Reclaiming the ‘Self’: self-objectification and victim-survivors’ bodies in Margie Orford’s The Eye of the Beholder and Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater
- Authors: Landsberg, Zoe
- Date: 2025-04-25
- Subjects: Self-objectification , Self in literature , Victims in literature , Detective and mystery stories History and criticism , Magic realism (Literature) , Sex crimes in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478453 , vital:78188
- Description: Self-objectification is conventionally viewed by objectification theorists as a negative process that is pursued by victims as a result of experiencing sexual violence. What makes self-objectification particularly negative is that it confirms that the victim feels alienated from their body following their harrowing experience. In this thesis, I argue that Margie Orford and Akwaeke Emezi depart from this view of self-objectification. Instead, through the protagonists in their respective novels, The Eye of the Beholder and Freshwater, Orford and Emezi offer a positive revision of self-objectification by articulating it as a necessary process in a victim’s journey toward reclaiming their body and, with it, their concept of ‘self”. To make this argument, I begin by drawing on Western existential phenomenology and African ontology to develop what is referred to as the basic relational view of the ‘self’ which understands the ‘self’ as the connection point between one’s body and one’s subjecthood. Applying this understanding of the ‘self’ to the selected texts, I show that it is the connection between each protagonist’s body and spirit that is disturbed by their experience of sexual violence. Initially aligning with the negative view of self-objectification, Orford and Emezi confirm this disturbance through their protagonists’ pursuits of self-objectifying behaviours. However, using Elaine Scarry’s artist–artifact model and Russel W. Belk’s articulation of the ‘extended self’, I demonstrate that it is by means of self-objectification that the protagonists are presented as able to reestablish a meaningful connection to their violated bodies and thereby reclaim their disrupted concepts of ‘self’ as they journey towards survivorhood. In this way, through the victim–survivor journeys of their respective protagonists in The Eye of the Beholder and Freshwater, Orford and Emezi inscribe the process of self-objectification with an unorthodox duality where it is not a wholly negative process, but rather one that is pivotal to a victim’s survival. Thus, I conclude in this thesis, Orford and Emezi offer a positive revision of self-objectification, a revision that has not yet been studied in the scholarship on the selected primary texts. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Literary Studies in English, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-25
- Authors: Landsberg, Zoe
- Date: 2025-04-25
- Subjects: Self-objectification , Self in literature , Victims in literature , Detective and mystery stories History and criticism , Magic realism (Literature) , Sex crimes in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478453 , vital:78188
- Description: Self-objectification is conventionally viewed by objectification theorists as a negative process that is pursued by victims as a result of experiencing sexual violence. What makes self-objectification particularly negative is that it confirms that the victim feels alienated from their body following their harrowing experience. In this thesis, I argue that Margie Orford and Akwaeke Emezi depart from this view of self-objectification. Instead, through the protagonists in their respective novels, The Eye of the Beholder and Freshwater, Orford and Emezi offer a positive revision of self-objectification by articulating it as a necessary process in a victim’s journey toward reclaiming their body and, with it, their concept of ‘self”. To make this argument, I begin by drawing on Western existential phenomenology and African ontology to develop what is referred to as the basic relational view of the ‘self’ which understands the ‘self’ as the connection point between one’s body and one’s subjecthood. Applying this understanding of the ‘self’ to the selected texts, I show that it is the connection between each protagonist’s body and spirit that is disturbed by their experience of sexual violence. Initially aligning with the negative view of self-objectification, Orford and Emezi confirm this disturbance through their protagonists’ pursuits of self-objectifying behaviours. However, using Elaine Scarry’s artist–artifact model and Russel W. Belk’s articulation of the ‘extended self’, I demonstrate that it is by means of self-objectification that the protagonists are presented as able to reestablish a meaningful connection to their violated bodies and thereby reclaim their disrupted concepts of ‘self’ as they journey towards survivorhood. In this way, through the victim–survivor journeys of their respective protagonists in The Eye of the Beholder and Freshwater, Orford and Emezi inscribe the process of self-objectification with an unorthodox duality where it is not a wholly negative process, but rather one that is pivotal to a victim’s survival. Thus, I conclude in this thesis, Orford and Emezi offer a positive revision of self-objectification, a revision that has not yet been studied in the scholarship on the selected primary texts. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Literary Studies in English, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-25
The exploration of Black and Brown drag performance communities: an artistic tool for creating safe spaces
- Authors: Adriaan, Aaron Robert
- Date: 2025-04-25
- Subjects: Sexual minority culture South Africa , Performance art South Africa , Drag performance South Africa , Intersectionality (Sociology) , Autoethnography , Theater South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478383 , vital:78182
- Description: This research investigates the role of drag performance in South Africa, particularly its contribution to the fostering and maintenance of safe spaces for Black and Brown Queer communities. Inspired by the community building legacy Kewpie. This research project employs auto-ethnographic research practice to generate a better understanding of modes of Queer drag praxis drawing on Linda Tuhiwai Smith's (1999) concept of the "insider/outsider" researcher. The project acknowledges the ethical challenges of researching vulnerable communities. This research is guided by self-reflection and information gathered from fieldwork; informed by an awareness of the theory of ‘intersectionality’ (Carbado, Crenshaw, Mays, Tomlinson 2013) exploring the complexities of race, class, and sexuality within Cape Town’s Queer community. In this way, the study navigates the complexities of race, class, and sexuality within the drag context of Cape Town through the viewpoint of this researcher. The contextual exploration of drag unfolds across two interconnected disciplinary avenues: Firstly, the historical context of drag and its evolution within the performance art canon: to understand the place of contemporary drag in the broader artistic and cultural discourse. Secondly, the study investigates theatrical histories and conventions that have influenced and transformed drag practices. This is done to frame drag performance with forms of theatrical performance. This historical and disciplinary background is used to formulate a distinction that is at the centre of this research: proposing that contemporary drag practice in the City of Cape Town can be understood and to some extent distinguished by the categories of embodied costume and embodied performance. Embodied costume within the scope of this research view the use of drag aesthetics and visual elements in artistic expressions and performances that fall outside of traditional ‘drag show’ culture. Embodied performance refers to drag performances that fall within the context of traditional ‘drag show’ genres, communities, and venues − reminiscent of cabaret performance. This conception highlights the performative aspects of the drag persona, which is an extension of the performer’s identity. While some performers and performances can exemplify either embodied performance or embodied costume, these categories are not mutually exclusive, with incalculable overlaps in keeping with the rich possibilities of drag practice. The purpose of highlighting these distinctions is to create a critical framework for exploring the unique position drag occupies between fine art and theatre, incorporating both fields of practice, and synthesising them into a unique language for the expression of alternate gender narratives. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Fine Art, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-25
