A psychosocial reading of novice clinical psychologists’ talk about whiteness
- Authors: Kennedy, Brink
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Clinical psychology Practice South Africa , White people Race identity South Africa , White privilege (Social structure) South Africa , White people Race identity Psychological aspects , Intercultural communication , Psychoanalysis and racism South Africa , Mentalization Based Therapy
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60212 , vital:27751
- Description: This research presents a case study report of interview encounters with two novice white South African clinical psychologists. A psychosocial research methodology is employed to examine the discursive strategies that participants engage in when speaking about whiteness in the context of their professional identity and practice, as well as to examine the ways in which these discursive strategies support or constrain ‘mentalizing’ in relation to raced experience. One case study highlights an individualistic discourse of ‘racial innocence’, which constructs the speaker as being free of racial enculturation and consciousness, eliding a broader social context. I argue that this discourse closes down mentalizing in relation to more difficult, intractable aspects of raced experience in clinical work, relating to differences in positionality as well as issues of inequality. I also propose that this discourse may be understood in terms of a ‘pretend’ mode of thought, where aspects of the wider social context and of race in particular are experienced as being unrelated to intimate personal experience. The other case study highlights a discourse of ‘uneasy whiteness’ that involves awareness of white positionality, and that is grounded in a constructionist sensibility. This positions the speaker as being inevitably implicated in white privilege and racism in ways that she may be ignorant of. I argue that the discourse facilitates a particular type of mentalizing that is sensitive to the interpellation of intimate personal experience with a wider social context that encompasses a range of discourses and practices. It closes down mentalizing, however, in so far as it allows a reified construction of whiteness. I find the concept of psychic equivalence, which equates external (concrete, factual) reality and internal (subjective, symbolic) reality, useful in terms of understanding this reification. Overall the research highlights the tension between constructionist and individualistic modes of thinking within clinical psychology research and practice in the South African context. At the level of methodology, it presents an example of how these modes may be integrated within research. At the level of content, it explores differences between constructionist and individualistic talk in relation to race and psychological practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Kennedy, Brink
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Clinical psychology Practice South Africa , White people Race identity South Africa , White privilege (Social structure) South Africa , White people Race identity Psychological aspects , Intercultural communication , Psychoanalysis and racism South Africa , Mentalization Based Therapy
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60212 , vital:27751
- Description: This research presents a case study report of interview encounters with two novice white South African clinical psychologists. A psychosocial research methodology is employed to examine the discursive strategies that participants engage in when speaking about whiteness in the context of their professional identity and practice, as well as to examine the ways in which these discursive strategies support or constrain ‘mentalizing’ in relation to raced experience. One case study highlights an individualistic discourse of ‘racial innocence’, which constructs the speaker as being free of racial enculturation and consciousness, eliding a broader social context. I argue that this discourse closes down mentalizing in relation to more difficult, intractable aspects of raced experience in clinical work, relating to differences in positionality as well as issues of inequality. I also propose that this discourse may be understood in terms of a ‘pretend’ mode of thought, where aspects of the wider social context and of race in particular are experienced as being unrelated to intimate personal experience. The other case study highlights a discourse of ‘uneasy whiteness’ that involves awareness of white positionality, and that is grounded in a constructionist sensibility. This positions the speaker as being inevitably implicated in white privilege and racism in ways that she may be ignorant of. I argue that the discourse facilitates a particular type of mentalizing that is sensitive to the interpellation of intimate personal experience with a wider social context that encompasses a range of discourses and practices. It closes down mentalizing, however, in so far as it allows a reified construction of whiteness. I find the concept of psychic equivalence, which equates external (concrete, factual) reality and internal (subjective, symbolic) reality, useful in terms of understanding this reification. Overall the research highlights the tension between constructionist and individualistic modes of thinking within clinical psychology research and practice in the South African context. At the level of methodology, it presents an example of how these modes may be integrated within research. At the level of content, it explores differences between constructionist and individualistic talk in relation to race and psychological practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
A thematic analysis of the challenges experienced by those living with tuberculosis
- Authors: Walaza, Robert Letsholo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Tuberculosis Patients South Africa , Tuberculosis Social aspects , South Africa Social conditions , Poor Health and hygiene South Africa , Poor Medical care South Africa , Social medicine South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61850 , vital:28068
- Description: Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) in his study, The condition of the working class in England, argued that the cause of illness and death amongst the working class was due to their living conditions such as poor housing, over-crowding, poor sanitation, food shortage, low paying jobs and a lack of material resources. The objective of the study was to understand the experiences of six South African individuals who have shared their experiences and challenges of living with TB on the TB&ME blog, and to show how TB is linked to the living conditions of these individuals. The study found that the challenges experienced by TB patient bloggers are of a social nature and confirms Engel’s study findings on the conditions of the working class in England. For example, a disease such as TB has a direct association with the living conditions of people, especially the poor. Thus, socio economic status of TB patient bloggers plays a role in the escalation of their ill health. Further, the study found that gender is central in understanding non-compliance to treatment. This is significant as it highlights the need to not only focus on issues of socioeconomics, but gender issues in fighting TB. Despite the negative consequences associated with living with TB, the bloggers have noted that the support from loved ones and other stakeholders in the fight against TB alleviates the challenges inherent in living with TB.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Walaza, Robert Letsholo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Tuberculosis Patients South Africa , Tuberculosis Social aspects , South Africa Social conditions , Poor Health and hygiene South Africa , Poor Medical care South Africa , Social medicine South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61850 , vital:28068
- Description: Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) in his study, The condition of the working class in England, argued that the cause of illness and death amongst the working class was due to their living conditions such as poor housing, over-crowding, poor sanitation, food shortage, low paying jobs and a lack of material resources. The objective of the study was to understand the experiences of six South African individuals who have shared their experiences and challenges of living with TB on the TB&ME blog, and to show how TB is linked to the living conditions of these individuals. The study found that the challenges experienced by TB patient bloggers are of a social nature and confirms Engel’s study findings on the conditions of the working class in England. For example, a disease such as TB has a direct association with the living conditions of people, especially the poor. Thus, socio economic status of TB patient bloggers plays a role in the escalation of their ill health. Further, the study found that gender is central in understanding non-compliance to treatment. This is significant as it highlights the need to not only focus on issues of socioeconomics, but gender issues in fighting TB. Despite the negative consequences associated with living with TB, the bloggers have noted that the support from loved ones and other stakeholders in the fight against TB alleviates the challenges inherent in living with TB.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
