davies uses images of strong, healthy, and magnificent people (mostly men) to construct a more affirmative representation of Africa and Africans. Significantly, he draws on sports, touristic, traditional and hegemonic discourses of masculinity in an attempt to expand the complexity and range of possible representations of African-ness. In so doing he runs the risk of reproducing many of the stereotypes that sustain not only the racialised and gendered (masculinist) representations of Africa, but also a sentimentalisation and romanticisation of a place, a people and their traditions. Apart from women in prominent positions, other conspicuous absences from these images include white people and hegemonic references to Western modernity. I do not believe he is discarding whites and modernity as un-African, but is rejecting the naturalisation of whiteness as standing in for humanity, and particular icons of Western modernity as significations of ‘modernity’ itself
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Who knew
- Authors: Gaunt, Hailey Kathryn
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Poetry , Memory , Nature , Marriage , Faith , Death , Meaning , English language -- Writing , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001812
- Description: This book of poems ranges in style from narrative to condensed lyric moment, and shifts in perspective from observation to introspection. Thematically, these poems explore everyday life through its many manifestations – memory, nature, marriage, faith and death – with an emphasis on finding meaning in absolutely ordinary things. Though their tone is often vulnerable and tender, even when it is more distant the poems are always searching.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Gaunt, Hailey Kathryn
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Poetry , Memory , Nature , Marriage , Faith , Death , Meaning , English language -- Writing , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001812
- Description: This book of poems ranges in style from narrative to condensed lyric moment, and shifts in perspective from observation to introspection. Thematically, these poems explore everyday life through its many manifestations – memory, nature, marriage, faith and death – with an emphasis on finding meaning in absolutely ordinary things. Though their tone is often vulnerable and tender, even when it is more distant the poems are always searching.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Popular politics in the rural Western Cape, South Africa: a case study of Ruiterbos
- Authors: Ghedi Alasow, Jonis
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Political participation -- South Africa -- Cape Town , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Land tenure -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Land use, Rural -- Political aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96165 , vital:31246
- Description: This thesis argues that the philosophical foundations upon which human beings have been engaged have, across various schools of thought, made the mistake of presuming that some people are more modern than others. This suggestion is refuted throughout this thesis. To do this, intellectual traditions that take the fundamental rationality of all human beings as an indispensable starting point are engaged to argue for the need to acknowledge that everyone in the ‘now’ is indeed, of the ‘now’. This thesis connects these debates about modernity, rationality and humanity to the contemporary discussions around rural politics with particular reference to Ruiterbos in the Western Cape province of South Africa. By means of detailed empirical and ethnographic research, this thesis illustrates the issues around which people in Ruiterbos are politicised. Via this case study, the a priori assumption that rural politics will necessarily manifest itself only with respect to questions of land and agrarian reform or labour relations is complicated. The two issues around which people in Ruiterbos, during the time of this research, seem to be politicised – housing and education – are surfaced throughout this thesis. The thesis argues that the findings in this case study call for an expansion of the issues that are traditionally considered when the question of rural politics is raised. The often historicist approach that limits the possibilities for politics in rural areas should be suspended for an approach that takes popular politics and political agents in rural areas seriously. The thesis finally argues that the conclusions that are reached with respect to questions of modernity and rural politics ought to be adopted to allow for more detailed and thorough explanations of popular politics in places like Ruiterbos.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Ghedi Alasow, Jonis
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Political participation -- South Africa -- Cape Town , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , Land tenure -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Land use, Rural -- Political aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96165 , vital:31246