- Authors: Adriaan, Aaron Robert
- Date: 2025-04-25
- Subjects: Sexual minority culture South Africa , Performance art South Africa , Drag performance South Africa , Intersectionality (Sociology) , Autoethnography , Theater South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478383 , vital:78182
- Description: This research investigates the role of drag performance in South Africa, particularly its contribution to the fostering and maintenance of safe spaces for Black and Brown Queer communities. Inspired by the community building legacy Kewpie. This research project employs auto-ethnographic research practice to generate a better understanding of modes of Queer drag praxis drawing on Linda Tuhiwai Smith's (1999) concept of the "insider/outsider" researcher. The project acknowledges the ethical challenges of researching vulnerable communities. This research is guided by self-reflection and information gathered from fieldwork; informed by an awareness of the theory of ‘intersectionality’ (Carbado, Crenshaw, Mays, Tomlinson 2013) exploring the complexities of race, class, and sexuality within Cape Town’s Queer community. In this way, the study navigates the complexities of race, class, and sexuality within the drag context of Cape Town through the viewpoint of this researcher. The contextual exploration of drag unfolds across two interconnected disciplinary avenues: Firstly, the historical context of drag and its evolution within the performance art canon: to understand the place of contemporary drag in the broader artistic and cultural discourse. Secondly, the study investigates theatrical histories and conventions that have influenced and transformed drag practices. This is done to frame drag performance with forms of theatrical performance. This historical and disciplinary background is used to formulate a distinction that is at the centre of this research: proposing that contemporary drag practice in the City of Cape Town can be understood and to some extent distinguished by the categories of embodied costume and embodied performance. Embodied costume within the scope of this research view the use of drag aesthetics and visual elements in artistic expressions and performances that fall outside of traditional ‘drag show’ culture. Embodied performance refers to drag performances that fall within the context of traditional ‘drag show’ genres, communities, and venues − reminiscent of cabaret performance. This conception highlights the performative aspects of the drag persona, which is an extension of the performer’s identity. While some performers and performances can exemplify either embodied performance or embodied costume, these categories are not mutually exclusive, with incalculable overlaps in keeping with the rich possibilities of drag practice. The purpose of highlighting these distinctions is to create a critical framework for exploring the unique position drag occupies between fine art and theatre, incorporating both fields of practice, and synthesising them into a unique language for the expression of alternate gender narratives. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Fine Art, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-25
Enculturation and adaptation: a practice-led investigation into the history and contemporary transformation of the Bahananwa harepa
- Authors: Madiba, Elijah Moleseng
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Enculturation , Gananwa (African people) , Gananwa dialect , Northern Sotho language , Stringed instruments South Africa Limpopo , Cultural identity , Pedi (African people)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479607 , vital:78328 , DOI 10.21504/10962/479607
- Description: This thesis investigates the cultural and musical transformations of the harepa, a stringed instrument initially introduced as the autoharp by Christian missionaries in the late nineteenth century, now deeply embedded within the Basotho ba Lebowa community in Limpopo, South Africa. Through an interdisciplinary approach that blends historical ethnography with practice-led research, this thesis explores the harepa's negotiation of identity amidst the cultural shifts and modernisation affecting the community. The musical output of the harepa showcases a unique hybridity that fuses Basotho ba Lebowa traditions with Western musical influences. The aim of this research is to document the harepa instrument, analyse its music and transformation processes, highlight the musical history of research partners and emphasise the unique tunings which are distinct from Western standards. Employing methodologies that integrate participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and direct musical practice, the research engages with local musicians to understand the contemporary relevance of the harepa and its role in sustaining cultural heritage. It examines shifts in musical practices, the decline of traditional uses of the harepa, and efforts towards its revitalisation, including documenting musical repertoires and analysing performance practices. The findings highlight a complex narrative of enculturation, adaptation, and resistance, revealing the resilience of cultural identity through unique tuning systems that contrast sharply with Western musical paradigms. African tuning practices, characterised by their flexibility and reliance on auditory perception, challenge the adequacy of Western tuning methodologies. This study also investigates the potential of sampling as a method for the sonic representation of African music, advocating for a more culturally sensitive framework that respects the diversity of global musical traditions. By focusing on this localised musical phenomenon, the study illustrates broader cultural preservation and innovation dynamics within Limpopo's Basotho ba Lebowa community. It calls for ongoing dialogue and research to develop methodologies that reflect the unique cultural contexts of musical traditions worldwide. Ultimately, this work underscores the importance of engaged, practice-led research in documenting and revitalising endangered musical cultures in the face of globalisation and cultural homogenisation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
- Authors: Madiba, Elijah Moleseng
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Enculturation , Gananwa (African people) , Gananwa dialect , Northern Sotho language , Stringed instruments South Africa Limpopo , Cultural identity , Pedi (African people)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479607 , vital:78328 , DOI 10.21504/10962/479607
- Description: This thesis investigates the cultural and musical transformations of the harepa, a stringed instrument initially introduced as the autoharp by Christian missionaries in the late nineteenth century, now deeply embedded within the Basotho ba Lebowa community in Limpopo, South Africa. Through an interdisciplinary approach that blends historical ethnography with practice-led research, this thesis explores the harepa's negotiation of identity amidst the cultural shifts and modernisation affecting the community. The musical output of the harepa showcases a unique hybridity that fuses Basotho ba Lebowa traditions with Western musical influences. The aim of this research is to document the harepa instrument, analyse its music and transformation processes, highlight the musical history of research partners and emphasise the unique tunings which are distinct from Western standards. Employing methodologies that integrate participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and direct musical practice, the research engages with local musicians to understand the contemporary relevance of the harepa and its role in sustaining cultural heritage. It examines shifts in musical practices, the decline of traditional uses of the harepa, and efforts towards its revitalisation, including documenting musical repertoires and analysing performance practices. The findings highlight a complex narrative of enculturation, adaptation, and resistance, revealing the resilience of cultural identity through unique tuning systems that contrast sharply with Western musical paradigms. African tuning practices, characterised by their flexibility and reliance on auditory perception, challenge the adequacy of Western tuning methodologies. This study also investigates the potential of sampling as a method for the sonic representation of African music, advocating for a more culturally sensitive framework that respects the diversity of global musical traditions. By focusing on this localised musical phenomenon, the study illustrates broader cultural preservation and innovation dynamics within Limpopo's Basotho ba Lebowa community. It calls for ongoing dialogue and research to develop methodologies that reflect the unique cultural contexts of musical traditions worldwide. Ultimately, this work underscores the importance of engaged, practice-led research in documenting and revitalising endangered musical cultures in the face of globalisation and cultural homogenisation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