An action research approach: developing intercultural competence in German Studies at Rhodes University
- Authors: Collins, Morgan Gwyneth
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Action research in education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , German language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , Cultural relations , Multicultural education , World citizenship
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63910 , vital:28505
- Description: The need to develop interculturally competent graduates is a concern for universities across the world. In South African universities this need is linked to globalization and increased diversity in terms of student demographics since 1994. Considering the legacy of apartheid, South African universities especially, and pressingly, need to respond to both global and national diversity concerns. ICC can play a significant role in creating more culturally inclusive spaces as students are provided with opportunities to “relate to and with people from vastly different cultural and ethnic backgrounds” (Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009, p. 4). In a similar way, Germany has faced, and continues to face, challenges relating to diversity especially in relation to migrants and as such, interculturality is a topic of debate in society and scholarly discourse. Therefore, ICC is as relevant to German society as it is South African society. Courses that explicitly deal with ICC are however, not common in South African universities and discourse, and as a result universities are “missing out on developing students’ intercultural competence” (Deardorff & Quinlan, 2016). This thesis aimed to address this gap by investigating the viability and necessity of introducing a module that deals explicitly with ICC into the German Studies course at Rhodes University. In doing so it contributed to the creation of disciplinary knowledge as well as furthering the aim of aiding the creation of responsible global citizenship, alongside ‘academic citizenship’, and aiding the internationalisation at home concept by encouraging the students to understand their own lived reality in a diverse society. This research made use of an action research approach to implementing a module and tracing its development. Student responses, as well as reflection and observation, found that a module dealing explicitly with ICC was viable and able to contribute to developing students’ sense of cultural self-awareness and their awareness of ICC as a set of transferrable skills and knowledges. This module aimed to serve as an introduction to ICC for students in order to begin to develop their intercultural competence and increase their awareness and critical approach to culture and intercultural encounters.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Collins, Morgan Gwyneth
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Action research in education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , German language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , Cultural relations , Multicultural education , World citizenship
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63910 , vital:28505
- Description: The need to develop interculturally competent graduates is a concern for universities across the world. In South African universities this need is linked to globalization and increased diversity in terms of student demographics since 1994. Considering the legacy of apartheid, South African universities especially, and pressingly, need to respond to both global and national diversity concerns. ICC can play a significant role in creating more culturally inclusive spaces as students are provided with opportunities to “relate to and with people from vastly different cultural and ethnic backgrounds” (Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009, p. 4). In a similar way, Germany has faced, and continues to face, challenges relating to diversity especially in relation to migrants and as such, interculturality is a topic of debate in society and scholarly discourse. Therefore, ICC is as relevant to German society as it is South African society. Courses that explicitly deal with ICC are however, not common in South African universities and discourse, and as a result universities are “missing out on developing students’ intercultural competence” (Deardorff & Quinlan, 2016). This thesis aimed to address this gap by investigating the viability and necessity of introducing a module that deals explicitly with ICC into the German Studies course at Rhodes University. In doing so it contributed to the creation of disciplinary knowledge as well as furthering the aim of aiding the creation of responsible global citizenship, alongside ‘academic citizenship’, and aiding the internationalisation at home concept by encouraging the students to understand their own lived reality in a diverse society. This research made use of an action research approach to implementing a module and tracing its development. Student responses, as well as reflection and observation, found that a module dealing explicitly with ICC was viable and able to contribute to developing students’ sense of cultural self-awareness and their awareness of ICC as a set of transferrable skills and knowledges. This module aimed to serve as an introduction to ICC for students in order to begin to develop their intercultural competence and increase their awareness and critical approach to culture and intercultural encounters.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
An interpretative phenomenological analysis of HIV positive individuals’ experiences of being in a support group
- Authors: Brink, Nicole
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: HIV-positive persons -- Social aspects Self-help groups AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- Counseling of AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62988 , vital:28351
- Description: People who have been diagnosed HIV positive often experience distress and anxiety due to uncertainties pertaining to the implications of an HIV positive status. Research has shown that support groups have always been a way for people to cope with the distress and stressful circumstances associated with health conditions such as HIV. This research investigated the role of face to face support groups in the lives of those living with HIV. The primary focus of this research project is to provide an in-depth exploration of HIV positive individuals‟ experiences of being in a support group. The study aims to explore the positive and negative experiences of being in an HIV support group and aims to gain an understanding of the role support plays in the lives of those living with HIV. A qualitative research design was used to explore the above mentioned aim. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five individuals, (three women and two men) who had experienced HIV support groups. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed according to the principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The findings of this study revealed five super-ordinate themes, which revealed not only the positive and negative experiences of being in a support group, but also the challenges that the participants‟ experienced before joining the group. Getting a sense of the participants‟ experience before joining the group allowed the researcher to get a better understanding of how useful or not the support group has been in helping them deal with the challenges of living with HIV. The themes included: „struggling to survive after diagnosis‟, „struggling to cope: adopting negative coping skills‟, „experiencing a turning-point: a will to survive‟, „attending support group: a sweet experience‟ and lastly, „attending support groups: a bitter experience‟. Findings suggest that for these participants, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages of being in a support group. Therefore this study suggests that face to face support groups are a viable and even necessary option for support. These findings support previous research and literature in regards to the importance of social support in the form of support groups in effectively assisting HIV positive people in their journey to adjust to the consequence of living with HIV.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Brink, Nicole
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: HIV-positive persons -- Social aspects Self-help groups AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- Counseling of AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62988 , vital:28351
