& salt the earth behind you
- Authors: Naidoo, Prenesa
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship , Korean fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Short stories, Argentine -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Arabic fiction -- Palestine 21st century -- History and criticism , Argentine fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178212 , vital:42921
- Description: My thesis is a collection of prose pieces in the form of short stories, flash fiction and prose poetry drawing on memory and lived experiences to explore the trauma of death, grief and displacement, solace and the paroxysms of home. As a young woman from an Indian South Africa community, Hindu superstitions and folktales are my second skin, and shape both my worldview and my writing. I am inspired by Lidia Yuknavitch’s observation that, “all artists see things that are not there”, and by Dambudzo Marechera’s belief that, “Beneath reality, there is always fantasy: the writer’s task is to reveal it, to open it out, to feel it, to experience it.” In my stories about trauma and grief, I often distort the line between seen and unseen worlds, where, for example, hauntings are taken seriously as lived experiences. I have also been influenced by Han Kang’s The White Book, Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s Sabrina & Corina, and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. Read together, Kang’s stand-alone short stories form part of a greater collective ‘memory’ or ‘life’; Fajardo-Anstine’s collection illustrates how to write about a specific female Latina community while still telling individual stories; and Cisneros’ fragments of memories tell the story of a person’s life in narratives which are as long or short as they need to be. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Naidoo, Prenesa
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship , Korean fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Short stories, Argentine -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Arabic fiction -- Palestine 21st century -- History and criticism , Argentine fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178212 , vital:42921
- Description: My thesis is a collection of prose pieces in the form of short stories, flash fiction and prose poetry drawing on memory and lived experiences to explore the trauma of death, grief and displacement, solace and the paroxysms of home. As a young woman from an Indian South Africa community, Hindu superstitions and folktales are my second skin, and shape both my worldview and my writing. I am inspired by Lidia Yuknavitch’s observation that, “all artists see things that are not there”, and by Dambudzo Marechera’s belief that, “Beneath reality, there is always fantasy: the writer’s task is to reveal it, to open it out, to feel it, to experience it.” In my stories about trauma and grief, I often distort the line between seen and unseen worlds, where, for example, hauntings are taken seriously as lived experiences. I have also been influenced by Han Kang’s The White Book, Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s Sabrina & Corina, and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. Read together, Kang’s stand-alone short stories form part of a greater collective ‘memory’ or ‘life’; Fajardo-Anstine’s collection illustrates how to write about a specific female Latina community while still telling individual stories; and Cisneros’ fragments of memories tell the story of a person’s life in narratives which are as long or short as they need to be. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
A critical appraisal of Saule’s portrayal of women as Amadelakufa (resilient)
- Authors: Molubo, Rendani
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Women in literature , Feminism -- Africa , Saule, N -- Vuleka Mhlaba , Saule, N -- Inkululeko Isentabeni , Saule, N -- Libambe Lingatshoni , Xhosa fiction -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143982 , vital:38300
- Description: This study seeks to explore how Professor Ncedile Saule’s works Vuleka Mhlaba (2006), Inkululeko Isentabeni (2010) and Libambe Lingatshoni (2017), depict female characters to reveal the inner resilience women embody. It is important to portray females as bold, intelligent and courageous beings as African women are subjected to major patriarchal myths. South Africa prides itself with a progressive Constitution and Bill of Rights that speaks of gender equality and the liberation of all persons. However, in practice women still live under patriarchal bondages and their efforts are side-lined, thus, the essentiality of writings that contributes towards the empowerment of women through displaying their resilience. Women in literature are mostly depicted as subordinate, submissive and emotional. At times they are portrayed as victims. They are very seldom portrayed as heroes or independent beings. They are constantly placed behind a man instead of in front of a man. This research aims to display women as heroes in their own capacity, without having to be dimmed by a man. The researcher decided to utilise writings of a male author so as to provide a different perspective from the norm that most male authors are known to write about in issues pertaining female characters. This is also deliberately done to encourage more male writers to change the mythical narration about women and start admiring their contributions without having them shadow any man. The projection of female resilience through the gaze of a male author gives hope that there are men who see and admire women’s efforts. It also indicates that men realise now that African feminisms are not against men and instead advocate for equality between men and women and recognise the greatness that could come out of a partnership between the two genders. Women’s behaviour and characteristics are mostly socially constructed, hence the need to exhibit the boldness that black women possess, instead of them only being utilised as nurturing sources and household caretakers. One of the purposes of this research study is to illustrate the resilience that women possess and analyse the forms of torment that women in Saule’s chosen novels have experienced and how their experience engenders resilience and a determination to succeed. The women in Saule’s three novels selected for this study break the traditional status quo. The approach that this paper will utilize is that of African Feminisms, focusing on Walker’s Womanism, Ogunyemi’s Africana Womanism, and Stiwanism as the theoretical approaches. This is because African Feminisms concentrates on the issues related to gender, race and class that African women across spectrums face.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Molubo, Rendani
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Women in literature , Feminism -- Africa , Saule, N -- Vuleka Mhlaba , Saule, N -- Inkululeko Isentabeni , Saule, N -- Libambe Lingatshoni , Xhosa fiction -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143982 , vital:38300
- Description: This study seeks to explore how Professor Ncedile Saule’s works Vuleka Mhlaba (2006), Inkululeko Isentabeni (2010) and Libambe Lingatshoni (2017), depict female characters to reveal the inner resilience women embody. It is important to portray females as bold, intelligent and courageous beings as African women are subjected to major patriarchal myths. South Africa prides itself with a progressive Constitution and Bill of Rights that speaks of gender equality and the liberation of all persons. However, in practice women still live under patriarchal bondages and their efforts are side-lined, thus, the essentiality of writings that contributes towards the empowerment of women through displaying their resilience. Women in literature are mostly depicted as subordinate, submissive and emotional. At times they are portrayed as victims. They are very seldom portrayed as heroes or independent beings. They are constantly placed behind a man instead of in front of a man. This research aims to display women as heroes in their own capacity, without having to be dimmed by a man. The researcher decided to utilise writings of a male author so as to provide a different perspective from the norm that most male authors are known to write about in issues pertaining female characters. This is also deliberately done to encourage more male writers to change the mythical narration about women and start admiring their contributions without having them shadow any man. The projection of female resilience through the gaze of a male author gives hope that there are men who see and admire women’s efforts. It also indicates that men realise now that African feminisms are not against men and instead advocate for equality between men and women and recognise the greatness that could come out of a partnership between the two genders. Women’s behaviour and characteristics are mostly socially constructed, hence the need to exhibit the boldness that black women possess, instead of them only being utilised as nurturing sources and household caretakers. One of the purposes of this research study is to illustrate the resilience that women possess and analyse the forms of torment that women in Saule’s chosen novels have experienced and how their experience engenders resilience and a determination to succeed. The women in Saule’s three novels selected for this study break the traditional status quo. The approach that this paper will utilize is that of African Feminisms, focusing on Walker’s Womanism, Ogunyemi’s Africana Womanism, and Stiwanism as the theoretical approaches. This is because African Feminisms concentrates on the issues related to gender, race and class that African women across spectrums face.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A critique of the language of record in South African courts in relation to selected university language policies
- Authors: Docrat, Zakeera
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa , Forensic linguistics -- South Africa , Communication in law -- South Africa , Language planning -- South Africa , Linguistic rights -- South Africa , Court interpreting and translating -- South Africa , Multilingual education -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PHD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141394 , vital:37968
- Description: This interdisciplinary research located in the research area of forensic linguistics seeks to provide a critique of the monolingual language of record directive for courts in South Africa, while investigating how university language policies contribute the formulation of a monolingual language of record policy for courts, by graduating monolingual LLB students. The research commences with identifying the research problem, goals and objectives and how the language of record policy for courts is linked to university language planning. The research proceeds to an overview of scholarly literature concerning the historical developments of language planning in both the legal system and higher education in South Africa. The theoretical principles concerning the enacting of language legislation and policies is advanced in relation to the constitutional framework. This research furthermore provides a thorough critique of the constitutional framework where the language rights the other related language provisions are discussed in relation to the theory and the application thereof in case law. The research explicates that the language rights of African language speaking litigants is unfairly limited and that access to justice for these litigants is either unattainable or achieved to a lesser extent. The disparities between language, law and power are brought to the fore, where the relevant legislation and language policies fail to determine the language of record in courts as well as legislate the African language requirements for legal practitioners in giving meaning to the constitutional language rights. The language policies of six selected universities is discussed in relation to the legal system’s legislative and policy frameworks, outlining the need to transform the language of learning and teaching and develop the curriculum to support the legal system. In doing so, the shortcomings of the interpretation profession in South Africa are highlighted and the effects thereof on the language rights of litigants. This thesis advances seven African and international case studies, comprising Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Australia, Belgium, Canada and India. Each of the case studies provides an in-depth analysis of the language of record/proceedings in courts and the language competencies of legal practitioners and judicial officers in relation to their university education. The African case studies are illustrative that English on the African continent in courts and higher education is dominate and the resultant loss of indigenous languages marginalises people from mainstream society. The international case studies provide two models, Belgium and Canada, which South Africa can emulate, in enacting new legislation and policies and the amendment of current legislation, to ensure bilingual/ multilingual language policies are drafted for courts per province, where the language demographics present majority spoken languages alongside English. Furthermore, where courts interpret language rights and legislative and policy provisions in a purposive manner, where African language speakers are able to, fully realise their rights. Australia and India as multilingual models serve as important case studies where South Africa can learn from what to avoid, how to subvert challenges or adequately address these. These case studies highlight the dangers of a political elite who pursue an English only agenda at the expense of the indigenous languages and the speakers thereof. This thesis in conclusion provides interdisciplinary recommendations that need to be implemented in order to address the language question in South African courts and higher education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Docrat, Zakeera