Listening otherwise in the face of gender-based violence in South Africa: a critical exploration of the listening deficiencies in public narratives and a listening-based framework for healing and social change
- Authors: Bombi, Thandi
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Gender-based violence , Rhetoric Social aspects , Interviewing in journalism , Facilitation , Social change
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478515 , vital:78193 , DOI 10.21504/10962/478515
- Description: South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in the world. This includes femicide, rape and intimate partner violence. Scholars and activists in the space of GBV have challenged society to alter the way we have been taught to engage with rape and gender-based violence. Despite many interventions, gender-based violence remains an intractable social problem. This study uses Lipari’s (2014) concept of “listening otherwise” to respond to the challenge. By interrogating how South Africa’s violent history and patriarchal society has been normalised, the study attempts to see beyond the narrow ideas prescribed by the country’s history and violent cultures. This study uses the grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss 1967) to investigate the relationship between listening and gender-based violence in South Africa. The concept of “listening otherwise” is explored alongside the concepts “voice”, “speak out” and “break the silence” that are the most visible and codified strategies in the fight against gender-based violence. Following the exploration, the study then develops a theoretical and methodological framework for “listening otherwise” in the spaces, fields, and engagements that deal with gender-based violence in South Africa. The two central questions of the study ask; how do we reshape the collective emotional response to patriarchal structural violence? And furthermore, how do we listen otherwise when faced with experiences of gender-based violence in South Africa? The data used to construct the framework includes in-depth interviews, studies of actual cases, academic literature, news interviews and newspaper articles. There are a multitude of ways in which people are talking about gender-based violence, exposing perpetrators and “breaking the silence”. There is, in fact, no silence around rape, gender-based violence and femicide. The silence exists around engagements about gender, misogyny and patriarchy when discussing the causes of gendered violence in the country. This research found that the public’s listening practices around gender-based violence are shaped by patriarchal cultures and rape myths which are endemic in media discourses, legal discourses and in general social talk. Building a caring society, in which people play and use restorative justice practices, may alter the communal listening practices and have an impact on the public response to gender-based violence. The framework for listening otherwise, that emerged as a result of the research, is a contribution to listening scholarship and the activism against gender-based violence. The framework considered various aspects of listening and the field of gender-based violence and arrived at six conceptual considerations and six actions for listening otherwise. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
- Authors: Bombi, Thandi
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Gender-based violence , Rhetoric Social aspects , Interviewing in journalism , Facilitation , Social change
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478515 , vital:78193 , DOI 10.21504/10962/478515
- Description: South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in the world. This includes femicide, rape and intimate partner violence. Scholars and activists in the space of GBV have challenged society to alter the way we have been taught to engage with rape and gender-based violence. Despite many interventions, gender-based violence remains an intractable social problem. This study uses Lipari’s (2014) concept of “listening otherwise” to respond to the challenge. By interrogating how South Africa’s violent history and patriarchal society has been normalised, the study attempts to see beyond the narrow ideas prescribed by the country’s history and violent cultures. This study uses the grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss 1967) to investigate the relationship between listening and gender-based violence in South Africa. The concept of “listening otherwise” is explored alongside the concepts “voice”, “speak out” and “break the silence” that are the most visible and codified strategies in the fight against gender-based violence. Following the exploration, the study then develops a theoretical and methodological framework for “listening otherwise” in the spaces, fields, and engagements that deal with gender-based violence in South Africa. The two central questions of the study ask; how do we reshape the collective emotional response to patriarchal structural violence? And furthermore, how do we listen otherwise when faced with experiences of gender-based violence in South Africa? The data used to construct the framework includes in-depth interviews, studies of actual cases, academic literature, news interviews and newspaper articles. There are a multitude of ways in which people are talking about gender-based violence, exposing perpetrators and “breaking the silence”. There is, in fact, no silence around rape, gender-based violence and femicide. The silence exists around engagements about gender, misogyny and patriarchy when discussing the causes of gendered violence in the country. This research found that the public’s listening practices around gender-based violence are shaped by patriarchal cultures and rape myths which are endemic in media discourses, legal discourses and in general social talk. Building a caring society, in which people play and use restorative justice practices, may alter the communal listening practices and have an impact on the public response to gender-based violence. The framework for listening otherwise, that emerged as a result of the research, is a contribution to listening scholarship and the activism against gender-based violence. The framework considered various aspects of listening and the field of gender-based violence and arrived at six conceptual considerations and six actions for listening otherwise. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
On β-Normal Spaces
- Authors: Ngcamphalala, Thobile
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Beta normal form , Open set , Bitopological space , Topology
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479186 , vital:78268
- Description: This thesis revisits some types of normal spaces, namely, β-normal spaces and α-normal spaces, which were introduced by Arkhangel’skii and Ludwig in 2001. We study some properties of these spaces with a focus on improving some of the already existing properties and exploring new properties that are not available in the literature. Under β-normal spaces, among other things, we characterize these spaces using some types of open sets. We use the ultrafilter space to answer Murtinova’s question about the existence of a β-normal and regular space which is not Tychonoff. α-normal spaces are described in terms of countable open sets, a result imitating that of normality. It turns out that continuous functions which are onto, open and closed preserve β-normality, while those which are injective, open and closed reflect α-normality. The notion of β-normal spaces is extended to the category of bitopological spaces where we characterize these bitopological spaces simultaneously in terms of i-open sets, (i, j)-preopen and (i, j)-α-open sets. We study the interrelations of these spaces with other bitopological spaces. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Mathematics, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
- Authors: Ngcamphalala, Thobile
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Beta normal form , Open set , Bitopological space , Topology