- Description: People who have been diagnosed HIV positive often experience distress and anxiety due to uncertainties pertaining to the implications of an HIV positive status. Research has shown that support groups have always been a way for people to cope with the distress and stressful circumstances associated with health conditions such as HIV. This research investigated the role of face to face support groups in the lives of those living with HIV. The primary focus of this research project is to provide an in-depth exploration of HIV positive individuals‟ experiences of being in a support group. The study aims to explore the positive and negative experiences of being in an HIV support group and aims to gain an understanding of the role support plays in the lives of those living with HIV. A qualitative research design was used to explore the above mentioned aim. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five individuals, (three women and two men) who had experienced HIV support groups. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed according to the principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The findings of this study revealed five super-ordinate themes, which revealed not only the positive and negative experiences of being in a support group, but also the challenges that the participants‟ experienced before joining the group. Getting a sense of the participants‟ experience before joining the group allowed the researcher to get a better understanding of how useful or not the support group has been in helping them deal with the challenges of living with HIV. The themes included: „struggling to survive after diagnosis‟, „struggling to cope: adopting negative coping skills‟, „experiencing a turning-point: a will to survive‟, „attending support group: a sweet experience‟ and lastly, „attending support groups: a bitter experience‟. Findings suggest that for these participants, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages of being in a support group. Therefore this study suggests that face to face support groups are a viable and even necessary option for support. These findings support previous research and literature in regards to the importance of social support in the form of support groups in effectively assisting HIV positive people in their journey to adjust to the consequence of living with HIV.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Beasts we love
- Authors: Masolane, Tseliso Chrisjan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Detective and mystery stories, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63098 , vital:28363
- Description: My thesis is a novella in flash, written as political crime fiction. It is set in contemporary South Africa and tells the story of Rafau Lekopo, a teacher from a little township called Dikgohlong, whose life is changed forever after he finds his wife and the mayor in bed and shoots them both dead. The information contained within the dead mayor's notebook proves to be explosive, showing that the mayor is far more than he seems, and that he is in fact in the employ of a foreign intelligence service. After his release from prison, the embittered Lekopo sets about his revenge against powerful men who abuse their political power. He takes refuge in Lesotho, masterminds a series of heists, car-hijackings and human trafficking, and expands his syndication back in South Africa. Using the contacts and information from the mayor's notebook, he manipulates the Lesotho government into a diplomatic feud with South Africa which treatens to escalate into a military conflict.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Masolane, Tseliso Chrisjan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Detective and mystery stories, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63098 , vital:28363
- Description: My thesis is a novella in flash, written as political crime fiction. It is set in contemporary South Africa and tells the story of Rafau Lekopo, a teacher from a little township called Dikgohlong, whose life is changed forever after he finds his wife and the mayor in bed and shoots them both dead. The information contained within the dead mayor's notebook proves to be explosive, showing that the mayor is far more than he seems, and that he is in fact in the employ of a foreign intelligence service. After his release from prison, the embittered Lekopo sets about his revenge against powerful men who abuse their political power. He takes refuge in Lesotho, masterminds a series of heists, car-hijackings and human trafficking, and expands his syndication back in South Africa. Using the contacts and information from the mayor's notebook, he manipulates the Lesotho government into a diplomatic feud with South Africa which treatens to escalate into a military conflict.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Between blue and light
- Authors: Campbell, Jennifer
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63570 , vital:28441
- Description: My novella follows a narrator observing her life, as she struggles with what it is to live in a world that she finds simultaneously frightening and beautiful. The story touches on the limitations of human connection and with loss in various forms. Set in both Cape Town and small town South Africa, the story explores the inner life of a woman detached and adrift.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Campbell, Jennifer
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63570 , vital:28441
- Description: My novella follows a narrator observing her life, as she struggles with what it is to live in a world that she finds simultaneously frightening and beautiful. The story touches on the limitations of human connection and with loss in various forms. Set in both Cape Town and small town South Africa, the story explores the inner life of a woman detached and adrift.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Black university students’ experiences of negotiating their social identity in a historically white university
- Authors: Mogotsi, Opelo Petunia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Corporate culture -- South Africa , Social integration -- South Africa , Race discrimination -- South Africa , Segregation in higher education -- South Africa , Group identity -- South Africa , College students, Black -- South Africa , Biko, Steve, 1946-1977 , Fanon, Frantz, 1925-1961
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62416 , vital:28174
- Description: This thesis seeks to explore the social identity of black students in a historically white university. Since 1994, South African government has been promulgating pieces of legislation aimed at ensuring racial integration, and indirectly enforcing acculturation in historically white universities. Studies have proven that institutional cultures in historically white universities alienate and exclude black students’ identities. These students’ sense of social identity, which includes amongst others; culture, heritage, language and traditions, and consequently self-esteem and self-concept is altered in these institutions. Research has been scant regarding the shape and form that black students’ identity assume when they get to these spaces. Face to face interviews were used to collect data and thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The Social Identity and the Acculturation models were used to explore the experiences of black students in negotiating their social identities in a historically white university. Evoking Steve Biko’s analysis of ‘artificial integration’, it was illustrated how the ‘integration’ narrative sought to discard the identity of black students and psychologically enforce a simulation of black students into white established identities. The main themes discussed indicated that black students in this study had social identity and identity challenges in a historically white university. This study has implications for policy development as I hope to theoretically sensitize historically white universities to (apart from mere opening of spaces of learning) understand the social identity challenges of black students.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mogotsi, Opelo Petunia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Corporate culture -- South Africa , Social integration -- South Africa , Race discrimination -- South Africa , Segregation in higher education -- South Africa , Group identity -- South Africa , College students, Black -- South Africa , Biko, Steve, 1946-1977 , Fanon, Frantz, 1925-1961
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62416 , vital:28174