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa , Forensic linguistics -- South Africa , Communication in law -- South Africa , Language planning -- South Africa , Linguistic rights -- South Africa , Court interpreting and translating -- South Africa , Multilingual education -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PHD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141394 , vital:37968
- Description: This interdisciplinary research located in the research area of forensic linguistics seeks to provide a critique of the monolingual language of record directive for courts in South Africa, while investigating how university language policies contribute the formulation of a monolingual language of record policy for courts, by graduating monolingual LLB students. The research commences with identifying the research problem, goals and objectives and how the language of record policy for courts is linked to university language planning. The research proceeds to an overview of scholarly literature concerning the historical developments of language planning in both the legal system and higher education in South Africa. The theoretical principles concerning the enacting of language legislation and policies is advanced in relation to the constitutional framework. This research furthermore provides a thorough critique of the constitutional framework where the language rights the other related language provisions are discussed in relation to the theory and the application thereof in case law. The research explicates that the language rights of African language speaking litigants is unfairly limited and that access to justice for these litigants is either unattainable or achieved to a lesser extent. The disparities between language, law and power are brought to the fore, where the relevant legislation and language policies fail to determine the language of record in courts as well as legislate the African language requirements for legal practitioners in giving meaning to the constitutional language rights. The language policies of six selected universities is discussed in relation to the legal system’s legislative and policy frameworks, outlining the need to transform the language of learning and teaching and develop the curriculum to support the legal system. In doing so, the shortcomings of the interpretation profession in South Africa are highlighted and the effects thereof on the language rights of litigants. This thesis advances seven African and international case studies, comprising Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Australia, Belgium, Canada and India. Each of the case studies provides an in-depth analysis of the language of record/proceedings in courts and the language competencies of legal practitioners and judicial officers in relation to their university education. The African case studies are illustrative that English on the African continent in courts and higher education is dominate and the resultant loss of indigenous languages marginalises people from mainstream society. The international case studies provide two models, Belgium and Canada, which South Africa can emulate, in enacting new legislation and policies and the amendment of current legislation, to ensure bilingual/ multilingual language policies are drafted for courts per province, where the language demographics present majority spoken languages alongside English. Furthermore, where courts interpret language rights and legislative and policy provisions in a purposive manner, where African language speakers are able to, fully realise their rights. Australia and India as multilingual models serve as important case studies where South Africa can learn from what to avoid, how to subvert challenges or adequately address these. These case studies highlight the dangers of a political elite who pursue an English only agenda at the expense of the indigenous languages and the speakers thereof. This thesis in conclusion provides interdisciplinary recommendations that need to be implemented in order to address the language question in South African courts and higher education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A critique of translated (isiXhosa to English) sworn statements by the South African Police Service
- Authors: Mvabaza, Aviwe
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Forensic linguistics , Translators -- South Africa , Xhosa language -- Translating , Police administration -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/122869 , vital:35361
- Description: The thesis provides a critique of sworn statement translations in the South African Police Service. The study is a mixed method study, which is rooted in Translation and Forensic Linguistics. It focuses on translations of two languages, IsiXhosa and English, an activity that was observed by the researcher at the Ndevana Police Station under the Buffalo City Municipality near King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape Province. In addition to the data collection strategies, among others, the study also collected data through the use of questionnaires responded to by the Ndevana Location’s community members. Furthermore, it used a method of consented interviews with the police officers. The main aim of these interviews was to unearth the police officers’ views on whether they require Translators and Forensic Linguists to assist them. Moreover, the other data collection strategy used was the consented recordings of verbal statements made by complainants, facilitated by the capturing of translated written dockets after the reporting of an incident. The police officers involved and who were available in the precinct were Constables, Sergeants, Detectives, Warrant officers and the Captain. The study period was 90 days, and the data presented in the form of graphs is contained in the relevant upcoming chapters. The findings of the study were that there was indeed a need for Translators and/or Forensic Linguists in the precinct, as the statistics revealed, by both the police officers and the community members. An analysis of the transcribed material, the interviews with the police and the verbal statements made by the complainants written by the police were evidence of the need for Translators and Forensic Linguists by the South African Police Services.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Mvabaza, Aviwe
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Forensic linguistics , Translators -- South Africa , Xhosa language -- Translating , Police administration -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/122869 , vital:35361
- Description: The thesis provides a critique of sworn statement translations in the South African Police Service. The study is a mixed method study, which is rooted in Translation and Forensic Linguistics. It focuses on translations of two languages, IsiXhosa and English, an activity that was observed by the researcher at the Ndevana Police Station under the Buffalo City Municipality near King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape Province. In addition to the data collection strategies, among others, the study also collected data through the use of questionnaires responded to by the Ndevana Location’s community members. Furthermore, it used a method of consented interviews with the police officers. The main aim of these interviews was to unearth the police officers’ views on whether they require Translators and Forensic Linguists to assist them. Moreover, the other data collection strategy used was the consented recordings of verbal statements made by complainants, facilitated by the capturing of translated written dockets after the reporting of an incident. The police officers involved and who were available in the precinct were Constables, Sergeants, Detectives, Warrant officers and the Captain. The study period was 90 days, and the data presented in the form of graphs is contained in the relevant upcoming chapters. The findings of the study were that there was indeed a need for Translators and/or Forensic Linguists in the precinct, as the statistics revealed, by both the police officers and the community members. An analysis of the transcribed material, the interviews with the police and the verbal statements made by the complainants written by the police were evidence of the need for Translators and Forensic Linguists by the South African Police Services.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A historical sociolinguistic study on the conceptualisation and application of justice and law kwisizwe samaXhosa as documented in and extracted From SEK Mqhayi And W.W. Gqoba’s selected writings
- Authors: Ntshingana, Sanele
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Gqoba, William Wellington , Mqhayi, S. E. K. , Xhosa literature -- History and criticism , Law in literature , Justice in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115339 , vital:34115
- Description: This study seeks to investigate the original meanings contained in lexical terms relating to law (umthetho) and justice (ubulungisa) and their application in the precolonial Xhosa social society as they make appearance in SEK Mqhayi’s novel Ityala lamawele (1914) and WW Gqoba’s Isizwe esinembali, (1873-188/2015). Both of these works were written and initially published at the early point of contact of amaXhosa with the art of writing, and so are set in a ‘traditional’ setting (in the case of Mqhayi) and at early contact with European societies in Eastern Nguni region. This academic endeavour is undertaken by employing critical discourse theoretical framework. The purpose is to investigate the conceptualisation of law and justice amongst amaXhosa, and the extent to which this conceptualisation reflects the philosophical worldview of amaXhosa, as embedded in their language. The paper makes inferences about conceptualisation of law and justice in precolonial Xhosa social settings, and offers proposals on what this conceptual understanding could mean if its potential contribution to the contemporary understanding and application of law and justice in South Africa could be tapped into. The motivation for this study emanates from the current intellectual contestations in higher education that today’s curricula present western knowledge systems as universal while marginalising indigenous epistemologies in teaching, learning and research practices. At the centre of these debates is how research, social and scientific thinking in humanities, is profoundly shaped by imported, racist, western “canonical” texts and theories. The arguments presented by various scholars argue that this enterprise firmly roots the collective imagination of students about the past and present in racist Eurocentric schematic frames, thus creating a problem of identity loss, and an intentional distortion of historical truths. The space for knowledge systems and experiences reflecting African memory and