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479186 , vital:78268
- Description: This thesis revisits some types of normal spaces, namely, β-normal spaces and α-normal spaces, which were introduced by Arkhangel’skii and Ludwig in 2001. We study some properties of these spaces with a focus on improving some of the already existing properties and exploring new properties that are not available in the literature. Under β-normal spaces, among other things, we characterize these spaces using some types of open sets. We use the ultrafilter space to answer Murtinova’s question about the existence of a β-normal and regular space which is not Tychonoff. α-normal spaces are described in terms of countable open sets, a result imitating that of normality. It turns out that continuous functions which are onto, open and closed preserve β-normality, while those which are injective, open and closed reflect α-normality. The notion of β-normal spaces is extended to the category of bitopological spaces where we characterize these bitopological spaces simultaneously in terms of i-open sets, (i, j)-preopen and (i, j)-α-open sets. We study the interrelations of these spaces with other bitopological spaces. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Mathematics, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
Representations of everyday life in post-2000 Zimbabwean short fiction
- Authors: Barure, Walter Kudzai
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Zimbabwean fiction History and criticism , Zimbabwe Social conditions 21st century , Representation (Philosophy) , Everyday life , Digital storytelling Zimbabwe , Zimbabwean periodicals , Popular magazine
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478478 , vital:78190 , DOI 10.21504/10962/478478
- Description: This dissertation explores the dynamic nature of cultural productions and the perpetual flux in everyday experiences within Zimbabwean social and cultural spaces over the past two decades. Amid Zimbabwe’s contemporary techno-economic milieu, there has been a remarkable surge in literary works initially tailored for print readership, then adapted for digital platforms. This shift reflects broader changes in the country’s cultural production, where the interplay between traditional publishing and digital innovation has opened new avenues for literary expression and access. The overarching goal is to investigate the connection between contemporary short fiction in Zimbabwe and the material processes of transformation and reproduction across various historical periods, forms, contexts, and platforms. It focuses on print and digital archives characterised by ephemerality, aesthetic disobedience to established norms, and the deconstruction of conventional narrative structures, motifs, and characters. These creative processes thrive on borrowing, sampling, and remixing elements from orature, novels, short stories, music, and films. The study argues that these adaptive modifications empower writers to experiment flexibly and capitalise on their literary content. It includes an interpretive analysis of short stories written in English by marginalised writers, published in print magazines such as Parade, Moto, and The Sunday Mail Magazine, as well as on digital platforms like blogs and Facebook. The primary objective is to illustrate how contemporary writers use fictional depictions of everyday life to interrogate prevalent themes like survival, circular migration, venality, occultism, and sexuality. The theoretical framework draws on the concepts of everyday living by De Certeau (1984), Newell and Okome (2013), and Adesokan’s (2023) technologies of reuse. These theories underpin the analysis of textual and interpretive practices in print and digital publications. Ultimately, this dissertation underscores the mutable nature of contemporary literary developments in Zimbabwe, ii highlighting their profound implications for writers and readers in an era marked by technological advancements and shifting paradigms of literary consumption. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Literary Studies in English, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
- Authors: Barure, Walter Kudzai
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Zimbabwean fiction History and criticism , Zimbabwe Social conditions 21st century , Representation (Philosophy) , Everyday life , Digital storytelling Zimbabwe , Zimbabwean periodicals , Popular magazine
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478478 , vital:78190 , DOI 10.21504/10962/478478
- Description: This dissertation explores the dynamic nature of cultural productions and the perpetual flux in everyday experiences within Zimbabwean social and cultural spaces over the past two decades. Amid Zimbabwe’s contemporary techno-economic milieu, there has been a remarkable surge in literary works initially tailored for print readership, then adapted for digital platforms. This shift reflects broader changes in the country’s cultural production, where the interplay between traditional publishing and digital innovation has opened new avenues for literary expression and access. The overarching goal is to investigate the connection between contemporary short fiction in Zimbabwe and the material processes of transformation and reproduction across various historical periods, forms, contexts, and platforms. It focuses on print and digital archives characterised by ephemerality, aesthetic disobedience to established norms, and the deconstruction of conventional narrative structures, motifs, and characters. These creative processes thrive on borrowing, sampling, and remixing elements from orature, novels, short stories, music, and films. The study argues that these adaptive modifications empower writers to experiment flexibly and capitalise on their literary content. It includes an interpretive analysis of short stories written in English by marginalised writers, published in print magazines such as Parade, Moto, and The Sunday Mail Magazine, as well as on digital platforms like blogs and Facebook. The primary objective is to illustrate how contemporary writers use fictional depictions of everyday life to interrogate prevalent themes like survival, circular migration, venality, occultism, and sexuality. The theoretical framework draws on the concepts of everyday living by De Certeau (1984), Newell and Okome (2013), and Adesokan’s (2023) technologies of reuse. These theories underpin the analysis of textual and interpretive practices in print and digital publications. Ultimately, this dissertation underscores the mutable nature of contemporary literary developments in Zimbabwe, ii highlighting their profound implications for writers and readers in an era marked by technological advancements and shifting paradigms of literary consumption. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Literary Studies in English, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
Rethinking development in post-colonial Zimbabwe: the case of the CAMPFIRE Programme in Kanyemba
- Authors: Maheve, Neil Batsirai
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: CAMPFIRE (Program) , Postdevelopment theory , Rethinking , Kanyemba/Chapoto Ward (Zimbabwe) , Natural resources Management , Community development Zimbabwe Kanyemba/Chapoto Ward
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478537 , vital:78195 , DOI 10.21504/10962/478537