- Description: This thesis seeks to explore the social identity of black students in a historically white university. Since 1994, South African government has been promulgating pieces of legislation aimed at ensuring racial integration, and indirectly enforcing acculturation in historically white universities. Studies have proven that institutional cultures in historically white universities alienate and exclude black students’ identities. These students’ sense of social identity, which includes amongst others; culture, heritage, language and traditions, and consequently self-esteem and self-concept is altered in these institutions. Research has been scant regarding the shape and form that black students’ identity assume when they get to these spaces. Face to face interviews were used to collect data and thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The Social Identity and the Acculturation models were used to explore the experiences of black students in negotiating their social identities in a historically white university. Evoking Steve Biko’s analysis of ‘artificial integration’, it was illustrated how the ‘integration’ narrative sought to discard the identity of black students and psychologically enforce a simulation of black students into white established identities. The main themes discussed indicated that black students in this study had social identity and identity challenges in a historically white university. This study has implications for policy development as I hope to theoretically sensitize historically white universities to (apart from mere opening of spaces of learning) understand the social identity challenges of black students.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Black woman you’re on your own
- Authors: Ngada, Unathi Ndlelantle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63110 , vital:28364
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Ngada, Unathi Ndlelantle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63110 , vital:28364
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Blue ring of fire
- Authors: O’Flaherty, Craig
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63615 , vital:28448
- Description: My poems are reflections of shape, colour and emotions expressed through imagery. Their unsentimental landscape-realism echo my own feelings as well as broader human dimensions of contradiction and uncertainty, without trying to resolve them. In the same way that photography is the art of 'painting with light', my poems seek a language that evokes light and darkness. They aspire to what Keats said when writing about ‘negative capability’: “Poetical character has no self, it is anything and nothing, it has no character and enjoys light and shade”. My poems explore what I have learned about form – how line-length, syntax and musicality can add grace and energy to language. Poets that have influenced me include the classical Chinese poets such as Du Fu and Li Po, and the Generation of 27 Spanish poets, such as Antonio Machado and Leon Felipe.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: O’Flaherty, Craig
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63615 , vital:28448
- Description: My poems are reflections of shape, colour and emotions expressed through imagery. Their unsentimental landscape-realism echo my own feelings as well as broader human dimensions of contradiction and uncertainty, without trying to resolve them. In the same way that photography is the art of 'painting with light', my poems seek a language that evokes light and darkness. They aspire to what Keats said when writing about ‘negative capability’: “Poetical character has no self, it is anything and nothing, it has no character and enjoys light and shade”. My poems explore what I have learned about form – how line-length, syntax and musicality can add grace and energy to language. Poets that have influenced me include the classical Chinese poets such as Du Fu and Li Po, and the Generation of 27 Spanish poets, such as Antonio Machado and Leon Felipe.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Bringing us back
- Authors: Dhliwayo, Mercy
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63077 , vital:28361
- Description: My thesis takes the form of a collection of short stories set mostly in Zimbabwe and South Africa under the current political, social and economic climate. The themes I explore include forced migrations, identity, family disintegration and destitution. I use non-linear narration inspired by my reading of Dambudzo Marechera and Lidia Yuknavitch’s use of photographic imagery, in Black Sunlight and The Small Backs of Children respectively, to heighten my thematic concerns. The poetry in their language also serves as a source of inspiration, as does the graphic imagery used by Ayi Kwei Armah. In addition, I draw on the fragmented form used by Deepak Unnikrishnan to explore migration in his collection, Temporary People and Miljenko Jergovic’s investigation of violence and displacement in Sarajevo Marlboro.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Dhliwayo, Mercy
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63077 , vital:28361
- Description: My thesis takes the form of a collection of short stories set mostly in Zimbabwe and South Africa under the current political, social and economic climate. The themes I explore include forced migrations, identity, family disintegration and destitution. I use non-linear narration inspired by my reading of Dambudzo Marechera and Lidia Yuknavitch’s use of photographic imagery, in Black Sunlight and The Small Backs of Children respectively, to heighten my thematic concerns. The poetry in their language also serves as a source of inspiration, as does the graphic imagery used by Ayi Kwei Armah. In addition, I draw on the fragmented form used by Deepak Unnikrishnan to explore migration in his collection, Temporary People and Miljenko Jergovic’s investigation of violence and displacement in Sarajevo Marlboro.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Challenging Biblical boundaries: Jeanette Winterson’s postmodern feminist subversion of Biblical discourse in Oranges are not the only fruit (1985) and Boating for beginners (1985)
- Authors: Erasmus, Shirley
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Criticism and interpretation , Bible -- Feminist criticism , Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc , Postmodernism -- Religious aspects , Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Oranges are not the only fruit , Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Boating for beginners , Patriarchy in literature , Sex discrimination in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59121 , vital:27430
- Description: This thesis investigates the subversion of Biblical discourse in Jeanette Winterson’s first two novels, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit and Boating for Beginners. By rewriting Biblical stories Winterson challenges traditional Western religious discourses and their rules for heteronormative social and sexual behaviours and desires. Winterson’s texts respond to the patriarchal nature of socially pervasive texts, such as the Bible, by encouraging her readers to regard these texts with suspicion, thus highlighting what can be seen as a ‘postmodern concern’ with the notion of ‘truth’. Chapter One of this thesis comprises a discussion of Biblical boundaries. These boundaries, I argue, are a process of historical oppression which serves to subjugate and control women, a practice inherent in the Bible and modern society. The Biblical boundaries within which women are expected to live, are carefully portrayed in Oranges and then comically and blasphemously mocked in Boating. Chapter One also argues that Winterson’s sexuality plays an important role in the understanding of her texts, despite her desire for her sexuality to remain ‘outside’ her writing. Chapter Two of this thesis, examines the mix of fact and fiction in Oranges, in order to create a new genre: fictional memoir. The chapter introduces the concept of the ‘autobiographical pact’ and the textual agreement which Winterson creates with her readers. In this chapter, I examine Winterson’s powerful subversion of Biblical discourse, through her narration of Jeanette’s ‘coming out’ within a Biblical framework. Chapter Three of this thesis examines Winterson’s second book, Boating, and the serious elements of this comic book. This chapter studies the various postmodern narrative techniques used in Boating in order to subvert Biblical and historical discourse. Chapter Three highlights Winterson’s postmodern concern with the construction of history as ‘truth’. Finally, Chapter Four compares Oranges and Boating, showing the texts as differing, yet equally relevant textual counterparts. This chapter examines the anti-feminine characters in both texts and Winterson’s ability to align her reader with a feminist or lesbian viewpoint. This thesis argues that Winterson’s first two texts deliberately challenge Biblical discourse in favour of a postmodern feminist viewpoint.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Erasmus, Shirley
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Criticism and interpretation , Bible -- Feminist criticism , Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc , Postmodernism -- Religious aspects , Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Oranges are not the only fruit , Winterson, Jeanette, 1959- -- Boating for beginners , Patriarchy in literature , Sex discrimination in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59121 , vital:27430