- Description: This thesis argues that the philosophical foundations upon which human beings have been engaged have, across various schools of thought, made the mistake of presuming that some people are more modern than others. This suggestion is refuted throughout this thesis. To do this, intellectual traditions that take the fundamental rationality of all human beings as an indispensable starting point are engaged to argue for the need to acknowledge that everyone in the ‘now’ is indeed, of the ‘now’. This thesis connects these debates about modernity, rationality and humanity to the contemporary discussions around rural politics with particular reference to Ruiterbos in the Western Cape province of South Africa. By means of detailed empirical and ethnographic research, this thesis illustrates the issues around which people in Ruiterbos are politicised. Via this case study, the a priori assumption that rural politics will necessarily manifest itself only with respect to questions of land and agrarian reform or labour relations is complicated. The two issues around which people in Ruiterbos, during the time of this research, seem to be politicised – housing and education – are surfaced throughout this thesis. The thesis argues that the findings in this case study call for an expansion of the issues that are traditionally considered when the question of rural politics is raised. The often historicist approach that limits the possibilities for politics in rural areas should be suspended for an approach that takes popular politics and political agents in rural areas seriously. The thesis finally argues that the conclusions that are reached with respect to questions of modernity and rural politics ought to be adopted to allow for more detailed and thorough explanations of popular politics in places like Ruiterbos.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Student protests in South African universities with specific reference to Rhodes University (1970-1994)
- Authors: Gillam, Katherine Elaine
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: To be added
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178457 , vital:42941
- Description: Access restricted until April 2023. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Gillam, Katherine Elaine
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: To be added
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178457 , vital:42941
- Description: Access restricted until April 2023. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Young men’s talk about menstruation and hegemonic masculinity in the South African context: a discursive analysis
- Authors: Glover, Jonathan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Menstruation -- Social aspects -- -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Hegemony -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Masculinity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sex role -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Men -- Attitudes , Men -- Psychology , Human body -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Men's studies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60244 , vital:27758
- Description: Current research in the sub-Saharan and other resource poor contexts indicates the largely negative social constructions of menstruation and menstruating women. Young men have been shown to reproduce these negative constructions and reinforce the stigmatized status of menstruation in these contexts. To my knowledge no studies have examined the ways in which young men talk about menstruation and menstruating women in South Africa. In this research, I aimed to explore the ways in which young men (in a resource poor area in the Eastern Cape) talk about menstruation in with their male peers in a focus group context and how this talk serves to enable specific subject positions (both masculine and feminine) that may reproduce, comply with and resist constructions of hegemonic masculinity (as outlined in previous South African research). By drawing on Raewyn Connell’s influential framework of masculinities and augmenting this with Margaret Wetherell and Nigel Edley’s contributions, this research adds to the growing body of research on masculinities in the South African context. I utilized a discursive framework in which to understand the interpretative repertoires drawn on in everyday talk about menstruation and the specific subject positions made available by these. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a total of 37 participants from two former Department of Education and Training schools in the Eastern Cape. Participants were young ‘black’ men with a mean age of 18.3 In analyzing and interpreting the data two overarching patterns emerged. In the first, the participants discursively distanced themselves from menstruation (and femininity in general) in order to avoid possible marginalisation and subordination in relation to local hegemonic masculine ideals. In doing this, the participants drew on a number of interpretative repertoires including: a dualistic repertoire, a bad (versus ideal) femininity repertoire and an abject femininity repertoire, which assisted in creating numerous subject positions. These subject positions allowed the young men to align themselves closer to hegemonic masculine ideals, and create distance by positioning menstruating women as the ‘other’. In the second overarching pattern, menstruation was constructed as a threat to masculine identity; within this construction, the young men discursively negotiated the ideological dilemmas surrounding this ‘highly feminine’ topic in ways that bolstered their positions within the gender hierarchy. Overall, hegemonic masculinities in this context were discursively reproduced and complied with in the participants’ accounts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Glover, Jonathan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Menstruation -- Social aspects -- -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Hegemony -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Masculinity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sex role -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Men -- Attitudes , Men -- Psychology , Human body -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Men's studies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60244 , vital:27758