- Description: This study is concerned with people’s attitudes towards the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE). This study is situated in Kanyemba, a ward in Mbire District, Mashonaland Central, Zimbabwe. CAMPFIRE is a community-based natural resource management programme that aims at empowering local communities to sustainably manage and benefit from wildlife and other natural resources within their confines. This study explores people’s attitudes towards development (and CAMPFIRE as a development programme) and how they perceive, engage with, and contest development. There are two subgroups living in Kanyemba: the Chikunda, which is the majority group, and the Tembo Mvura. Rooted in post-development thinking, this study highlights the nuances and ambiguities in people’s attitudes towards development. The study relies on interviews, participant observation, and archival material. The study has three guiding objectives. Firstly, I set out to explore how the Tembo Mvura and Chikunda community members living in Kanyemba perceive and interact with the CAMPFIRE programme and how their views coincide with or diverge from mainstream development discourse. The study discusses the Tembo Mvura and Chikunda definitions and descriptions of development and the two groups’ perspectives and experiences of the CAMPFIRE programme. While the Tembo Mvura have mostly negative attitudes towards CAMPFIRE, their Chikunda neighbours exude both positive and negative attitudes towards development, projecting a sense of joy and appreciation but also disillusionment with development. Secondly, I highlight how Tembo Mvura and Chikunda actively participate in and challenge the CAMPFIRE project and how these interactions can be interpreted within the framework of post-development theory. As I explore these attitudes, I portray the ambivalence evident in people’s simultaneous desire for and dismissal of development. While the people dismiss some aspects of development, they still want some development, hence the ambivalence. Finally, I explore how the residents of Kanyemba have responded to the limitations of CAMPFIRE, what alternatives to development they propose, and what role cultural, historical, economic, and environmental factors play in shaping the communities’ alternatives to development. The residents of Kanyemba have different historical and cultural backgrounds, and I highlight how these have influenced the different alternatives to development proposed by Tembo Mvura and Chikunda. In this regard, I explore the nuanced critiques of development held by residents of Kanyemba, examining how cultural and historical factors influence their selective engagement with different aspects of the CAMPFIRE initiative. This thesis contributes to post-development thinking by arguing that the ambivalence evident in people’s attitudes towards development in Kanyemba makes dismissing development more complicated than some post-development theorists suggest. The findings of the study show that people’s ambivalence towards development emanates from CAMPFIRE’s approach that strips individuals of agency, stifles their voices, and curtails democratic participation in determining their preferences and how they desire to progress. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
- Authors: Maheve, Neil Batsirai
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: CAMPFIRE (Program) , Postdevelopment theory , Rethinking , Kanyemba/Chapoto Ward (Zimbabwe) , Natural resources Management , Community development Zimbabwe Kanyemba/Chapoto Ward
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478537 , vital:78195 , DOI 10.21504/10962/478537
- Description: This study is concerned with people’s attitudes towards the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE). This study is situated in Kanyemba, a ward in Mbire District, Mashonaland Central, Zimbabwe. CAMPFIRE is a community-based natural resource management programme that aims at empowering local communities to sustainably manage and benefit from wildlife and other natural resources within their confines. This study explores people’s attitudes towards development (and CAMPFIRE as a development programme) and how they perceive, engage with, and contest development. There are two subgroups living in Kanyemba: the Chikunda, which is the majority group, and the Tembo Mvura. Rooted in post-development thinking, this study highlights the nuances and ambiguities in people’s attitudes towards development. The study relies on interviews, participant observation, and archival material. The study has three guiding objectives. Firstly, I set out to explore how the Tembo Mvura and Chikunda community members living in Kanyemba perceive and interact with the CAMPFIRE programme and how their views coincide with or diverge from mainstream development discourse. The study discusses the Tembo Mvura and Chikunda definitions and descriptions of development and the two groups’ perspectives and experiences of the CAMPFIRE programme. While the Tembo Mvura have mostly negative attitudes towards CAMPFIRE, their Chikunda neighbours exude both positive and negative attitudes towards development, projecting a sense of joy and appreciation but also disillusionment with development. Secondly, I highlight how Tembo Mvura and Chikunda actively participate in and challenge the CAMPFIRE project and how these interactions can be interpreted within the framework of post-development theory. As I explore these attitudes, I portray the ambivalence evident in people’s simultaneous desire for and dismissal of development. While the people dismiss some aspects of development, they still want some development, hence the ambivalence. Finally, I explore how the residents of Kanyemba have responded to the limitations of CAMPFIRE, what alternatives to development they propose, and what role cultural, historical, economic, and environmental factors play in shaping the communities’ alternatives to development. The residents of Kanyemba have different historical and cultural backgrounds, and I highlight how these have influenced the different alternatives to development proposed by Tembo Mvura and Chikunda. In this regard, I explore the nuanced critiques of development held by residents of Kanyemba, examining how cultural and historical factors influence their selective engagement with different aspects of the CAMPFIRE initiative. This thesis contributes to post-development thinking by arguing that the ambivalence evident in people’s attitudes towards development in Kanyemba makes dismissing development more complicated than some post-development theorists suggest. The findings of the study show that people’s ambivalence towards development emanates from CAMPFIRE’s approach that strips individuals of agency, stifles their voices, and curtails democratic participation in determining their preferences and how they desire to progress. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
Coastal and marine tourism development: a conceptual framework for place-based marine spatial planning in the Wild Coast, Port St Johns
- Authors: Nkalitshana, Malwande
- Date: 2025-04
- Subjects: Tourism -- Environmental aspects , Coastal zone management -- Environmental aspects , Environmental management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/73345 , vital:79421
- Description: The launch of Operation Phakisa: Ocean Economy in 2014 by the South African Government heightened the focus and interest in the ocean as a catalyst to contribute towards South Africa’s lagging economic growth to reduce the pressing challenges of unemployment, poverty, and unequal participation in South Africa’s mainstream economy, particularly, those from previously disadvantaged groups (Odeku, 2021). Operation Phakisa identified six focus areas: marine transport and manufacturing, offshore oil and gas exploration, aquaculture, small harbour development, ocean governance and protection services, and coastal and marine tourism (Loureiro, Du Plessis, & Findlay, 2022). Each of these focus areas is attached to lead departments. Coastal and marine tourism is attached to the National Department of Tourism. After the oil and gas sector, coastal and marine tourism was identified as one of the fastest-growing ocean economy subsectors. With its potential to create much-needed jobs, promote small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) participation, and contribute to the broader economy by implementing its nodal strategic approach, the Department of Tourism identified nodal zones to which coastal and marine tourism development projects would be intensely implemented. Port St Johns is one of the nodal zones that the department identified. With its unique, high biodiversity, which is attractive to tourists, Port St Johns has been marred with enormous challenges of unemployment, under-development, and high poverty rates. In addition, it has suffered from challenges of competing interests between development and environmental conservation groups enabled by the Transkein Environmental Conservation Decree 9 of 1992, which prohibits development projects within a one-kilometre radius from high water mark. This has resulted in conflicting views, leading to the demise of development, and further perpetuating socio-economic hardships and disparities. Due to similar challenges and with more actors venturing into the ocean economy space, the South African Government has followed the international practice of introducing a marine spatial planning approach to manage the distribution and allocation of spaces for human activities within and around marine and coastal environments. Marine spatial planning has been praised and promoted as the most suitable instrument to manage dynamic, diverse, and fragile environments such as marine and coastal environments. However, although marine spatial planning is touted as an instrument that promotes a