- Description: This thesis investigates the subversion of Biblical discourse in Jeanette Winterson’s first two novels, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit and Boating for Beginners. By rewriting Biblical stories Winterson challenges traditional Western religious discourses and their rules for heteronormative social and sexual behaviours and desires. Winterson’s texts respond to the patriarchal nature of socially pervasive texts, such as the Bible, by encouraging her readers to regard these texts with suspicion, thus highlighting what can be seen as a ‘postmodern concern’ with the notion of ‘truth’. Chapter One of this thesis comprises a discussion of Biblical boundaries. These boundaries, I argue, are a process of historical oppression which serves to subjugate and control women, a practice inherent in the Bible and modern society. The Biblical boundaries within which women are expected to live, are carefully portrayed in Oranges and then comically and blasphemously mocked in Boating. Chapter One also argues that Winterson’s sexuality plays an important role in the understanding of her texts, despite her desire for her sexuality to remain ‘outside’ her writing. Chapter Two of this thesis, examines the mix of fact and fiction in Oranges, in order to create a new genre: fictional memoir. The chapter introduces the concept of the ‘autobiographical pact’ and the textual agreement which Winterson creates with her readers. In this chapter, I examine Winterson’s powerful subversion of Biblical discourse, through her narration of Jeanette’s ‘coming out’ within a Biblical framework. Chapter Three of this thesis examines Winterson’s second book, Boating, and the serious elements of this comic book. This chapter studies the various postmodern narrative techniques used in Boating in order to subvert Biblical and historical discourse. Chapter Three highlights Winterson’s postmodern concern with the construction of history as ‘truth’. Finally, Chapter Four compares Oranges and Boating, showing the texts as differing, yet equally relevant textual counterparts. This chapter examines the anti-feminine characters in both texts and Winterson’s ability to align her reader with a feminist or lesbian viewpoint. This thesis argues that Winterson’s first two texts deliberately challenge Biblical discourse in favour of a postmodern feminist viewpoint.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Chasing shadow and make believe
- Authors: Mofokeng, Reikanne
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Science fiction, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63626 , vital:28449
- Description: My thesis is a science fiction novella. It follows the story of an adolescent boy, Shadow, and a little girl, Makebelieve, in an ahistorical future. The world that they traverse is earth, after being nursed back to health, by technologically advanced Southern African societies. A series of inexplicable astronomical events leads to their being hunted down. Through the travels of Shadow and Makebelieve I show how the world and the societies around them operate. I am inspired by Samuel R Delaney’s Aye, Gomorrah and Derrick Bell’s The Space Traders, because of their prowess in world building and exploration of complex and innovative ideas.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mofokeng, Reikanne
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Science fiction, South African (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63626 , vital:28449
- Description: My thesis is a science fiction novella. It follows the story of an adolescent boy, Shadow, and a little girl, Makebelieve, in an ahistorical future. The world that they traverse is earth, after being nursed back to health, by technologically advanced Southern African societies. A series of inexplicable astronomical events leads to their being hunted down. Through the travels of Shadow and Makebelieve I show how the world and the societies around them operate. I am inspired by Samuel R Delaney’s Aye, Gomorrah and Derrick Bell’s The Space Traders, because of their prowess in world building and exploration of complex and innovative ideas.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Dangerous liaisons or critical alliances: student perceptions of community engagement at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Authors: Levy, Simone Arielle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students -- Public services , Community and college -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57411 , vital:26907
- Description: Community Engagement (CE) in South Africa is an increasingly important feature of the relationship between the university and a broader community, and may aid in bridging the entrenched social divisions of this nation. This will only be possible if CE succeeds in uniting the knowledge production interests of the university and the broader community. Through CE, knowledge production and dissemination from within the university should be made more relevant and applicable because it is based on a relationship or engagement with a community. Based on the perceptions of student volunteers in a CE programme at a South African university, this thesis set out to ask whether or not students are transformed through university-community collaboration. This research examines the perceptions and motivations of student volunteers entering community partnership programmes. More importantly, it asks whether these engagements are merely a “weekend special” consisting of shallow engagements, which last only a few hours a week that provide institutional window dressing; or well-intended engagements through which students build meaningful relationships and experience learning opportunities that prepare them for real world civic participation. As this thesis focuses on the student perspective, it explores whether or not CE has an impact, both personally and educationally or academically, on the lives of individual student volunteers. The literature on CE argues that students’ participation in CE opportunities should enhance academic learning, personal growth and promote a sense of citizenship or civic responsibility. Based on the perceptions of a small group of student volunteers at one university, this thesis identifies possible successes and limitations of CE volunteering programmes in order to see if what is promoted in the literature or institutional policies is being experienced or achieved in practice at universities. I argue that students are indeed transformed through processes of CE, often in unexpected ways, and despite many difficulties. Therefore, if CE provides students with more holistic learning opportunities while attending universities for academic ends, it is important to look at in what ways this is achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Levy, Simone Arielle
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students -- Public services , Community and college -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education, Higher -- Social aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57411 , vital:26907
- Description: Community Engagement (CE) in South Africa is an increasingly important feature of the relationship between the university and a broader community, and may aid in bridging the entrenched social divisions of this nation. This will only be possible if CE succeeds in uniting the knowledge production interests of the university and the broader community. Through CE, knowledge production and dissemination from within the university should be made more relevant and applicable because it is based on a relationship or engagement with a community. Based on the perceptions of student volunteers in a CE programme at a South African university, this thesis set out to ask whether or not students are transformed through university-community collaboration. This research examines the perceptions and motivations of student volunteers entering community partnership programmes. More importantly, it asks whether these engagements are merely a “weekend special” consisting of shallow engagements, which last only a few hours a week that provide institutional window dressing; or well-intended engagements through which students build meaningful relationships and experience learning opportunities that prepare them for real world civic participation. As this thesis focuses on the student perspective, it explores whether or not CE has an impact, both personally and educationally or academically, on the lives of individual student volunteers. The literature on CE argues that students’ participation in CE opportunities should enhance academic learning, personal growth and promote a sense of citizenship or civic responsibility. Based on the perceptions of a small group of student volunteers at one university, this thesis identifies possible successes and limitations of CE volunteering programmes in order to see if what is promoted in the literature or institutional policies is being experienced or achieved in practice at universities. I argue that students are indeed transformed through processes of CE, often in unexpected ways, and despite many difficulties. Therefore, if CE provides students with more holistic learning opportunities while attending universities for academic ends, it is important to look at in what ways this is achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Engaging with media as a knowledge resource for making sense of climate change: a case study of the farmers of Nyanga, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mandikonza, Blessing