imagination is not only neglected, but distorted too. In this context, the study seeks to delve deeper into how African languages can be used to reconstruct knowledge systems that reflect African ways of understanding society as part of creating a curriculum that depicts “multiversal” ways of knowing (Tisani 2000; Santos, 2014). This study makes several findings, chief amongst which is that the legal and justice systems of the precolonial Xhosa society was both corrective as opposed to today’s punitive court system that South Africa inherited, largely from the West. It seeks to prove that AmaXhosa’s precolonial legal and justice system was focused more on reintegrating the offender back into society. The study further will show how the precolonial amaXhosa justice system was embedded in the concepts of ubulungisa (correct and re-intergrate) and isohlwayo (that which brings one to basics). Through discourse analysis of the early literary isiXhosa texts, the thesis discovers that the application of ubulungisa amongst amaXhosa back then was consistent with the philosophies embedded in the concepts. By exposing the collaboration networks between the white missionaries and the colonial administrators of the nineteenth century, the thesis will show how conspiracies were directed at erasing and displacing these indigenous epistemologies and to replacing them with colonial memories. To this end, missionary accounts, explorer diary entries and reports and early lexicographic material were produced and archived. Furthermore, this study makes a proposition that early written Xhosa texts be entrenched in the today’s curricula in order inform the process of making sense of the social experiences and knowledge systems of the indigenous people of South Africa, from the precolonial-past to the present. Throughout the study, the thesis presents a proposition these early Xhosa texts be studied in relation to their intellectual contributions. This, it is hoped, will boldly challenge the canonised knowledge and racist assumptions about the African knowledge systems and experiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Ntshingana, Sanele
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Gqoba, William Wellington , Mqhayi, S. E. K. , Xhosa literature -- History and criticism , Law in literature , Justice in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115339 , vital:34115
- Description: This study seeks to investigate the original meanings contained in lexical terms relating to law (umthetho) and justice (ubulungisa) and their application in the precolonial Xhosa social society as they make appearance in SEK Mqhayi’s novel Ityala lamawele (1914) and WW Gqoba’s Isizwe esinembali, (1873-188/2015). Both of these works were written and initially published at the early point of contact of amaXhosa with the art of writing, and so are set in a ‘traditional’ setting (in the case of Mqhayi) and at early contact with European societies in Eastern Nguni region. This academic endeavour is undertaken by employing critical discourse theoretical framework. The purpose is to investigate the conceptualisation of law and justice amongst amaXhosa, and the extent to which this conceptualisation reflects the philosophical worldview of amaXhosa, as embedded in their language. The paper makes inferences about conceptualisation of law and justice in precolonial Xhosa social settings, and offers proposals on what this conceptual understanding could mean if its potential contribution to the contemporary understanding and application of law and justice in South Africa could be tapped into. The motivation for this study emanates from the current intellectual contestations in higher education that today’s curricula present western knowledge systems as universal while marginalising indigenous epistemologies in teaching, learning and research practices. At the centre of these debates is how research, social and scientific thinking in humanities, is profoundly shaped by imported, racist, western “canonical” texts and theories. The arguments presented by various scholars argue that this enterprise firmly roots the collective imagination of students about the past and present in racist Eurocentric schematic frames, thus creating a problem of identity loss, and an intentional distortion of historical truths. The space for knowledge systems and experiences reflecting African memory and imagination is not only neglected, but distorted too. In this context, the study seeks to delve deeper into how African languages can be used to reconstruct knowledge systems that reflect African ways of understanding society as part of creating a curriculum that depicts “multiversal” ways of knowing (Tisani 2000; Santos, 2014). This study makes several findings, chief amongst which is that the legal and justice systems of the precolonial Xhosa society was both corrective as opposed to today’s punitive court system that South Africa inherited, largely from the West. It seeks to prove that AmaXhosa’s precolonial legal and justice system was focused more on reintegrating the offender back into society. The study further will show how the precolonial amaXhosa justice system was embedded in the concepts of ubulungisa (correct and re-intergrate) and isohlwayo (that which brings one to basics). Through discourse analysis of the early literary isiXhosa texts, the thesis discovers that the application of ubulungisa amongst amaXhosa back then was consistent with the philosophies embedded in the concepts. By exposing the collaboration networks between the white missionaries and the colonial administrators of the nineteenth century, the thesis will show how conspiracies were directed at erasing and displacing these indigenous epistemologies and to replacing them with colonial memories. To this end, missionary accounts, explorer diary entries and reports and early lexicographic material were produced and archived. Furthermore, this study makes a proposition that early written Xhosa texts be entrenched in the today’s curricula in order inform the process of making sense of the social experiences and knowledge systems of the indigenous people of South Africa, from the precolonial-past to the present. Throughout the study, the thesis presents a proposition these early Xhosa texts be studied in relation to their intellectual contributions. This, it is hoped, will boldly challenge the canonised knowledge and racist assumptions about the African knowledge systems and experiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
A skin that took them through
- Authors: Kgame, Mbali
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147638 , vital:38656
- Description: This project comprises of interlinked fictional short stories capturing experiences of the “invisibilised’’ young people- the street kids, drug addicts, cashiers, childminders, the sick, first graduates etc. These stories are a way to interrogate the fallacy of a “free and fair” South Africa by noting events taking place within homes, communities and countrywide. Told in a playful, innocent, curious, childlike voice and reasoning, my work draws inspiration from Werewere Likings ‘The Amputated Memory,’ for its ability to narrate the current without divorcing the past. I draw inspiration from Liking’s way of writing family connectivity and employing an emerging voice of the narrator starting from being a child scribbling to later becoming an elder. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s ‘Black Friday’ for scanning into young black people’s experiences in a society where their bodies move as misfits. My work also draws from Lesley Nneka Arimah’s ‘What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky’ for the interlinked stories. Lastly the stories in this project take from Sindiwe Magona’s Mother to Mother for humanising bodies that have been reduced to frames.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Kgame, Mbali
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147638 , vital:38656
- Description: This project comprises of interlinked fictional short stories capturing experiences of the “invisibilised’’ young people- the street kids, drug addicts, cashiers, childminders, the sick, first graduates etc. These stories are a way to interrogate the fallacy of a “free and fair” South Africa by noting events taking place within homes, communities and countrywide. Told in a playful, innocent, curious, childlike voice and reasoning, my work draws inspiration from Werewere Likings ‘The Amputated Memory,’ for its ability to narrate the current without divorcing the past. I draw inspiration from Liking’s way of writing family connectivity and employing an emerging voice of the narrator starting from being a child scribbling to later becoming an elder. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s ‘Black Friday’ for scanning into young black people’s experiences in a society where their bodies move as misfits. My work also draws from Lesley Nneka Arimah’s ‘What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky’ for the interlinked stories. Lastly the stories in this project take from Sindiwe Magona’s Mother to Mother for humanising bodies that have been reduced to frames.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A socio-political analysis of the adoption of certain AmaXhosa surnames
- Authors: Johnson, Stembele
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Names, Personal -- Xhosa , Names, Personal -- Xhosa -- Political aspects , Names, Personal -- Xhosa -- Sociological aspects , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Onomastics -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164298 , vital:41107
- Description: It is always assumed when you have a white surname that you have a white lineage or your forefathers were white, and that was always my struggle in school to explain the meaning of my surname and where it came from. Not only European surnames used by amaXhosa are difficult to explain but also many isiXhosa surnames are very hard to break down and explain. This is because many word from th e isiXhosa language, that are used in surnames are no longer used and if one does not know the history of certain names then it would be difficult to know the meaning of a surname or misinterpret its meaning to the modern words of isiXhosa that we know. S urnames are not of African origin, they came from the West, but because of colonialism surnames were enforced on African people. Most of the surnames they used, are said to be names of their forefathers (ancestors), and there is a small amount or none that links to femininity in these surnames. Surnames are part of naming and naming is part of onomastics. Naming is a very important tool used among various African cultures to convey certain messages, either to an individual, family members or a community. On omastics is multidisciplinary in nature. It can be approached from different perspectives. These include linguistic, historical, sociological, philosophical, economical and other perspectives. This research looks at the depth of certain amaXhosa surnames and even their links to other names like, nicknames and clan names etc.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Johnson, Stembele
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Names, Personal -- Xhosa , Names, Personal -- Xhosa -- Political aspects , Names, Personal -- Xhosa -- Sociological aspects , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Onomastics -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164298 , vital:41107
- Description: It is always assumed when you have a white surname that you have a white lineage or your forefathers were white, and that was always my struggle in school to explain the meaning of my surname and where it came from. Not only European surnames used by amaXhosa are difficult to explain but also many isiXhosa surnames are very hard to break down and explain. This is because many word from th e isiXhosa language, that are used in surnames are no longer used and if one does not know the history of certain names then it would be difficult to know the meaning of a surname or misinterpret its meaning to the modern words of isiXhosa that we know. S urnames are not of African origin, they came from the West, but because of colonialism surnames were enforced on African people. Most of the surnames they used, are said to be names of their forefathers (ancestors), and there is a small amount or none that links to femininity in these surnames. Surnames are part of naming and naming is part of onomastics. Naming is a very important tool used among various African cultures to convey certain messages, either to an individual, family members or a community. On omastics is multidisciplinary in nature. It can be approached from different perspectives. These include linguistic, historical, sociological, philosophical, economical and other perspectives. This research looks at the depth of certain amaXhosa surnames and even their links to other names like, nicknames and clan names etc.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A tribute to you