participatory and democratic process, it has the potential to fall into the trap of other planning systems, which are top-down, negating the power imbalances amongst the stakeholders. Additionally, such planning regimes fail to recognise the local-centric and diverse interests, including local communities’ use of the marine and coastal resources in these areas. Thus, the current study developed a proposed conceptual framework to guide the development of place-based marine spatial plans to enhance coastal and marine tourism in Port St Johns. The proposed conceptual framework contains critical elements for marine spatial planning (MSP) planners to consider when developing marine spatial plans. The overarching theoretical approach that guides the framework is ecosystem services. This study employed a qualitative research approach, and interviews were used to obtain study participants’ perspectives. Participants were drawn from the Port St Johns Municipality, civil society organisations, development agencies, tourism forums, traditional leaders, councillors, communal property associations, and environmental agencies. Bringing together the perspectives of this diverse group helped to broaden the researcher’s perspective on Port St Johns’ dynamics regarding its challenges and opportunities. Furthermore, these perspectives enabled the development of the proposed conceptual framework for place-based MSP. Recommendations are made to test the proposed conceptual frameworks in developing place-based MSP in coastal cities such as Port St Johns to identify areas of concern for improvement where necessary. , Thesis (D.Phil) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04
- Authors: Nkalitshana, Malwande
- Date: 2025-04
- Subjects: Tourism -- Environmental aspects , Coastal zone management -- Environmental aspects , Environmental management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/73345 , vital:79421
- Description: The launch of Operation Phakisa: Ocean Economy in 2014 by the South African Government heightened the focus and interest in the ocean as a catalyst to contribute towards South Africa’s lagging economic growth to reduce the pressing challenges of unemployment, poverty, and unequal participation in South Africa’s mainstream economy, particularly, those from previously disadvantaged groups (Odeku, 2021). Operation Phakisa identified six focus areas: marine transport and manufacturing, offshore oil and gas exploration, aquaculture, small harbour development, ocean governance and protection services, and coastal and marine tourism (Loureiro, Du Plessis, & Findlay, 2022). Each of these focus areas is attached to lead departments. Coastal and marine tourism is attached to the National Department of Tourism. After the oil and gas sector, coastal and marine tourism was identified as one of the fastest-growing ocean economy subsectors. With its potential to create much-needed jobs, promote small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) participation, and contribute to the broader economy by implementing its nodal strategic approach, the Department of Tourism identified nodal zones to which coastal and marine tourism development projects would be intensely implemented. Port St Johns is one of the nodal zones that the department identified. With its unique, high biodiversity, which is attractive to tourists, Port St Johns has been marred with enormous challenges of unemployment, under-development, and high poverty rates. In addition, it has suffered from challenges of competing interests between development and environmental conservation groups enabled by the Transkein Environmental Conservation Decree 9 of 1992, which prohibits development projects within a one-kilometre radius from high water mark. This has resulted in conflicting views, leading to the demise of development, and further perpetuating socio-economic hardships and disparities. Due to similar challenges and with more actors venturing into the ocean economy space, the South African Government has followed the international practice of introducing a marine spatial planning approach to manage the distribution and allocation of spaces for human activities within and around marine and coastal environments. Marine spatial planning has been praised and promoted as the most suitable instrument to manage dynamic, diverse, and fragile environments such as marine and coastal environments. However, although marine spatial planning is touted as an instrument that promotes a participatory and democratic process, it has the potential to fall into the trap of other planning systems, which are top-down, negating the power imbalances amongst the stakeholders. Additionally, such planning regimes fail to recognise the local-centric and diverse interests, including local communities’ use of the marine and coastal resources in these areas. Thus, the current study developed a proposed conceptual framework to guide the development of place-based marine spatial plans to enhance coastal and marine tourism in Port St Johns. The proposed conceptual framework contains critical elements for marine spatial planning (MSP) planners to consider when developing marine spatial plans. The overarching theoretical approach that guides the framework is ecosystem services. This study employed a qualitative research approach, and interviews were used to obtain study participants’ perspectives. Participants were drawn from the Port St Johns Municipality, civil society organisations, development agencies, tourism forums, traditional leaders, councillors, communal property associations, and environmental agencies. Bringing together the perspectives of this diverse group helped to broaden the researcher’s perspective on Port St Johns’ dynamics regarding its challenges and opportunities. Furthermore, these perspectives enabled the development of the proposed conceptual framework for place-based MSP. Recommendations are made to test the proposed conceptual frameworks in developing place-based MSP in coastal cities such as Port St Johns to identify areas of concern for improvement where necessary. , Thesis (D.Phil) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04
Impact of piracy on cruise tourism in East and West Africa
- Authors: Jonas, Lynn
- Date: 2025-04
- Subjects: Ocean travel , Cruise lines , Tourism
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/72768 , vital:79259
- Description: Maritime transport has become essential to international trade as approximately 90% of world commodities are carried by sea. Maritime security has thus become a critical issue to consider, and security efforts have intensified considering the rise of modern piracy. The global impact of piracy is far reaching as it includes inflated labour and fuel costs because of diversions and the use of alternative routes to avoid pirates. Piracy along East Africa was rampant between 2008 and 2012, but then moved predominantly to West Africa. The threat of piracy to passenger vessels is of great concern as the global cruise tourism industry has grown tremendously over the past few decades. The reaction of the shipping industry to piracy is avoidance of the affected routes, and this study considered the prevalence of piracy and how it affects the cruise tourism industry on the African continent. The four research objectives were to determine the extent of cruise tourism in Africa, to evaluate the prevalence of piracy on East and West Africa, and to ascertain the maritime safety and security measures put in place to combat piracy. The study utilised an interpretivist paradigm, following a qualitative research approach with document analysis as the data collection method. Forty-one publicly available documents were selected through purposive and subsequent snowball sampling from the International Maritime Bureau, International Maritime Organisation, and Cruise Line International Association. Documents were analysed with the aid of Atlas.ti through a thematic analysis process. The findings of the study indicate that there is a lack of available information about cruise tourism in Africa and the continent receives approximately 1% of the world cruises. East Africa has seen growth in cruise tourism, but West Africa is still struggling with security concerns, hampering cruise tourism. Moreover, piracy in East Africa had been reduced to no reports of attacks, while West African piracy has continued to flourish with highly dangerous and violent, organised gangs operating in the region. All vessels are fair game during attacks and pirates are well armed with sophisticated weapons and mundane weapons such as knives. Theft, hijacking, and kidnapping are most common, with West Africa accounting for nearly all instances of pirate kidnappings worldwide. In combating piracy, regional and international collaboration has contributed significantly to the reduction of piracy in East Africa. Reporting agencies continue to issue warnings and recommendations to shipping companies and ship masters to be on high alert as pirates continue to have the ability and willingness to attack. The study findings assert that piracy has a negative impact on cruise tourism and further studies may consider additional reasons for the slow growth of cruise tourism in Africa. , Thesis (MPhil) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04