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Climatic changes in mass media , Knowledge, Sociology of , Farms, Small -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga , Crops and climate -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture -- Environmental aspects -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga , Agriculture and politics -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga , Agriculture -- Research -- Sociological aspects , Agricultural journalism -- Zimbabwe , Land reform -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63764 , vital:28486
- Description: This study explores how small-scale farmers in Nyanga, Zimbabwe engage with the media as a knowledge resource for achieving agricultural productivity, particularly in context of climate change. The study is contextualised by means of a literature review that maps out the history of agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe. It is argued that this history has been shaped by changes in both socio-economic context and climatic conditions. Both kinds of change impact on the degree to which small-scale farmers have access to knowledge that is of relevance to agricultural productivity. The study then examines the Zimbabwean media landscape, focusing on how history has shaped the way in which different media define their social purpose. This examination draws on Hallin and Mancini‟s „models‟ of media systems as well as Christian et al‟s traditions of media practice. It is concluded that, due to the high level of conflict that has characterised Zimbabwean history, aspects of both the polarised pluralist and democratic corporatist models are present in its media landscape. The collaborative, monitorial and radical approaches to media also exist in contestation with each other. Indeed, the media is characterised by profound contestation around the conceptualisation of social purpose. Furthermore, international media is of particular significance as a resource of knowledge within the local media landscape. The empirical component of the study explores the implications for the extent to which media are likely to serve as valuable knowledge resources for small-scale farmers. This exploration is pursued by means of a case study of the experiences of three farmers in Nyanga who were granted farms as part of the government‟s land-reform programme. In context of episodic biographical interviews, the participants share their experience of becoming farmers and of managing their farms. Attention is paid to the challenges they face with regards to producing successful crops, both in context of socio-economic and climatic conditions. The study looks at the way in which participants draw on the media as a knowledge resource to help them overcome these challenges. The participants understand international media to be a more credible knowledge resource, but also refer to the need for local media which can provides them with knowledge of local relevance. In this context they identify an absence of collaborative, developmental media that engages with the unique challenges that they face in producing crops. It is concluded that the value of media for the farmers of Nyanga as a knowledge resource for making sense of climate change would only be achieved through the establishment of locally produced, participatory media that foregrounds the use of indigenous language.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mandikonza, Blessing
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Climatic changes in mass media , Knowledge, Sociology of , Farms, Small -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga , Crops and climate -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture -- Environmental aspects -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga , Agriculture and politics -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga , Agriculture -- Research -- Sociological aspects , Agricultural journalism -- Zimbabwe , Land reform -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63764 , vital:28486
- Description: This study explores how small-scale farmers in Nyanga, Zimbabwe engage with the media as a knowledge resource for achieving agricultural productivity, particularly in context of climate change. The study is contextualised by means of a literature review that maps out the history of agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe. It is argued that this history has been shaped by changes in both socio-economic context and climatic conditions. Both kinds of change impact on the degree to which small-scale farmers have access to knowledge that is of relevance to agricultural productivity. The study then examines the Zimbabwean media landscape, focusing on how history has shaped the way in which different media define their social purpose. This examination draws on Hallin and Mancini‟s „models‟ of media systems as well as Christian et al‟s traditions of media practice. It is concluded that, due to the high level of conflict that has characterised Zimbabwean history, aspects of both the polarised pluralist and democratic corporatist models are present in its media landscape. The collaborative, monitorial and radical approaches to media also exist in contestation with each other. Indeed, the media is characterised by profound contestation around the conceptualisation of social purpose. Furthermore, international media is of particular significance as a resource of knowledge within the local media landscape. The empirical component of the study explores the implications for the extent to which media are likely to serve as valuable knowledge resources for small-scale farmers. This exploration is pursued by means of a case study of the experiences of three farmers in Nyanga who were granted farms as part of the government‟s land-reform programme. In context of episodic biographical interviews, the participants share their experience of becoming farmers and of managing their farms. Attention is paid to the challenges they face with regards to producing successful crops, both in context of socio-economic and climatic conditions. The study looks at the way in which participants draw on the media as a knowledge resource to help them overcome these challenges. The participants understand international media to be a more credible knowledge resource, but also refer to the need for local media which can provides them with knowledge of local relevance. In this context they identify an absence of collaborative, developmental media that engages with the unique challenges that they face in producing crops. It is concluded that the value of media for the farmers of Nyanga as a knowledge resource for making sense of climate change would only be achieved through the establishment of locally produced, participatory media that foregrounds the use of indigenous language.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Exploring the adaptability and applicability of military mental skills training for South African paramedics
- Authors: Minnie, Chantel
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Allied health personnel -- South Africa , Allied health personnel -- Mental health -- South Africa , Post-traumatic stress disorder -- South Africa , Emergency medical services -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61580 , vital:28039
- Description: Paramedics in South Africa are among the best in the world (MacFarlane, van Loggerenberg, & Kloeck, 2005). However, the domain of pre-hospital emergency care is fraught with challenges and paramedics face numerous personal and professional difficulties. South Africa, with its diverse patient population and challenges, cannot afford to undermine the importance of supportive interventions for emergency medical technicians. Whilst there is a growing body of literature examining the effectiveness of mental skills training in the sporting domain (Gould, Dieffenbach, & Moffett, 2002; Landers & Boutcher, 1998), there is a lack of research on mental skills training as it pertains to paramedics. It is argued here, that the use of mental skills training derived from sporting science and adapted for the military, provides the most comparable context in relation to the paramedic industry. This study thus aims to explore the adaptability and applicability of military mental skills training techniques in the context of South African paramedics. This study made use of an exploratory, qualitative case study design, focusing on participatory research strategies. The analysis revealed that various aspects of existing military mental skills models can be adapted to be of relevance in the emergency medical services field as it related to three paramedic participants. A prominent emerging theme was that of PTSD among paramedics, and it was an area that the participants felt should receive much more attention, research and intervention.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Minnie, Chantel