- Description: Current research in the sub-Saharan and other resource poor contexts indicates the largely negative social constructions of menstruation and menstruating women. Young men have been shown to reproduce these negative constructions and reinforce the stigmatized status of menstruation in these contexts. To my knowledge no studies have examined the ways in which young men talk about menstruation and menstruating women in South Africa. In this research, I aimed to explore the ways in which young men (in a resource poor area in the Eastern Cape) talk about menstruation in with their male peers in a focus group context and how this talk serves to enable specific subject positions (both masculine and feminine) that may reproduce, comply with and resist constructions of hegemonic masculinity (as outlined in previous South African research). By drawing on Raewyn Connell’s influential framework of masculinities and augmenting this with Margaret Wetherell and Nigel Edley’s contributions, this research adds to the growing body of research on masculinities in the South African context. I utilized a discursive framework in which to understand the interpretative repertoires drawn on in everyday talk about menstruation and the specific subject positions made available by these. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a total of 37 participants from two former Department of Education and Training schools in the Eastern Cape. Participants were young ‘black’ men with a mean age of 18.3 In analyzing and interpreting the data two overarching patterns emerged. In the first, the participants discursively distanced themselves from menstruation (and femininity in general) in order to avoid possible marginalisation and subordination in relation to local hegemonic masculine ideals. In doing this, the participants drew on a number of interpretative repertoires including: a dualistic repertoire, a bad (versus ideal) femininity repertoire and an abject femininity repertoire, which assisted in creating numerous subject positions. These subject positions allowed the young men to align themselves closer to hegemonic masculine ideals, and create distance by positioning menstruating women as the ‘other’. In the second overarching pattern, menstruation was constructed as a threat to masculine identity; within this construction, the young men discursively negotiated the ideological dilemmas surrounding this ‘highly feminine’ topic in ways that bolstered their positions within the gender hierarchy. Overall, hegemonic masculinities in this context were discursively reproduced and complied with in the participants’ accounts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Defined by wine : a study of sacramentalism in George Herbertʾs poetry
- Authors: Goddard, Kevin Graham
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Herbert, George, 1593-1633 -- Criticism and interpretation , Christian poetry, English -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2177 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001828
- Description: This dissertation proposes that George Herbertʾs poetry may profitably be understood as a sacramental means by which the divine is made present in temporal existence. In order to support this claim, the relation between sacramental symbolism and literary symbolism, particularly Herbertʾs, is examined from a number of perspectives. The symbolic meanings suggested by Herbertʾs title (The Temple), and their relation to sacramentalism are considered in the opening chapter. This includes a consideration of some of the background to the analogical thinking prevalent in both the seventeenth-century and Herbert. It is followed in the second chapter by an examination of some of the modern theories about how literary symbolism may relate to sacramental symbolism, a discussion which is followed by a consideration of this dissertation's argument in relation to modern scholarship. The chapter ends with a reading of ʺThe Flowerʺ. The third chapter discusses the poet's attempt to imitate the divine by ʺcopyingʺ both Scripture and Nature, and this includes a consideration of the allegorical and hieroglyphic modes of thought prevalent in the poems. The concern with imitation encourages an examination of the poet's frequent invitation for God actually to assume the poet's role, and this is the subject of the fourth chapter. The argument suggests that the poet's attempt to ʺsacrificeʺ his own writing may be seen in his concern with corporate imagery and corporate (impersonal) structures. The five ʺAfflictionʺ poems are examined as examples of the first, while structures such as synecdoche and metonymy are examined as examples of the second. The final chapter considers aspects of narrative time in the poems, particularly the sense often evoked of the eternal being imminent in the present. This involves a consideration of both liturgical imagery, and what may be called liturgical structures as they can be seen to operate in the poems. Particular examples of the latter are the relation between the liturgical anamnesis and the poems, as well as certain narrative structures that may be called ʺachronisticʺ.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Goddard, Kevin Graham
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Herbert, George, 1593-1633 -- Criticism and interpretation , Christian poetry, English -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2177 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001828