- Authors: Jonas, Lynn
- Date: 2025-04
- Subjects: Ocean travel , Cruise lines , Tourism
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/72768 , vital:79259
- Description: Maritime transport has become essential to international trade as approximately 90% of world commodities are carried by sea. Maritime security has thus become a critical issue to consider, and security efforts have intensified considering the rise of modern piracy. The global impact of piracy is far reaching as it includes inflated labour and fuel costs because of diversions and the use of alternative routes to avoid pirates. Piracy along East Africa was rampant between 2008 and 2012, but then moved predominantly to West Africa. The threat of piracy to passenger vessels is of great concern as the global cruise tourism industry has grown tremendously over the past few decades. The reaction of the shipping industry to piracy is avoidance of the affected routes, and this study considered the prevalence of piracy and how it affects the cruise tourism industry on the African continent. The four research objectives were to determine the extent of cruise tourism in Africa, to evaluate the prevalence of piracy on East and West Africa, and to ascertain the maritime safety and security measures put in place to combat piracy. The study utilised an interpretivist paradigm, following a qualitative research approach with document analysis as the data collection method. Forty-one publicly available documents were selected through purposive and subsequent snowball sampling from the International Maritime Bureau, International Maritime Organisation, and Cruise Line International Association. Documents were analysed with the aid of Atlas.ti through a thematic analysis process. The findings of the study indicate that there is a lack of available information about cruise tourism in Africa and the continent receives approximately 1% of the world cruises. East Africa has seen growth in cruise tourism, but West Africa is still struggling with security concerns, hampering cruise tourism. Moreover, piracy in East Africa had been reduced to no reports of attacks, while West African piracy has continued to flourish with highly dangerous and violent, organised gangs operating in the region. All vessels are fair game during attacks and pirates are well armed with sophisticated weapons and mundane weapons such as knives. Theft, hijacking, and kidnapping are most common, with West Africa accounting for nearly all instances of pirate kidnappings worldwide. In combating piracy, regional and international collaboration has contributed significantly to the reduction of piracy in East Africa. Reporting agencies continue to issue warnings and recommendations to shipping companies and ship masters to be on high alert as pirates continue to have the ability and willingness to attack. The study findings assert that piracy has a negative impact on cruise tourism and further studies may consider additional reasons for the slow growth of cruise tourism in Africa. , Thesis (MPhil) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04
The contribution of the expanded public works programme infrastructure sector to alleviate conditions of poverty
- Authors: Jacobs, Andrew
- Date: 2025-04
- Subjects: South Africa -- Expanded Public Works Programme , Public works -- South Africa , Poverty -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:79254
- Description: Almost 30 years after the end of apartheid South Africa continues to experience the highest rates of unemployment, poverty and inequality in the world. This has the potential to result in massive socio-economic instability. Renewed interest has been identified in public works programmes, which has the potential to contribute towards reducing the triple burden of unemployment, poverty and inequality. The protection and creation of jobs through public employment programmes, including the creation of jobs through the traditional Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), has become an important part of South Africa’s strategy for economic growth and stability. The aim of this study was to contribute to a deeper insight into the capacity of the EPWP to contribute towards reducing unemployment and poverty to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable communities and set out to: - Explore how employment under the infrastructure sector of EPWP has contributed to the household income of the beneficiaries. Explore how the income received from employment under the infrastructure sector of EPWP is used within the households. Identify and explore the skills the beneficiaries have developed by participating in the infrastructure sector of EPWP. Explore the perceived experiences of the beneficiaries’ participation in the infrastructure sector of EPWP. A qualitative case study design was employed to explore the insights and experiences of the beneficiaries participating in the infrastructure sector of EPWP in the Buffalo City Metro (BCM). Data was collected using semi-structured face-to-face interviews with the current and former EPWP beneficiaries in BCM to understand the experiential lens of the participants. The findings indicated that income received from EPWP employment is a valuable supplement to household income, enabling households to manage under conditions of increasing costs of living. Key shortcomings of the EPWP include the temporary nature of benefits, low income levels, inadequate training and inability to improve future employability. The study revealed the importance of income relief provided through short-term employment under EPWP for those unemployed beneficiaries living in conditions of poverty. Despite its shortcomings, the potential of EPWP as a policy tool to assist low-skilled unemployed workers to cope with economic shocks in the short term cannot be ignored. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04
- Authors: Jacobs, Andrew
- Date: 2025-04
- Subjects: South Africa -- Expanded Public Works Programme , Public works -- South Africa , Poverty -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:79254
- Description: Almost 30 years after the end of apartheid South Africa continues to experience the highest rates of unemployment, poverty and inequality in the world. This has the potential to result in massive socio-economic instability. Renewed interest has been identified in public works programmes, which has the potential to contribute towards reducing the triple burden of unemployment, poverty and inequality. The protection and creation of jobs through public employment programmes, including the creation of jobs through the traditional Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), has become an important part of South Africa’s strategy for economic growth and stability. The aim of this study was to contribute to a deeper insight into the capacity of the EPWP to contribute towards reducing unemployment and poverty to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable communities and set out to: - Explore how employment under the infrastructure sector of EPWP has contributed to the household income of the beneficiaries. Explore how the income received from employment under the infrastructure sector of EPWP is used within the households. Identify and explore the skills the beneficiaries have developed by participating in the infrastructure sector of EPWP. Explore the perceived experiences of the beneficiaries’ participation in the infrastructure sector of EPWP. A qualitative case study design was employed to explore the insights and experiences of the beneficiaries participating in the infrastructure sector of EPWP in the Buffalo City Metro (BCM). Data was collected using semi-structured face-to-face interviews with the current and former EPWP beneficiaries in BCM to understand the experiential lens of the participants. The findings indicated that income received from EPWP employment is a valuable supplement to household income, enabling households to manage under conditions of increasing costs of living. Key shortcomings of the EPWP include the temporary nature of benefits, low income levels, inadequate training and inability to improve future employability. The study revealed the importance of income relief provided through short-term employment under EPWP for those unemployed beneficiaries living in conditions of poverty. Despite its shortcomings, the potential of EPWP as a policy tool to assist low-skilled unemployed workers to cope with economic shocks in the short term cannot be ignored. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04