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Allied health personnel -- South Africa , Allied health personnel -- Mental health -- South Africa , Post-traumatic stress disorder -- South Africa , Emergency medical services -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61580 , vital:28039
- Description: Paramedics in South Africa are among the best in the world (MacFarlane, van Loggerenberg, & Kloeck, 2005). However, the domain of pre-hospital emergency care is fraught with challenges and paramedics face numerous personal and professional difficulties. South Africa, with its diverse patient population and challenges, cannot afford to undermine the importance of supportive interventions for emergency medical technicians. Whilst there is a growing body of literature examining the effectiveness of mental skills training in the sporting domain (Gould, Dieffenbach, & Moffett, 2002; Landers & Boutcher, 1998), there is a lack of research on mental skills training as it pertains to paramedics. It is argued here, that the use of mental skills training derived from sporting science and adapted for the military, provides the most comparable context in relation to the paramedic industry. This study thus aims to explore the adaptability and applicability of military mental skills training techniques in the context of South African paramedics. This study made use of an exploratory, qualitative case study design, focusing on participatory research strategies. The analysis revealed that various aspects of existing military mental skills models can be adapted to be of relevance in the emergency medical services field as it related to three paramedic participants. A prominent emerging theme was that of PTSD among paramedics, and it was an area that the participants felt should receive much more attention, research and intervention.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Human capital and other stories
- Authors: Dludlu, John
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63121 , vital:28365
- Description: My collection of short stories is set mostly in Gauteng and revolves around mainly the lives of the urban, black elite almost three decades after the first non‐racial elections in South Africa. It captures emerging trends and fault lines and enquires into whether South Africa can continue on a different path from that of the rest of the continent. Themes covered in the collection, which still espouses idealism, include the acquisition of power, status and money, the use and abuse of these, as well as the psychosocial effects of money on this group. My writing is inspired by the courageous, inventive and introspective writings of the Drum generation of writers William Bloke Modisane, Nat Nakasa and Can Themba, as well as the use of language and the experimental form of writing as embodied in the work of Lidia Yuknavitch to deal with similarly pressing social issues of the day.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Dludlu, John
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63121 , vital:28365
- Description: My collection of short stories is set mostly in Gauteng and revolves around mainly the lives of the urban, black elite almost three decades after the first non‐racial elections in South Africa. It captures emerging trends and fault lines and enquires into whether South Africa can continue on a different path from that of the rest of the continent. Themes covered in the collection, which still espouses idealism, include the acquisition of power, status and money, the use and abuse of these, as well as the psychosocial effects of money on this group. My writing is inspired by the courageous, inventive and introspective writings of the Drum generation of writers William Bloke Modisane, Nat Nakasa and Can Themba, as well as the use of language and the experimental form of writing as embodied in the work of Lidia Yuknavitch to deal with similarly pressing social issues of the day.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
I won’t be long
- Mhlambi, Ntombi Kayise Millicent
- Authors: Mhlambi, Ntombi Kayise Millicent
- Date: 2018
- 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
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63603 , vital:28446
- Description: My thesis is a weave of short stories, flash fiction and vignettes of prose-poetry. It uses lyrical, scenic and explorative modes to explore the stories of women, past, present and future, from all walks of life. These women, young and old, struggle to find their way within a ‘world’ characterised as Salithambo (the pink castle) whose structures and survival preys on their bodies. The stories explore the themes of girlhood and maturation, violence (specifically against women), animality, scatology, time, gender roles and expectations, and their rejection. I draw inspiration, stylistically, from Irenosen Okojie’s depiction of beauty and terror in the same sentence; Selah Saterstrom’s fragmented plot and directorial stroke; Taban Lo Liyong & Amos Tutuola’s avant-gardism and amplification of language; Adania Shibli’s sensorial and spare prose, Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Lily Hoang & Carol Oates’ normalized magic spell, Athena Villaverde & Espido Freire’s imaginative overload of childhood; Shelley Jackson & Chevisa Woods’ construction of body parts as bearing texts or as texts themselves.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mhlambi, Ntombi Kayise Millicent
- Date: 2018
- 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
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63603 , vital:28446
- Description: My thesis is a weave of short stories, flash fiction and vignettes of prose-poetry. It uses lyrical, scenic and explorative modes to explore the stories of women, past, present and future, from all walks of life. These women, young and old, struggle to find their way within a ‘world’ characterised as Salithambo (the pink castle) whose structures and survival preys on their bodies. The stories explore the themes of girlhood and maturation, violence (specifically against women), animality, scatology, time, gender roles and expectations, and their rejection. I draw inspiration, stylistically, from Irenosen Okojie’s depiction of beauty and terror in the same sentence; Selah Saterstrom’s fragmented plot and directorial stroke; Taban Lo Liyong & Amos Tutuola’s avant-gardism and amplification of language; Adania Shibli’s sensorial and spare prose, Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Lily Hoang & Carol Oates’ normalized magic spell, Athena Villaverde & Espido Freire’s imaginative overload of childhood; Shelley Jackson & Chevisa Woods’ construction of body parts as bearing texts or as texts themselves.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Judging psycholegal reporting in civil court proceedings in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Marais, Claire Anne
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Court proceedings -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Evidence, Expert -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Forensic psychology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Quality Rating Scale (QRS) , Psycholegal reporting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62999 , vital:28352