- Description: This dissertation proposes that George Herbertʾs poetry may profitably be understood as a sacramental means by which the divine is made present in temporal existence. In order to support this claim, the relation between sacramental symbolism and literary symbolism, particularly Herbertʾs, is examined from a number of perspectives. The symbolic meanings suggested by Herbertʾs title (The Temple), and their relation to sacramentalism are considered in the opening chapter. This includes a consideration of some of the background to the analogical thinking prevalent in both the seventeenth-century and Herbert. It is followed in the second chapter by an examination of some of the modern theories about how literary symbolism may relate to sacramental symbolism, a discussion which is followed by a consideration of this dissertation's argument in relation to modern scholarship. The chapter ends with a reading of ʺThe Flowerʺ. The third chapter discusses the poet's attempt to imitate the divine by ʺcopyingʺ both Scripture and Nature, and this includes a consideration of the allegorical and hieroglyphic modes of thought prevalent in the poems. The concern with imitation encourages an examination of the poet's frequent invitation for God actually to assume the poet's role, and this is the subject of the fourth chapter. The argument suggests that the poet's attempt to ʺsacrificeʺ his own writing may be seen in his concern with corporate imagery and corporate (impersonal) structures. The five ʺAfflictionʺ poems are examined as examples of the first, while structures such as synecdoche and metonymy are examined as examples of the second. The final chapter considers aspects of narrative time in the poems, particularly the sense often evoked of the eternal being imminent in the present. This involves a consideration of both liturgical imagery, and what may be called liturgical structures as they can be seen to operate in the poems. Particular examples of the latter are the relation between the liturgical anamnesis and the poems, as well as certain narrative structures that may be called ʺachronisticʺ.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
Anglican missionary policy in the diocese of Grahamstown under the first two bishops, 1853-1871
- Authors: Goedhals, Mary Mandeville
- Date: 1979
- Subjects: Anglican , Diocese , Grahamstown , Bishops , Missionary policy , Cattle Killing , Government , Education , Black people , John Armstrong , Henry Cotterill
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:1211 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001540
- Description: In 1843 a committee of the Colonial Bishroprics Fund appointed to investigate the state of the Church of England at the Cape of Good Hope, recommended the formation of a bishopric, and suggested that the bishop settle in the eastern districts of the colony, with an archdeacon in Cape Town. Three significant principles had been enunciated: the church was to grow under a bishop, the church would have a dual mission to blacks and whites, and the colony's eastern frontier, long a political and military headache, was seen as the focus of a new and spiritual battle. Contact between Nguni tribesmen and the eastward-moving European trekboer began in the region of the Fish River during the rule of the Dutch East India Company. Cattle and land were the main ingredients of the frontier conflict. From the point of view of the white settler, the growing cattle trade meant an increased need for pasture, but although the motive for expansion was economic, frontiersmen had come to regard large lands as their birthright. The semi-nomadic pastoral economy of the Nguni also required abundance of land, which was vested in the tribe. To the tribesmen, their cattle had a political, social and religious significance which transcended the economic. Cattle were sacrificed to the ancestors to propitiate the shades of the departed and to secure the prosperity of the tribe. The years of conflict, the constant threat to their herds and their land, undermined the basis of Nguni society, without providing it with a new foundation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1979
- Authors: Goedhals, Mary Mandeville
- Date: 1979
- Subjects: Anglican , Diocese , Grahamstown , Bishops , Missionary policy , Cattle Killing , Government , Education , Black people , John Armstrong , Henry Cotterill
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:1211 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001540
- Description: In 1843 a committee of the Colonial Bishroprics Fund appointed to investigate the state of the Church of England at the Cape of Good Hope, recommended the formation of a bishopric, and suggested that the bishop settle in the eastern districts of the colony, with an archdeacon in Cape Town. Three significant principles had been enunciated: the church was to grow under a bishop, the church would have a dual mission to blacks and whites, and the colony's eastern frontier, long a political and military headache, was seen as the focus of a new and spiritual battle. Contact between Nguni tribesmen and the eastward-moving European trekboer began in the region of the Fish River during the rule of the Dutch East India Company. Cattle and land were the main ingredients of the frontier conflict. From the point of view of the white settler, the growing cattle trade meant an increased need for pasture, but although the motive for expansion was economic, frontiersmen had come to regard large lands as their birthright. The semi-nomadic pastoral economy of the Nguni also required abundance of land, which was vested in the tribe. To the tribesmen, their cattle had a political, social and religious significance which transcended the economic. Cattle were sacrificed to the ancestors to propitiate the shades of the departed and to secure the prosperity of the tribe. The years of conflict, the constant threat to their herds and their land, undermined the basis of Nguni society, without providing it with a new foundation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1979