- Ndlebe-September, Thobeka Veronica
- Authors: Ndlebe-September, Thobeka Veronica
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Xhosa fiction -- 21st century , Xhosa fiction -- History and criticism , Short stories, Xhosa -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144989 , vital:38398
- Description: My collection of short stories reflects my interest in narrative biblical fiction, allegorical stories about people and nature that resonate with our daily lives. I have been greatly influenced by writers such as Joel Matlou, Flannery O’Connor, Barry Gifford, Miriam Tladi and Leah Harris amongst others. I have also been captivated by fairy tales and folk tales, and also the work of isiXhosa writers such as S. E. K. Mqhayi, Madiponi Masenya, and Hulisani Ramantswana. I have discovered that I can borrow certain styles and forms of writing to enhance my own stories which are situated within ‘local’ contexts such as education, poverty, employment, the body, life and death.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Ndlebe-September, Thobeka Veronica
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Xhosa fiction -- 21st century , Xhosa fiction -- History and criticism , Short stories, Xhosa -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144989 , vital:38398
- Description: My collection of short stories reflects my interest in narrative biblical fiction, allegorical stories about people and nature that resonate with our daily lives. I have been greatly influenced by writers such as Joel Matlou, Flannery O’Connor, Barry Gifford, Miriam Tladi and Leah Harris amongst others. I have also been captivated by fairy tales and folk tales, and also the work of isiXhosa writers such as S. E. K. Mqhayi, Madiponi Masenya, and Hulisani Ramantswana. I have discovered that I can borrow certain styles and forms of writing to enhance my own stories which are situated within ‘local’ contexts such as education, poverty, employment, the body, life and death.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Alien crosstalk
- Stuart-Watson, Andrew Joseph
- Authors: Stuart-Watson, Andrew Joseph
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Diaries -- Authorship , Short stories, South African (English) 21st century , South African essays (English) 21st century , American fiction History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294515 , vital:57228
- Description: Alien Crosstalk , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Stuart-Watson, Andrew Joseph
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Diaries -- Authorship , Short stories, South African (English) 21st century , South African essays (English) 21st century , American fiction History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294515 , vital:57228
- Description: Alien Crosstalk , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
Aloe
- Authors: Sauls, Aloysius Albeus
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Nama language , Nama poetry 21st century , Lyric poetry 21st century , Diaries Authorship , Lyric poetry History and criticism , Fiction History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190673 , vital:45017
- Description: My thesis, ‘Aloe’, isse poetry collection, wat focus op modern Khoekhoegowab. Die opgittiekkinne wēke van my Ancestry se mēnse van mēnse, |xam-poets: Diä!kwain, Kweiten-ta-ǁken, |a!kúnta, |Hanǂkass’o, en oek ǁKabbo, deērie Dytse filoloog, Wilhelm Bleek, dien asse guide, moerrie vēse gisoak in combinations van Ancient Indigenous, en modern Goema-klangke. Die purpose vannie collection is ommie use van Khoekhoegowab innie Afrikaans literature asse integral component te view, ennie iets foreign nie, diessèlle way wat Arabic, Indonesian, Malay en Dutch languages, die culture ennie language gishape en givorrim-it. Deēl vannie skryf-style wat ek employ in my thesis isse fusion vannie lyric poetry van Linton Kwesi Johnson, Gill Scott Heron ennie praāt-poems van Peter Snyders, oa. Music, assie primal connection toerrie past, speēlle central rōl in my wēk asse 21st-century Indigenous writer. Die thesis reference die works van veteran cultural en linguistic aātisse en lyrical poets; in echoes van marginalised en displaced creatives soes Tinariwen, wattie stōrie vannie Tuareg vocalise in woōdt en klang, ennie Chamorro poet, Craig Santos Perez van Guam, innie Western Pacific Ocean, wierrie indigenizing mandate se vlag lat wappe, bínne innie gisig vannie American presence daā. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Sauls, Aloysius Albeus
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Nama language , Nama poetry 21st century , Lyric poetry 21st century , Diaries Authorship , Lyric poetry History and criticism , Fiction History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190673 , vital:45017
- Description: My thesis, ‘Aloe’, isse poetry collection, wat focus op modern Khoekhoegowab. Die opgittiekkinne wēke van my Ancestry se mēnse van mēnse, |xam-poets: Diä!kwain, Kweiten-ta-ǁken, |a!kúnta, |Hanǂkass’o, en oek ǁKabbo, deērie Dytse filoloog, Wilhelm Bleek, dien asse guide, moerrie vēse gisoak in combinations van Ancient Indigenous, en modern Goema-klangke. Die purpose vannie collection is ommie use van Khoekhoegowab innie Afrikaans literature asse integral component te view, ennie iets foreign nie, diessèlle way wat Arabic, Indonesian, Malay en Dutch languages, die culture ennie language gishape en givorrim-it. Deēl vannie skryf-style wat ek employ in my thesis isse fusion vannie lyric poetry van Linton Kwesi Johnson, Gill Scott Heron ennie praāt-poems van Peter Snyders, oa. Music, assie primal connection toerrie past, speēlle central rōl in my wēk asse 21st-century Indigenous writer. Die thesis reference die works van veteran cultural en linguistic aātisse en lyrical poets; in echoes van marginalised en displaced creatives soes Tinariwen, wattie stōrie vannie Tuareg vocalise in woōdt en klang, ennie Chamorro poet, Craig Santos Perez van Guam, innie Western Pacific Ocean, wierrie indigenizing mandate se vlag lat wappe, bínne innie gisig vannie American presence daā. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Along the river that flowed south
- Authors: Mohlomi, Teboho Samson
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/234195 , vital:50171
- Description: Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Mohlomi, Teboho Samson
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/234195 , vital:50171
- Description: Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
Biton’s Lost Siege Engine: Experimental archaeology in Classical Studies
- Authors: Rademan, David John
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Pergamum (Extinct city) , Dimensional analysis , Engineering History To 168 B.C. , Fluid mechanics History To 168 B.C. , Byzantine literature History and criticism , Siege warfare History To 168 B.C. , Biton of Pergamon , Isidorus of Abydos , Poliorcetics
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192330 , vital:45216
- Description: This thesis entails an examination of several problems inherent in placing a technical treatise by the Hellenistic Greek engineer, Biton of Pergamon, at a siege of 156-154BCE, with a view to galvanising the existing case of previous scholarship through a combined approach of literary, textual, geographical, and technical analysis. Particular focus is given to the following problems: technical errors in current translations of the treatise of Biton; technical considerations in scholars’ reproductions of a particular engine in the treatise; an assessment of the practical implications of the treatise in situ at the physical site of the ancient city of Pergamon in the second century BCE, as evidenced by archaeological findings and surveys; assessment of those implications by way of historical records of similar conflicts from the Hellenistic period; and suggesting a procedure of dimensional analysis for testing a hypothesis regarding the feasibility of the ancient engineer’s recommended engines as a stand-in for the city’s original defenses, in a manner that harmonises the methodologies of historicism and experimental archaeology with sound and appropriate modern engineering practice from the field of Fluid Mechanics. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Rademan, David John
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Pergamum (Extinct city) , Dimensional analysis , Engineering History To 168 B.C. , Fluid mechanics History To 168 B.C. , Byzantine literature History and criticism , Siege warfare History To 168 B.C. , Biton of Pergamon , Isidorus of Abydos , Poliorcetics
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192330 , vital:45216
- Description: This thesis entails an examination of several problems inherent in placing a technical treatise by the Hellenistic Greek engineer, Biton of Pergamon, at a siege of 156-154BCE, with a view to galvanising the existing case of previous scholarship through a combined approach of literary, textual, geographical, and technical analysis. Particular focus is given to the following problems: technical errors in current translations of the treatise of Biton; technical considerations in scholars’ reproductions of a particular engine in the treatise; an assessment of the practical implications of the treatise in situ at the physical site of the ancient city of Pergamon in the second century BCE, as evidenced by archaeological findings and surveys; assessment of those implications by way of historical records of similar conflicts from the Hellenistic period; and suggesting a procedure of dimensional analysis for testing a hypothesis regarding the feasibility of the ancient engineer’s recommended engines as a stand-in for the city’s original defenses, in a manner that harmonises the methodologies of historicism and experimental archaeology with sound and appropriate modern engineering practice from the field of Fluid Mechanics. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Chave Chemutengure Vhiri Rengoro : Husarungano Nerwendo Rwengano Dzevashona
- Authors: Mabasa, Ignatius T
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Ethnology -- Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe -- Folklore , Shona (African people) -- Folklore , Ethnoscience , Decolonization in literature , Decolonization -- Africa , Autoethnography , Chemutengure , Subaltern
- Language: Shona
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PHD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174198 , vital:42454 , http://doi.org/10.21504/10962/174198