- Description: Purpose: The primary purpose for this research was to evaluate the quality of psycholegal reports, and the qualification of the authors. Previous research had revealed generalised poor practices in psycholegal report writing and the authors seemed unqualified as expert witness. This negatively influenced the impression and usefulness of expert psychological opinion in South African courts. The secondary purpose was to compare the results to those determined by Ireland (2012), which was a useful benchmark study in the UK as her findings corresponded with the literature. Method: This archival research analysed a hand-search sample of 20 reports written by 20 psychologists based nationally. These reports were submitted as expert opinion in civil proceedings in the Grahamstown Division of the Eastern Cape High Court between 2011 and 2016. Ireland and Pinschof’s (2009) measure ‘Quality Rating Scale’ was adapted for a South African context and used to evaluate quantitatively the reports. Focus was on the reports’ contents (fact and opinion), methods, process and overall rating, and the qualification of the authors. Results: Overall, two-thirds of the reports were rated as ‘good’ and ‘very good’. The results were generally more positive than Ireland’s (2012) findings. However, there were practices in the report writing that were deemed detrimental to the quality of the expert’s opinion. This included vague referral questions and unclear basis for concluding opinions and diagnosis. There was also a lack of discussions surrounding the scientific trustworthiness of testing methods and absent ethical considerations. Lastly, the specialised expertise of the experts was not adequately documented. Conclusion: The findings painted a more positive picture of psycholegal reporting in South Africa than illustrated in previous research, which seemingly relied on anecdotes and subjective surveys. This study used a systematic and objective measure. The findings of this study, previous research and ethical Rules of Conduct were used to consider recommendations for psycholegal report writing, and the improvement of the field of psycholegal work. Lastly, the focus of future research was discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Marais, Claire Anne
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Court proceedings -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Evidence, Expert -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Forensic psychology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Quality Rating Scale (QRS) , Psycholegal reporting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62999 , vital:28352
- Description: Purpose: The primary purpose for this research was to evaluate the quality of psycholegal reports, and the qualification of the authors. Previous research had revealed generalised poor practices in psycholegal report writing and the authors seemed unqualified as expert witness. This negatively influenced the impression and usefulness of expert psychological opinion in South African courts. The secondary purpose was to compare the results to those determined by Ireland (2012), which was a useful benchmark study in the UK as her findings corresponded with the literature. Method: This archival research analysed a hand-search sample of 20 reports written by 20 psychologists based nationally. These reports were submitted as expert opinion in civil proceedings in the Grahamstown Division of the Eastern Cape High Court between 2011 and 2016. Ireland and Pinschof’s (2009) measure ‘Quality Rating Scale’ was adapted for a South African context and used to evaluate quantitatively the reports. Focus was on the reports’ contents (fact and opinion), methods, process and overall rating, and the qualification of the authors. Results: Overall, two-thirds of the reports were rated as ‘good’ and ‘very good’. The results were generally more positive than Ireland’s (2012) findings. However, there were practices in the report writing that were deemed detrimental to the quality of the expert’s opinion. This included vague referral questions and unclear basis for concluding opinions and diagnosis. There was also a lack of discussions surrounding the scientific trustworthiness of testing methods and absent ethical considerations. Lastly, the specialised expertise of the experts was not adequately documented. Conclusion: The findings painted a more positive picture of psycholegal reporting in South Africa than illustrated in previous research, which seemingly relied on anecdotes and subjective surveys. This study used a systematic and objective measure. The findings of this study, previous research and ethical Rules of Conduct were used to consider recommendations for psycholegal report writing, and the improvement of the field of psycholegal work. Lastly, the focus of future research was discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Malume’s bones
- Authors: Mokhele, Sizakele
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63132 , vital:28366
- Description: My poetry is about real stories: poverty, love, politics, past pains and healing. I try to follow the example of Amiri Baraka who says his poetry is whatever he thinks he is, that he makes poetry with “what can be saved out the garbage of our lives”. My collection also preserves and embraces demotic language, which is also a part of who I am. I am influenced by Baraka’s and Ike Muila’s use of demotics, and the way that poets such as Antonio Jacinto, Costa Andrade and Mafika Gwala tackle political matters in a colourful and powerful way. I have also been inspired by ancient Chinese poets to explore love and eroticism, particularly how it plays out in the eyes of my people.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mokhele, Sizakele
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63132 , vital:28366
- Description: My poetry is about real stories: poverty, love, politics, past pains and healing. I try to follow the example of Amiri Baraka who says his poetry is whatever he thinks he is, that he makes poetry with “what can be saved out the garbage of our lives”. My collection also preserves and embraces demotic language, which is also a part of who I am. I am influenced by Baraka’s and Ike Muila’s use of demotics, and the way that poets such as Antonio Jacinto, Costa Andrade and Mafika Gwala tackle political matters in a colourful and powerful way. I have also been inspired by ancient Chinese poets to explore love and eroticism, particularly how it plays out in the eyes of my people.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Mna, Nosigidi
- Authors: Matyobeni, Simthembile
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , Xhosa poetry -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century
- Language: Xhosa , English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64412 , vital:28541
- Description: This thesis is a collection of poems. These are lyric poems. Animystic poets like Christopher Okigbo and Wole Soyinka are the principal models in terms of style. Animystic poetry projects ideas and emotions in a hallucinatory and profoundly visionary manner. The collection has a variety of themes such as marginality, identity, history, and domestic abuse. Diverse language registers are used in the poems in order that the setting of each poem, whether historical or contemporary, is realised. , Le thesisi ngumbongo omde osekelezelwe kumlinganiswa oyintloko, uNosigidi. Esi simbo sokuyila isihobe siva ngomlimandlela owenziwa ziimbongi ezifana noJ. R. R. Jolobe no‐Aime Cesaire. Indumasiso ethi “UThuthula” kaJolobe inefuthe kwimo yokwakhiwa kweminye imibongo edibanisa le mbali. Asiyiyo yonke imibhalo yezi mbongi ethe ncakasana ukungqamana nale mbali‐sihobe kaNosigidi. Imibongo ekuthiwa yi‐‘Animystic poetry’ isetyenzisiwe kakhulu kule mibongo. Sigqaliwe kunye nesihobe nesikaSappho, kuba yimbongi ebhale kakhulu ngamandla elizwi lamanina. USappho ngakumbi ubhala kakhulu kwisihobe sakhe ngamanina athandana namanye. Owona mxo walo mbongo kukugqala ibali koNosigidi okhule esazi kamhlophe ukuba yena uthandana namanye amanina. Isizathu soku kukuba nabo obu bomi kuyafuneka kubhaliwe ngabo ngendlela enenkathalo kuncwadi lwesiXhosa. Nasekusabeleni ubizo lwakhe kwintwaso uNosigidi uya enamathidala, de obo bomi bentumekelelo abamkele ngazo zozibini.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Matyobeni, Simthembile
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , Xhosa poetry -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century
- Language: Xhosa , English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64412 , vital:28541
- Description: This thesis is a collection of poems. These are lyric poems. Animystic poets like Christopher Okigbo and Wole Soyinka are the principal models in terms of style. Animystic poetry projects ideas and emotions in a hallucinatory and profoundly visionary manner. The collection has a variety of themes such as marginality, identity, history, and domestic abuse. Diverse language registers are used in the poems in order that the setting of each poem, whether historical or contemporary, is realised. , Le thesisi ngumbongo omde osekelezelwe kumlinganiswa oyintloko, uNosigidi. Esi simbo sokuyila isihobe siva ngomlimandlela owenziwa ziimbongi ezifana noJ. R. R. Jolobe no‐Aime Cesaire. Indumasiso ethi “UThuthula” kaJolobe inefuthe kwimo yokwakhiwa kweminye imibongo edibanisa le mbali. Asiyiyo yonke imibhalo yezi mbongi ethe ncakasana ukungqamana nale mbali‐sihobe kaNosigidi. Imibongo ekuthiwa yi‐‘Animystic poetry’ isetyenzisiwe kakhulu kule mibongo. Sigqaliwe kunye nesihobe nesikaSappho, kuba yimbongi ebhale kakhulu ngamandla elizwi lamanina. USappho ngakumbi ubhala kakhulu kwisihobe sakhe ngamanina athandana namanye. Owona mxo walo mbongo kukugqala ibali koNosigidi okhule esazi kamhlophe ukuba yena uthandana namanye amanina. Isizathu soku kukuba nabo obu bomi kuyafuneka kubhaliwe ngabo ngendlela enenkathalo kuncwadi lwesiXhosa. Nasekusabeleni ubizo lwakhe kwintwaso uNosigidi uya enamathidala, de obo bomi bentumekelelo abamkele ngazo zozibini.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018