Zooming in: an ethnographic study of visual journalism for smartphones - journalistic roles and routines at South Africa’s largest graphics unit, Graphics24
- Authors: Gouws, Andries Jacobus
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Journalism -- Technological innovations -- South Africa , Smartphones , Visual communication -- Digital techniques , News Web sites -- South Africa , Online journalism -- South Africa , Information visualization , Graphic arts , Graphics24 , Netwerk24
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63154 , vital:28368
- Description: This study examines the changing roles of graphics journalists in the digital era at Graphics24, the largest information graphics newsroom in South Africa, in the context of their work for Netwerk24, an online news site published in Afrikaans with a strong focus on mobile-first news. The study examines the discursive construction of these new journalistic roles in the digital era where even the core conceptualisation of what journalism is, is being re-examined. It considers external factors affecting the discourse of change, drawing on a hierarchy of influences analytical model, as well as norms specific to the creation of information graphics. Data for this study was gathered by using ethnographic immersion and semi-structured interviews. This study specifically looks at graphics journalists working in a mobile-first environment, and how the pressures of producing information graphics for consumption on smartphones affects their roles. Evidence of two widely differing discourses in the Graphics24 and Netwerk24 newsrooms was found. Visual journalists in this study have created a discourse around being distinct “service providers”, rather than mobile-first journalists, who do not see the need for full integration in the fast-paced mobile news environment of Netwerk24. Word-centric journalists have, by contrast, created a mobile-first discourse. They experience the separateness of the graphics team as a barrier that impedes the creation of good information graphics for mobile phone consumption. Although this is a very localised study in a very particular context, this study contributes to broader thinking in what is a very under-researched field: The changing roles of visual journalists in the digital era and the discursive construction of these roles. The study suggests that even in the digital era where the definition of newsrooms has become much more fluid and less fixed physically, ethnographic methods can still offer a meaningful way to explore journalistic roles.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Gouws, Andries Jacobus
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Journalism -- Technological innovations -- South Africa , Smartphones , Visual communication -- Digital techniques , News Web sites -- South Africa , Online journalism -- South Africa , Information visualization , Graphic arts , Graphics24 , Netwerk24
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63154 , vital:28368
- Description: This study examines the changing roles of graphics journalists in the digital era at Graphics24, the largest information graphics newsroom in South Africa, in the context of their work for Netwerk24, an online news site published in Afrikaans with a strong focus on mobile-first news. The study examines the discursive construction of these new journalistic roles in the digital era where even the core conceptualisation of what journalism is, is being re-examined. It considers external factors affecting the discourse of change, drawing on a hierarchy of influences analytical model, as well as norms specific to the creation of information graphics. Data for this study was gathered by using ethnographic immersion and semi-structured interviews. This study specifically looks at graphics journalists working in a mobile-first environment, and how the pressures of producing information graphics for consumption on smartphones affects their roles. Evidence of two widely differing discourses in the Graphics24 and Netwerk24 newsrooms was found. Visual journalists in this study have created a discourse around being distinct “service providers”, rather than mobile-first journalists, who do not see the need for full integration in the fast-paced mobile news environment of Netwerk24. Word-centric journalists have, by contrast, created a mobile-first discourse. They experience the separateness of the graphics team as a barrier that impedes the creation of good information graphics for mobile phone consumption. Although this is a very localised study in a very particular context, this study contributes to broader thinking in what is a very under-researched field: The changing roles of visual journalists in the digital era and the discursive construction of these roles. The study suggests that even in the digital era where the definition of newsrooms has become much more fluid and less fixed physically, ethnographic methods can still offer a meaningful way to explore journalistic roles.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018