- Description: Tsvakurudzo ino inyaya yangu sasarungano nemunyori weChiShona, asiwo iri nyaya yevanhu veChiShona. Inyaya yekurerwa kwandakaitwa nengano, ndikaona ngano dzakandirera dzichipinzwa muzvikoro, dzichisangana nechirungu, dzichifambidzana nechirungu, nekuzopedzisira dzazvara mimwe misambo yengano. Basa rino maonero angu ndichishandisa nzira yetsvakurudzo inonzi husarungano, kureva muono wasarungano. Izvi zvinoreva kududzira nekutsanangura, kufungisisa nekupenengura humhizha hunowanikwa mutsika nemagariro angu, sasarungano ari kupfuurira mberi nekuita ngano munyika yazara chirungu. Naizvozvo, ini ndini musoro wenyaya yandiri kutaura, asiwo ndirini zvakare muiti wetsvakurudzo. Ndichishandisa zvandakasangana nazvo, nezvandinofunga nekuona sasarungano – ndinodzokera kuchimbo chinotaura nyaya yevaShona pakapinda vachena munyika yeZimbabwe. Ndinotsanangura zvinoreva Chemutengure, uye nekukosha kwacho mukufambisa ruzivo, mashoko nekutsanangura hupenyu hwedu sevanhu vatema vakanga vakadzvanyiriwa. Chemutengure mafungiro, imhenenguro, iyambiro nehungwaru. Ndinotsanangura ruzivo rwevanhu vangu nekushanduka kwarwo kwakakonzerwa nechirungu. Ndinoita izvi ndichipenengura ngano, mabhuku, nziyo, mafungiro nezvimwe zvimutengure zvakatakura ngano. Otoetinogirafu iyo yandichapa zita rekuti husarungano imhando yekuvhiya uchiita tsvakurudzo, uye inowanikwa pakati pehumhizha hwekunyora nyaya nekupenengura zvine chekuita nehumhizha hwetsika nemagariro evanhu. Husarungano hunovhurira musiwo vanhu vanowanzovharirwa kunze netsvakurudzo dzinoitwa mumayunivhesiti dzine mitauro isiri yavo uyewo dzimwe nguva isinganzwisisike zviri nyn’ore. Husarungano hunoshandisa rondedzero nengano kuti zvinhu zvinosanganisira hukama nezvakasanganikwa nazvo nevanhu zvinzwisisike, panguva imwechete pachiumbwa hukama pakati penguva dzakare nazvino, hukama pakati pevanoita tsvakurudzo nevavari kuita tsvakurudzo pamusoro pavo, hukama pakati pevanyori nevaverengi, vanasarungano nevateereri vengano (Adams nevamwe, 2015). Tsvakurudzo ino haisi kuzopedza zvese zvinofanira kutaurwa pamusoro pengano, tsika nemagariro evanhu vatema, kunyorwa kwemabhuku nezvimwe zvakawanda zvainobata nekutarisa, asi riripo kuratidza simba nehupfumi huri muruzivo rwevaShona rwuri kurariswa muberere memba, chirungu chichirariswa mumba. Shanduko yandiri kutarisa mubasa rino inoda kuti isu vanhu vatema tisarambe tichiverengera kuti tirongeke nekuronga mafambiro nemararamiro achaita ruzivo rwedu munyika iri kukoshesa ruzivo, maitiro nezvinhu zvinogadzirwa nevarungu. Kana tikasaronga kuti tipembedze nekuwanisa ruzivo rwedu mukana, tichaita mufakose – kurasikirwa nezvedu, nekusakwana kana kunyatsonzwisisa zvevamwe zvatiri kukoshesa. Ruzivo rwandakashandisa mubasa rino rwunosanganisira zvakaitika kwandiri kubva pandakatanga kuziva ngano dzandakaudzwa nambuya vangu, kubatsirwa kwangu nengano kuchikoro, kuve munyori wemabhuku, nekuenda kwangu mhiri kwemakungwa sasarungano. Zvakarewo ndiri kutarisa ngano dzakaunganidzwa nekunyorwa nemamishenari, ngano dzakanyorwa kare muNative Afffairs Department Annual (NADA), ngano dzakaitwa senziyo, ngano dzakaitwa neLiterature Bureau, nengano dzandave kuita dzemanon-governmental organisations (NGO), panhepfenyuro, paTwitter nezvimwe zvimutengure zvakasiyana-siyana. Hupfumi huri mungano, mazano ekuri kuenda ngano dzedu, nezvinoreva chemutengure senzira yemafungiro zvinobuda mutsvakurudzo ino. Chitsauko 1 ndicho chinozama kutevedza nzira yekuita tsvakurudzo inozivikanwa, asi Chitsauko 2 inyunyuto inoburitsa mukundo une chirungu sekuunzwa kwachakaitwa naCecil John Rhodes. Chitsauko 3 chinotambanudza nekujekesa kukosha kwechimbo Chemutengure, uyewo nekuti sezano, chemutengure chinotibata sei nhasi uno. Chitsauko 4 chinoronda nzira dzakafamba nadzo ngano dzekunze dzichipinda matiri, uyewo nezvakaitwa nengano dzedu pamusoro peshanduko yakanga yauya. Chitsauko 5 chinopa mienzaniso yezviteshi zvakamira ngano dzevatema padzakabva mumisha dzichienda kuzvikoro kusvika dzazove muzvimwe zvimutengure zvakadziendesa kure nasarungano. Chitsauko 6 chinotarisa dambudziko rine chirungu muhupenyu hwevanhu vatema, nekukosha kwekudada nerudzi rwedu. Chitsauko 7 chinopeta basa chichipa mazano, chichiratidza kuti ngano hadzifanire kufa nekuti dzakagara dzine simba rekufambirana nenguva. , This research is my story as a Shona folklorist and creative writer, but it is also the story of the Shona people. It is a story of how I am “a child” of storytelling, and how the stories that raised me got appropriated and incorporated into the colonial school system where they converged and mixed with western forms of storytelling to create hybrids. As a storyteller I use autoethnography – which offers an insider’s perspective - to interpret and explain, to reflect and analyse the art of storytelling in my culture. The alienation of indigenous knowledge and cultural practices – specifically storytelling, is what necessitates the use of autoethnography for this study. Autoethnography is a qualitative research method of writing and storytelling where the researcher is the subject and the researcher's experiences are the data. I, being a Shona storyteller and creative writer, will systematically journey back and analyse personal experiences in order to make sense of the Shona people’s cultural experiences. The research process will see me running away from depending on other people’s records about my people’s cultural history. Instead, I traverse back in time to consult and extract a theory from the Shona song called Chemutengure from around 1890 that tells the story of British colonisation from the perspective of the colonised. I theorise and explain Chemutengure’s pedagogical and epistemological significance in critiquing the plight of Africans suffering contact-induced change. I apply the Chemutengure theory to folktales, books, songs, paradigms and other agents that played an active role in producing new forms of storytelling and worldviews. Autoethnography is a type of research method that blends engaging creative writing and analysis of cultural experiences. It opens doors of research to the subalterns who are usually shut out by research that is done in universities. “Rather than producing esoteric, jargon-laden texts, many auto-ethnographers recognize a need to speak also to nonacademic audiences,” (Adams et al, 2015: 42) employing narrative and story-telling to give meaning to identities, relationships, and experiences, and to create relationships between past and present, researchers and participants, writers and readers, tellers and audiences, (Adams et al, 2015:23). This research will not exhaust all that needs to be explored and said about Shona folktales, creativity and culture, or its literature and the many cultural aspects it looks at. Rather, it seeks to highlight, decolonize and deconstruct colonial mentalities, while emancipating the Shona worldview that has been put on leash by colonialism and western capitalistic tendencies. The study also looks at positive change that occurs when cultures inform one another, but without turning a blind eye to the lack of mutuality and how the logic of capitalism has left Africa hemorrhaging ideologically. Drawing from personal experiences when I listened to my grandmother’s stories, the study looks at the influence of folktales on my creative writing career. I reflect on my experiences as a Fulbright Scholar, as well as my Canadian experiences as storyteller and writer-in-residence at the University of Manitoba. Besides analysing stories written by missionaries in early Shona school readers, I also discuss folktales published in the Native Affairs Department Annual (NADA); the folktales performed as songs; the comic tales published by the Literature Bureau; tales developed for private institutions, government and non-governmental organisations; stories on radio, Twitter and many other forms. Besides giving the subaltern a voice, this research attempts to artistically demonstrate the power and versatility of the Shona folktale, as well as the genre’s potential for growth and development. Chapter 1 introduces the autoethngraphy method as well as what I hope to achieve through the methodology and style of writing. Chapter 2 is a conversation between a representative of the colonised and Cecil John Rhodes the imperialist. Besides pointing out imperialism’s damage to indigenous identities, the chapter discusses how Africa and Europe’s paradigms are diametrically conflicting. Chapter 3 introduces, explains and analyses the song/theory Chemutengure, and how it applies to the condition of the native in postcolonial Africa today. Chapter 4 tracks the trajectory of foreign tales in Zimbabwe, and how they influenced native folktales. The response of local tales is also critiqued. Chapter 5 looks at the milestones in the structural transformation of indigenous folktales, and how they were appropriated and hitched a ride in the wagon of change. Chapter 6 is a reflection on the impact of westernisation and globalisation in the lives of Africans, and how confused the native has become without his cultural anchor. Chapter 7 concludes by acknowledging the inevitability of change, and suggests how cultural practices and perspectives must respond to social change so as to remain relevant.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Mabasa, Ignatius T
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Ethnology -- Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe -- Folklore , Shona (African people) -- Folklore , Ethnoscience , Decolonization in literature , Decolonization -- Africa , Autoethnography , Chemutengure , Subaltern
- Language: Shona
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PHD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174198 , vital:42454 , http://doi.org/10.21504/10962/174198
- Description: Tsvakurudzo ino inyaya yangu sasarungano nemunyori weChiShona, asiwo iri nyaya yevanhu veChiShona. Inyaya yekurerwa kwandakaitwa nengano, ndikaona ngano dzakandirera dzichipinzwa muzvikoro, dzichisangana nechirungu, dzichifambidzana nechirungu, nekuzopedzisira dzazvara mimwe misambo yengano. Basa rino maonero angu ndichishandisa nzira yetsvakurudzo inonzi husarungano, kureva muono wasarungano. Izvi zvinoreva kududzira nekutsanangura, kufungisisa nekupenengura humhizha hunowanikwa mutsika nemagariro angu, sasarungano ari kupfuurira mberi nekuita ngano munyika yazara chirungu. Naizvozvo, ini ndini musoro wenyaya yandiri kutaura, asiwo ndirini zvakare muiti wetsvakurudzo. Ndichishandisa zvandakasangana nazvo, nezvandinofunga nekuona sasarungano – ndinodzokera kuchimbo chinotaura nyaya yevaShona pakapinda vachena munyika yeZimbabwe. Ndinotsanangura zvinoreva Chemutengure, uye nekukosha kwacho mukufambisa ruzivo, mashoko nekutsanangura hupenyu hwedu sevanhu vatema vakanga vakadzvanyiriwa. Chemutengure mafungiro, imhenenguro, iyambiro nehungwaru. Ndinotsanangura ruzivo rwevanhu vangu nekushanduka kwarwo kwakakonzerwa nechirungu. Ndinoita izvi ndichipenengura ngano, mabhuku, nziyo, mafungiro nezvimwe zvimutengure zvakatakura ngano. Otoetinogirafu iyo yandichapa zita rekuti husarungano imhando yekuvhiya uchiita tsvakurudzo, uye inowanikwa pakati pehumhizha hwekunyora nyaya nekupenengura zvine chekuita nehumhizha hwetsika nemagariro evanhu. Husarungano hunovhurira musiwo vanhu vanowanzovharirwa kunze netsvakurudzo dzinoitwa mumayunivhesiti dzine mitauro isiri yavo uyewo dzimwe nguva isinganzwisisike zviri nyn’ore. Husarungano hunoshandisa rondedzero nengano kuti zvinhu zvinosanganisira hukama nezvakasanganikwa nazvo nevanhu zvinzwisisike, panguva imwechete pachiumbwa hukama pakati penguva dzakare nazvino, hukama pakati pevanoita tsvakurudzo nevavari kuita tsvakurudzo pamusoro pavo, hukama pakati pevanyori nevaverengi, vanasarungano nevateereri vengano (Adams nevamwe, 2015). Tsvakurudzo ino haisi kuzopedza zvese zvinofanira kutaurwa pamusoro pengano, tsika nemagariro evanhu vatema, kunyorwa kwemabhuku nezvimwe zvakawanda zvainobata nekutarisa, asi riripo kuratidza simba nehupfumi huri muruzivo rwevaShona rwuri kurariswa muberere memba, chirungu chichirariswa mumba. Shanduko yandiri kutarisa mubasa rino inoda kuti isu vanhu vatema tisarambe tichiverengera kuti tirongeke nekuronga mafambiro nemararamiro achaita ruzivo rwedu munyika iri kukoshesa ruzivo, maitiro nezvinhu zvinogadzirwa nevarungu. Kana tikasaronga kuti tipembedze nekuwanisa ruzivo rwedu mukana, tichaita mufakose – kurasikirwa nezvedu, nekusakwana kana kunyatsonzwisisa zvevamwe zvatiri kukoshesa. Ruzivo rwandakashandisa mubasa rino rwunosanganisira zvakaitika kwandiri kubva pandakatanga kuziva ngano dzandakaudzwa nambuya vangu, kubatsirwa kwangu nengano kuchikoro, kuve munyori wemabhuku, nekuenda kwangu mhiri kwemakungwa sasarungano. Zvakarewo ndiri kutarisa ngano dzakaunganidzwa nekunyorwa nemamishenari, ngano dzakanyorwa kare muNative Afffairs Department Annual (NADA), ngano dzakaitwa senziyo, ngano dzakaitwa neLiterature Bureau, nengano dzandave kuita dzemanon-governmental organisations (NGO), panhepfenyuro, paTwitter nezvimwe zvimutengure zvakasiyana-siyana. Hupfumi huri mungano, mazano ekuri kuenda ngano dzedu, nezvinoreva chemutengure senzira yemafungiro zvinobuda mutsvakurudzo ino. Chitsauko 1 ndicho chinozama kutevedza nzira yekuita tsvakurudzo inozivikanwa, asi Chitsauko 2 inyunyuto inoburitsa mukundo une chirungu sekuunzwa kwachakaitwa naCecil John Rhodes. Chitsauko 3 chinotambanudza nekujekesa kukosha kwechimbo Chemutengure, uyewo nekuti sezano, chemutengure chinotibata sei nhasi uno. Chitsauko 4 chinoronda nzira dzakafamba nadzo ngano dzekunze dzichipinda matiri, uyewo nezvakaitwa nengano dzedu pamusoro peshanduko yakanga yauya. Chitsauko 5 chinopa mienzaniso yezviteshi zvakamira ngano dzevatema padzakabva mumisha dzichienda kuzvikoro kusvika dzazove muzvimwe zvimutengure zvakadziendesa kure nasarungano. Chitsauko 6 chinotarisa dambudziko rine chirungu muhupenyu hwevanhu vatema, nekukosha kwekudada nerudzi rwedu. Chitsauko 7 chinopeta basa chichipa mazano, chichiratidza kuti ngano hadzifanire kufa nekuti dzakagara dzine simba rekufambirana nenguva. , This research is my story as a Shona folklorist and creative writer, but it is also the story of the Shona people. It is a story of how I am “a child” of storytelling, and how the stories that raised me got appropriated and incorporated into the colonial school system where they converged and mixed with western forms of storytelling to create hybrids. As a storyteller I use autoethnography – which offers an insider’s perspective - to interpret and explain, to reflect and analyse the art of storytelling in my culture. The alienation of indigenous knowledge and cultural practices – specifically storytelling, is what necessitates the use of autoethnography for this study. Autoethnography is a qualitative research method of writing and storytelling where the researcher is the subject and the researcher's experiences are the data. I, being a Shona storyteller and creative writer, will systematically journey back and analyse personal experiences in order to make sense of the Shona people’s cultural experiences. The research process will see me running away from depending on other people’s records about my people’s cultural history. Instead, I traverse back in time to consult and extract a theory from the Shona song called Chemutengure from around 1890 that tells the story of British colonisation from the perspective of the colonised. I theorise and explain Chemutengure’s pedagogical and epistemological significance in critiquing the plight of Africans suffering contact-induced change. I apply the Chemutengure theory to folktales, books, songs, paradigms and other agents that played an active role in producing new forms of storytelling and worldviews. Autoethnography is a type of research method that blends engaging creative writing and analysis of cultural experiences. It opens doors of research to the subalterns who are usually shut out by research that is done in universities. “Rather than producing esoteric, jargon-laden texts, many auto-ethnographers recognize a need to speak also to nonacademic audiences,” (Adams et al, 2015: 42) employing narrative and story-telling to give meaning to identities, relationships, and experiences, and to create relationships between past and present, researchers and participants, writers and readers, tellers and audiences, (Adams et al, 2015:23). This research will not exhaust all that needs to be explored and said about Shona folktales, creativity and culture, or its literature and the many cultural aspects it looks at. Rather, it seeks to highlight, decolonize and deconstruct colonial mentalities, while emancipating the Shona worldview that has been put on leash by colonialism and western capitalistic tendencies. The study also looks at positive change that occurs when cultures inform one another, but without turning a blind eye to the lack of mutuality and how the logic of capitalism has left Africa hemorrhaging ideologically. Drawing from personal experiences when I listened to my grandmother’s stories, the study looks at the influence of folktales on my creative writing career. I reflect on my experiences as a Fulbright Scholar, as well as my Canadian experiences as storyteller and writer-in-residence at the University of Manitoba. Besides analysing stories written by missionaries in early Shona school readers, I also discuss folktales published in the Native Affairs Department Annual (NADA); the folktales performed as songs; the comic tales published by the Literature Bureau; tales developed for private institutions, government and non-governmental organisations; stories on radio, Twitter and many other forms. Besides giving the subaltern a voice, this research attempts to artistically demonstrate the power and versatility of the Shona folktale, as well as the genre’s potential for growth and development. Chapter 1 introduces the autoethngraphy method as well as what I hope to achieve through the methodology and style of writing. Chapter 2 is a conversation between a representative of the colonised and Cecil John Rhodes the imperialist. Besides pointing out imperialism’s damage to indigenous identities, the chapter discusses how Africa and Europe’s paradigms are diametrically conflicting. Chapter 3 introduces, explains and analyses the song/theory Chemutengure, and how it applies to the condition of the native in postcolonial Africa today. Chapter 4 tracks the trajectory of foreign tales in Zimbabwe, and how they influenced native folktales. The response of local tales is also critiqued. Chapter 5 looks at the milestones in the structural transformation of indigenous folktales, and how they were appropriated and hitched a ride in the wagon of change. Chapter 6 is a reflection on the impact of westernisation and globalisation in the lives of Africans, and how confused the native has become without his cultural anchor. Chapter 7 concludes by acknowledging the inevitability of change, and suggests how cultural practices and perspectives must respond to social change so as to remain relevant.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Etude postcoloniale : une analyse thematique et stylistique de quelques reuvres en litterature africaine francophone
- Authors: Mzite, Martha
- Date: 2017
- Language: French
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:21356 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8116
- Description: This study is a thematic and a stylistic analysis of five novels written by five francophone novelists namely: Calixthe Beyala (La Plantation), Assia Djebar (Nulle part dans la maison de mon pere), Fatou Diome (Celles qui attendent ), Emmanuel Dongala (Photo de groupe au bord du fleuve) and Rabia Diallo (Amours cruelles, beaute coupable). The novels under study investigate the ways in which African women’s lives are affected by factors such as conflict and financial issues. Through the analysis of the above mentioned novels this research seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge in the following ways. Since a lot of literature already exists on African migrants in Europe moreover little information analyses the conditions of those who remain behind hence this thesis seeks to provide an analysis of the plight of mothers, wives and children who remain in the country of origin waiting for the departed men. To shed light on women emancipation, this research also analyses the evolution of women solidarity before and after independence. In relation to the theoretical framework, pro feminist and stylistics theories form the theoretical basis of this study. It is against this background that it can be deduced that the analysis of these set books shows that gender issues aggravate the suppression of African women. As a result, this lessens the circumstances that favor the attainment of selfrealisation. Simone de Beauvoir’s notion of ‘consciousness of oppression’, ‘one is not born a woman’ and Spivak’s essay entitled “Can the Subaltern Speak?” form the theoretical aspect of this research. Simone de Beauvoir’s concept “one is not born a woman”, unfolds the origin of all the factors that subjugate women in society. When she postulates the idea of “consciousness of oppression”, she calls on women to be mindful of their surroundings and free themselves from all societal values that infringe on their rights. The linguistic analysis in this research provides insight into the women’s speech and why they choose certain words. Over and above these concerns, it can be concluded that by emulating the example of these fictional female characters, African women can come together and contribute to their own iii empowerment. In regard to migration, the women and the children who remain behind suffer more than the migrants. , Cette etude est une analyse thematique et stylistique de cinq romans ecrits par cinq romanciers francophones, a savoir Calixthe Beyala (La Plantation), Assia Djebar (Nulle part dans la maison de mon pere), Fatou Diome (Celles qui attendent), Emmanuel Dongala (Photo de groupe au bord du fleuve) et Rabia Diallo (Amours cruelles, beaute coupable). Les romans a l'etude etudient les faqons dont la vie des femmes africaines est affectee par des facteurs tels que les conflits et les questions financieres. En analysant ces romans cette recherche vise a contribuer dans la banque des donnees a travers les manieres suivantes. Etant donne qu'il existe deja beaucoup d’informations sur les migrants africains en Europe, peu d'informations analysent les conditions de ceux qui restent dans le pays d’origine. A cet egard, cette these vise a fournir une analyse du sort des meres, des epouses et des enfants qui restent dans le pays d'origine en attendant les hommes qui sont partis. Pour mettre en lumiere Emancipation des femmes, cette recherche analyse egalement Evolution de la solidarite de femmes avant et apres l'independance. En ce qui concerne le cadre theorique, les theories pro-feministes et stylistiques forment la base theorique de cette etude. L'analyse de ces ouvrages montre que les questions de genre accentuent l’oppression des femmes africaines. En consequence, cela diminue les circonstances qui favorisent la realisation de soi. La notion de « conscience de l'oppression » de Simone de Beauvoir, et aussi sa pensee selon laquelle « on ne nait pas femme, on le devient » forment la base theorique de cette these. Cette vision etablit l’origine de tous les facteurs qui asservissent les femmes dans la societe. La conscience de l’oppression invite la femme a prendre connaissance de son environnement et de se liberer de toutes les valeurs de la societe qui porte atteinte a ses droits. La problematique se resume ainsi « les subalternes, peuvent-elles parler ? » L'analyse linguistique de cette recherche donne un aperqu de la parole des femmes et pourquoi elles choisissent certains mots. Au-dela de ces preoccupations, on peut conclure que, en imitant l'exemple de ces personnages feminins fictifs, les femmes africaines peuvent s’unir et contribuer a leur v propre emancipation. En ce qui concerne la migration, il sera demontre comment les femmes et les enfants qui restent derriere souffrent aussi bien que les migrants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mzite, Martha
- Date: 2017
- Language: French
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:21356 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8116
- Description: This study is a thematic and a stylistic analysis of five novels written by five francophone novelists namely: Calixthe Beyala (La Plantation), Assia Djebar (Nulle part dans la maison de mon pere), Fatou Diome (Celles qui attendent ), Emmanuel Dongala (Photo de groupe au bord du fleuve) and Rabia Diallo (Amours cruelles, beaute coupable). The novels under study investigate the ways in which African women’s lives are affected by factors such as conflict and financial issues. Through the analysis of the above mentioned novels this research seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge in the following ways. Since a lot of literature already exists on African migrants in Europe moreover little information analyses the conditions of those who remain behind hence this thesis seeks to provide an analysis of the plight of mothers, wives and children who remain in the country of origin waiting for the departed men. To shed light on women emancipation, this research also analyses the evolution of women solidarity before and after independence. In relation to the theoretical framework, pro feminist and stylistics theories form the theoretical basis of this study. It is against this background that it can be deduced that the analysis of these set books shows that gender issues aggravate the suppression of African women. As a result, this lessens the circumstances that favor the attainment of selfrealisation. Simone de Beauvoir’s notion of ‘consciousness of oppression’, ‘one is not born a woman’ and Spivak’s essay entitled “Can the Subaltern Speak?” form the theoretical aspect of this research. Simone de Beauvoir’s concept “one is not born a woman”, unfolds the origin of all the factors that subjugate women in society. When she postulates the idea of “consciousness of oppression”, she calls on women to be mindful of their surroundings and free themselves from all societal values that infringe on their rights. The linguistic analysis in this research provides insight into the women’s speech and why they choose certain words. Over and above these concerns, it can be concluded that by emulating the example of these fictional female characters, African women can come together and contribute to their own iii empowerment. In regard to migration, the women and the children who remain behind suffer more than the migrants. , Cette etude est une analyse thematique et stylistique de cinq romans ecrits par cinq romanciers francophones, a savoir Calixthe Beyala (La Plantation), Assia Djebar (Nulle part dans la maison de mon pere), Fatou Diome (Celles qui attendent), Emmanuel Dongala (Photo de groupe au bord du fleuve) et Rabia Diallo (Amours cruelles, beaute coupable). Les romans a l'etude etudient les faqons dont la vie des femmes africaines est affectee par des facteurs tels que les conflits et les questions financieres. En analysant ces romans cette recherche vise a contribuer dans la banque des donnees a travers les manieres suivantes. Etant donne qu'il existe deja beaucoup d’informations sur les migrants africains en Europe, peu d'informations analysent les conditions de ceux qui restent dans le pays d’origine. A cet egard, cette these vise a fournir une analyse du sort des meres, des epouses et des enfants qui restent dans le pays d'origine en attendant les hommes qui sont partis. Pour mettre en lumiere Emancipation des femmes, cette recherche analyse egalement Evolution de la solidarite de femmes avant et apres l'independance. En ce qui concerne le cadre theorique, les theories pro-feministes et stylistiques forment la base theorique de cette etude. L'analyse de ces ouvrages montre que les questions de genre accentuent l’oppression des femmes africaines. En consequence, cela diminue les circonstances qui favorisent la realisation de soi. La notion de « conscience de l'oppression » de Simone de Beauvoir, et aussi sa pensee selon laquelle « on ne nait pas femme, on le devient » forment la base theorique de cette these. Cette vision etablit l’origine de tous les facteurs qui asservissent les femmes dans la societe. La conscience de l’oppression invite la femme a prendre connaissance de son environnement et de se liberer de toutes les valeurs de la societe qui porte atteinte a ses droits. La problematique se resume ainsi « les subalternes, peuvent-elles parler ? » L'analyse linguistique de cette recherche donne un aperqu de la parole des femmes et pourquoi elles choisissent certains mots. Au-dela de ces preoccupations, on peut conclure que, en imitant l'exemple de ces personnages feminins fictifs, les femmes africaines peuvent s’unir et contribuer a leur v propre emancipation. En ce qui concerne la migration, il sera demontre comment les femmes et les enfants qui restent derriere souffrent aussi bien que les migrants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
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
Exploring structures and beliefs underlying textbook praxis in German foreign language courses at a South African university – a social realist perspective
- Authors: Engelbrecht, Natasha
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: German language Study and teaching (Higher) English speakers , Curriculum change South Africa , German language Textbooks History and criticism , Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Project) , Decolonization South Africa , Educational change South Africa , Social realism
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232657 , vital:50011 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/232657
- Description: Commercial textbooks, aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), are prescribed in almost all undergraduate GFL courses offered at South African universities. Although providing practical relevance and quality assurance, the CEFR-level descriptors were developed for the European context. The projected relevance and appropriateness of teaching materials presently implemented in German curricula in South African higher education have been determined in Germany, not for local contexts, but for learners vaguely described as “Anfänger” (Evans, et al., 2012, p. 8) and “Erwachsene und Jugendliche ab 16 Jahren” (Hueber, 2019, p. 11), often with a focus on learning for prospective German immigrants or for the use in refugee- or immigrant integration courses. However, the textbook occupies a central position in the GFL course because of the structured grammar progression that it lends to the curriculum. The variety of resources available to lecturers (tests, worksheets, online learning platform) and students (exercises, English-German glossary, English grammar explanations) is also an asset to GFL courses. Calls for the transformation and decolonisation of higher education have prompted academic disciplines to re-evaluate the common-sense assumptions which underpin knowledge practices in their curriculum. Following a social realist perspective and an exploratory case-study approach, this study presents a critical analysis of the textbook prescribed in the German Studies 1 course at Rhodes University and student experiences of the textbook to disentangle the complex relations which cause textbook praxis and lay bare power structures and tensions in the system. , Thesis (PhD) -- Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Engelbrecht, Natasha
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: German language Study and teaching (Higher) English speakers , Curriculum change South Africa , German language Textbooks History and criticism , Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Project) , Decolonization South Africa , Educational change South Africa , Social realism
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232657 , vital:50011 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/232657
- Description: Commercial textbooks, aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), are prescribed in almost all undergraduate GFL courses offered at South African universities. Although providing practical relevance and quality assurance, the CEFR-level descriptors were developed for the European context. The projected relevance and appropriateness of teaching materials presently implemented in German curricula in South African higher education have been determined in Germany, not for local contexts, but for learners vaguely described as “Anfänger” (Evans, et al., 2012, p. 8) and “Erwachsene und Jugendliche ab 16 Jahren” (Hueber, 2019, p. 11), often with a focus on learning for prospective German immigrants or for the use in refugee- or immigrant integration courses. However, the textbook occupies a central position in the GFL course because of the structured grammar progression that it lends to the curriculum. The variety of resources available to lecturers (tests, worksheets, online learning platform) and students (exercises, English-German glossary, English grammar explanations) is also an asset to GFL courses. Calls for the transformation and decolonisation of higher education have prompted academic disciplines to re-evaluate the common-sense assumptions which underpin knowledge practices in their curriculum. Following a social realist perspective and an exploratory case-study approach, this study presents a critical analysis of the textbook prescribed in the German Studies 1 course at Rhodes University and student experiences of the textbook to disentangle the complex relations which cause textbook praxis and lay bare power structures and tensions in the system. , Thesis (PhD) -- Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
Exploring teaching and learning German as a foreign language at a South African institution of higher education: blended learning and collocations
- Authors: Ortner, Gwyndolen Jeanie
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: German language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , German language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , German language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- English speakers -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students , Rhodes University. German Studies
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167295 , vital:41465
- Description: German Studies students at Rhodes University have normally never studied the German language before enrolling for the first-year course and face the challenge of a fairly rapid linguistic advancement, in a context with very limited exposure to the foreign language outside the classroom. Free writing is an area which students find particularly challenging as it requires students to syndissertatione grammatical and vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, South African students are often underprepared for the challenges they face at university regarding language, technology and finance, as they try to to assimilate to the academic environment and gain epistemological access to their various subjects, in this case, language acquisition and the attendant modules of translation, literature and cultural studies. The use of technology in teaching and learning, known as blended learning, is said to produce better results than face-to face teaching alone, through creating opportunities for more autonomous student learning. Scholars of instructed second-language acquisition also suggest using technology to improve language instruction. One particular area which is gaining ground is teaching students collocational structures through exploring large language corpora, to improve students’ language competencies such as writing fluency. However, both blended learning practices and corpus-based teaching practices suggested by scholars are often not reported on in a particular teaching and learning context, taking into account factors such as institutional infrastructure, student and staff backgrounds and preparedness, and larger socio-political factors. Thus, it remains unclear how these practices (blended learning and corpus-based teaching of collocations) may be integrated into standard urricula, particularly for languages other than English, which have been severely under-researched. The purpose of this research is to take a context-based approach to language teaching and thereby investigate current blended learning practices for German Studies at Rhodes University in South Africa and explore through an action research approach how to integrate collocational awareness into the curriculum, within the blended learning model. Insights from corpus linguistics guide an adaptation of teaching practice, helping students develop skills to aid with writing fluency, seeking to make the patterned nature of language salient to our students. This is undertaken in a scaffolded way, within the curriculum, making use firstly of the texts to which students are exposed in the textbook (comprehensible input) as a source of collocational examples, and following this by making use of reallife language data from an online German corpus, DWDS. Findings from the study reveal a number of best practices related to the use of blended learning and teaching collocations in context of the German foreign language curriculum at a South African institution of higher education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Ortner, Gwyndolen Jeanie
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: German language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , German language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , German language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- English speakers -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students , Rhodes University. German Studies
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167295 , vital:41465
- Description: German Studies students at Rhodes University have normally never studied the German language before enrolling for the first-year course and face the challenge of a fairly rapid linguistic advancement, in a context with very limited exposure to the foreign language outside the classroom. Free writing is an area which students find particularly challenging as it requires students to syndissertatione grammatical and vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, South African students are often underprepared for the challenges they face at university regarding language, technology and finance, as they try to to assimilate to the academic environment and gain epistemological access to their various subjects, in this case, language acquisition and the attendant modules of translation, literature and cultural studies. The use of technology in teaching and learning, known as blended learning, is said to produce better results than face-to face teaching alone, through creating opportunities for more autonomous student learning. Scholars of instructed second-language acquisition also suggest using technology to improve language instruction. One particular area which is gaining ground is teaching students collocational structures through exploring large language corpora, to improve students’ language competencies such as writing fluency. However, both blended learning practices and corpus-based teaching practices suggested by scholars are often not reported on in a particular teaching and learning context, taking into account factors such as institutional infrastructure, student and staff backgrounds and preparedness, and larger socio-political factors. Thus, it remains unclear how these practices (blended learning and corpus-based teaching of collocations) may be integrated into standard urricula, particularly for languages other than English, which have been severely under-researched. The purpose of this research is to take a context-based approach to language teaching and thereby investigate current blended learning practices for German Studies at Rhodes University in South Africa and explore through an action research approach how to integrate collocational awareness into the curriculum, within the blended learning model. Insights from corpus linguistics guide an adaptation of teaching practice, helping students develop skills to aid with writing fluency, seeking to make the patterned nature of language salient to our students. This is undertaken in a scaffolded way, within the curriculum, making use firstly of the texts to which students are exposed in the textbook (comprehensible input) as a source of collocational examples, and following this by making use of reallife language data from an online German corpus, DWDS. Findings from the study reveal a number of best practices related to the use of blended learning and teaching collocations in context of the German foreign language curriculum at a South African institution of higher education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Gray
- Authors: Fouché, James De Clerque
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Diaries -- Authorship , Detective and mystery stories, South African (English) 21st century , South African fiction (English) 21st century , South African essays (English) 21st century , English fiction 20th century History and criticism , American fiction African American authors History and criticism , American fiction 20th century History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/292715 , vital:57009
- Description: My thesis is a crime fiction novella. I’m moved by the idea of developing feasible, relatable characters with flaws – a staple of the crime fiction genre. I also appreciate how crime serves as a platform from which to launch into human drama, the way James Ellroy does in The Black Dahlia. While my protagonist endures trials on a near Jobian scale, the narrative meditates on the consequences of crime and conflict in a satirical way. Writers like Ross Macdonald, Raymond Chandler, Flannery O’Connor, China Miéville and Derek Raymond have inspired me with their sharp imagery and unconventional characterization techniques. These techniques accelerate the ease with which a reader can step into the shoes of any given narrator. Their writing is crisp, uncluttered and uncomplicated. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Fouché, James De Clerque
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Diaries -- Authorship , Detective and mystery stories, South African (English) 21st century , South African fiction (English) 21st century , South African essays (English) 21st century , English fiction 20th century History and criticism , American fiction African American authors History and criticism , American fiction 20th century History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/292715 , vital:57009
- Description: My thesis is a crime fiction novella. I’m moved by the idea of developing feasible, relatable characters with flaws – a staple of the crime fiction genre. I also appreciate how crime serves as a platform from which to launch into human drama, the way James Ellroy does in The Black Dahlia. While my protagonist endures trials on a near Jobian scale, the narrative meditates on the consequences of crime and conflict in a satirical way. Writers like Ross Macdonald, Raymond Chandler, Flannery O’Connor, China Miéville and Derek Raymond have inspired me with their sharp imagery and unconventional characterization techniques. These techniques accelerate the ease with which a reader can step into the shoes of any given narrator. Their writing is crisp, uncluttered and uncomplicated. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
Hermēs Dolios: Performances of Hermes as trickster in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes
- Authors: Nel, Aiden Pieter
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Hermes (Greek deity) , Hymn to Hermes , Tricksters in literature , Loki (Norse deity) , Hynes, William J , Doty, William G, 1939-J , Wakdjunkaga (Winnebago Trickster) , Ture (Zande Trickster)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190978 , vital:45046
- Description: This thesis explores the Greek god Hermes' representation in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes to establish the extent to which he partakes in Hynes' defined set of characteristics associated with mythological 'trickster' figures. Hermes is an unorthodox figure as although he embodies many aspects of the trickster, he willingly relinquishes some of these aspects within his hymn. I first outline and explore the trickster phenomenon and the complex methodological issue concerning global comparison. Hynes’ criteria are first applied to three other tricksters the Amerindian (Winnebago) trickster Wakdjunkaga, the central African (Azande) trickster Ture and the northern European (Norse) trickster Loki, which establishes a baseline that will help determine how Hermes conforms to this typology. All three figures’ cultural contexts are first addressed, as the cultural context is key in understanding a figure’s potential inclusion in the trickster category. I then explore Hermes’ performances within his hymn and other genres to formulate how his patron powers and actions relate to his designation as a trickster. I argue, in conclusion, that Hynes’ typology is a useful tool in determining any figure’s degree of ‘tricksterness’ and show that Hermes and the other three figures do embody Hynes’ characteristics. Each, however, embodies them differently and in a specific manner. I argue that the manner in which they relate to the criteria is dictated by their respective cultural contexts, and what their narrators intended to illustrate through the stories wherein tricksters reside. I further argue that narrative intent, genre and cultural context appear to be the main factors that mould each respective figure. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Nel, Aiden Pieter
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Hermes (Greek deity) , Hymn to Hermes , Tricksters in literature , Loki (Norse deity) , Hynes, William J , Doty, William G, 1939-J , Wakdjunkaga (Winnebago Trickster) , Ture (Zande Trickster)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190978 , vital:45046
- Description: This thesis explores the Greek god Hermes' representation in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes to establish the extent to which he partakes in Hynes' defined set of characteristics associated with mythological 'trickster' figures. Hermes is an unorthodox figure as although he embodies many aspects of the trickster, he willingly relinquishes some of these aspects within his hymn. I first outline and explore the trickster phenomenon and the complex methodological issue concerning global comparison. Hynes’ criteria are first applied to three other tricksters the Amerindian (Winnebago) trickster Wakdjunkaga, the central African (Azande) trickster Ture and the northern European (Norse) trickster Loki, which establishes a baseline that will help determine how Hermes conforms to this typology. All three figures’ cultural contexts are first addressed, as the cultural context is key in understanding a figure’s potential inclusion in the trickster category. I then explore Hermes’ performances within his hymn and other genres to formulate how his patron powers and actions relate to his designation as a trickster. I argue, in conclusion, that Hynes’ typology is a useful tool in determining any figure’s degree of ‘tricksterness’ and show that Hermes and the other three figures do embody Hynes’ characteristics. Each, however, embodies them differently and in a specific manner. I argue that the manner in which they relate to the criteria is dictated by their respective cultural contexts, and what their narrators intended to illustrate through the stories wherein tricksters reside. I further argue that narrative intent, genre and cultural context appear to be the main factors that mould each respective figure. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Hiding no scars
- Authors: Mhlongo, Sanele
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African poetry (English) 21st century , Interpersonal relations in literature , Diaries -- Authorship , South African essays (English) 21st century , Russian poetry 20th century History and criticism , South African fiction (English) 21st century History and criticism , Greek poetry History and criticism , German poetry 20th century History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294311 , vital:57190
- Description: My thesis is a collection of free-verse narrative and prose poetry focusing on rural life and people, as well as my personal relationships. Poetry through its play with language has the ability to say things with immediacy and allows unnoticed things to acquire relevance. It gives me a framework within which to express difficult themes such as family relationships, death, solitude, and poverty. In writing these poems I have drawn on the work of Constantine P. Cavafy, particularly the poems ‘Ithaka’, ‘The City’ and ‘As Much As You Can’ which showcase his consistently simple narrative style that covers profound subjects. I have also been influenced by Paul Celan’s poetry in his collection Breathturn Into Timestead where poems such as ‘Corona’, ‘In praise of remoteness’ and ‘Twelve Years’ demonstrate how poetry can have pace through tightly controlled yet experimental structure. I have also drawn on Anna Akhmatova’s symbolic poetry, specifically the poems ‘Now the pillow’s’, ‘He loved three things, alive’ and ‘Prologue’ from the selection Anna Akhmatova: Selected Poems which has its intention the re-creation of the past in the present. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Mhlongo, Sanele
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African poetry (English) 21st century , Interpersonal relations in literature , Diaries -- Authorship , South African essays (English) 21st century , Russian poetry 20th century History and criticism , South African fiction (English) 21st century History and criticism , Greek poetry History and criticism , German poetry 20th century History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294311 , vital:57190
- Description: My thesis is a collection of free-verse narrative and prose poetry focusing on rural life and people, as well as my personal relationships. Poetry through its play with language has the ability to say things with immediacy and allows unnoticed things to acquire relevance. It gives me a framework within which to express difficult themes such as family relationships, death, solitude, and poverty. In writing these poems I have drawn on the work of Constantine P. Cavafy, particularly the poems ‘Ithaka’, ‘The City’ and ‘As Much As You Can’ which showcase his consistently simple narrative style that covers profound subjects. I have also been influenced by Paul Celan’s poetry in his collection Breathturn Into Timestead where poems such as ‘Corona’, ‘In praise of remoteness’ and ‘Twelve Years’ demonstrate how poetry can have pace through tightly controlled yet experimental structure. I have also drawn on Anna Akhmatova’s symbolic poetry, specifically the poems ‘Now the pillow’s’, ‘He loved three things, alive’ and ‘Prologue’ from the selection Anna Akhmatova: Selected Poems which has its intention the re-creation of the past in the present. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07