An anthropological inquiry into intergenerational fashion influences on daughters/sons: selected cases in South Africa
- Maqhubu, Mantšeoane Elizabeth
- Authors: Maqhubu, Mantšeoane Elizabeth
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Clothing and dress -- Social aspects , Fashion -- Social aspects , Anthropology -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70330 , vital:78340
- Description: Clothes are a nonverbal expressive tool that provides data for perceptions. They indicate information about a person’s age, sex, personality, socioeconomic status, values, and political ideologies. What someone wears may communicate complex information about who they are to others around them, even when they may not be trying to communicate. At the same time, clothes are an extension or accessory for self-representation. This research delves into an anthropological exploration of intergenerational fashion influences on daughters and sons, focusing on selected cases in South Africa. The aim was to address existing gaps in understanding how contemporary individuals choose to dress and the significance they attribute to their clothing. The study explored diverse factors influencing personal style choices. The study applied narrative analysis theory to scrutinise the gathered information using semi-structured interviews with 15 participants and employing participant observation as an additional data collection method. The outcomes highlight a discernible generational shift in clothing trends, revealing both changes and continuities. Interestingly, the study challenges traditional gendered distinctions in fashion, indicating that men and women often exhibit more similarities than differences. The findings advocate for a more inclusive societal acceptance of diverse fashion expressions, breaking down stereotypes and suggesting that fashion transcends the conventional boundaries separating men's and women's attire. The study's implications include societal recognition and acceptance of the diversity inherent in personal style choices, transcending generational boundaries. This not only contributes to the academic understanding of social and cultural anthropology but also holds practical implications for fostering inclusivity and dismantling rigid notions surrounding attire. In simple terms, this study sparks conversations about how cultural traditions are changing. It encourages people to be more open-minded and accepting of the diverse ways individuals express their identity through fashion. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Governmental and Social Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
- Authors: Maqhubu, Mantšeoane Elizabeth
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Clothing and dress -- Social aspects , Fashion -- Social aspects , Anthropology -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70330 , vital:78340
- Description: Clothes are a nonverbal expressive tool that provides data for perceptions. They indicate information about a person’s age, sex, personality, socioeconomic status, values, and political ideologies. What someone wears may communicate complex information about who they are to others around them, even when they may not be trying to communicate. At the same time, clothes are an extension or accessory for self-representation. This research delves into an anthropological exploration of intergenerational fashion influences on daughters and sons, focusing on selected cases in South Africa. The aim was to address existing gaps in understanding how contemporary individuals choose to dress and the significance they attribute to their clothing. The study explored diverse factors influencing personal style choices. The study applied narrative analysis theory to scrutinise the gathered information using semi-structured interviews with 15 participants and employing participant observation as an additional data collection method. The outcomes highlight a discernible generational shift in clothing trends, revealing both changes and continuities. Interestingly, the study challenges traditional gendered distinctions in fashion, indicating that men and women often exhibit more similarities than differences. The findings advocate for a more inclusive societal acceptance of diverse fashion expressions, breaking down stereotypes and suggesting that fashion transcends the conventional boundaries separating men's and women's attire. The study's implications include societal recognition and acceptance of the diversity inherent in personal style choices, transcending generational boundaries. This not only contributes to the academic understanding of social and cultural anthropology but also holds practical implications for fostering inclusivity and dismantling rigid notions surrounding attire. In simple terms, this study sparks conversations about how cultural traditions are changing. It encourages people to be more open-minded and accepting of the diverse ways individuals express their identity through fashion. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Governmental and Social Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
Co-generated learnings from hopes-an NRF grant funded university engagement project
- Authors: Quvile, Xola Bulumko
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: National Research Foundation (South Africa) , Research grants -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/68366 , vital:76990
- Description: The study had sought to understand the systemic and individual factors that facilitated or inhibited the NRF grant-funded HOPES Project. HOPES collaborated with the Centre for the Community School in the Faculty of Education, and various communities of practice (COPs) in existing school communities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The project applied a critical participatory action research work to develop a framework for school improvement and in the process contribute to making schools beacons of hope. This research provides insights into how an NRF community engagement grant project team (HOPES) navigated external and internal factors such as COVID-19, rules regulating the grant, and multiple realities of the stakeholders at play. The study was qualitative and used the critical participatory action research design. The study purposively and conveniently sampled seven HOPES Project team members to collect data via focus groups and individual interviews and collected secondary data from NRF HOPES annual project reports. The study findings improved the participants' understanding of their journey, and the co-generated knowledge shed light on how NFR and community engagement grant funders could promote enabling conditions towards achieving individual scholars and collective project outcomes. The study findings provide learnings for the Faculty of Education and the Nelson Mandela University on how extrinsic and intrinsic enablers and barriers can be addressed to optimise a project of this nature. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, School of Postgraduate Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
- Authors: Quvile, Xola Bulumko
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: National Research Foundation (South Africa) , Research grants -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/68366 , vital:76990
- Description: The study had sought to understand the systemic and individual factors that facilitated or inhibited the NRF grant-funded HOPES Project. HOPES collaborated with the Centre for the Community School in the Faculty of Education, and various communities of practice (COPs) in existing school communities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The project applied a critical participatory action research work to develop a framework for school improvement and in the process contribute to making schools beacons of hope. This research provides insights into how an NRF community engagement grant project team (HOPES) navigated external and internal factors such as COVID-19, rules regulating the grant, and multiple realities of the stakeholders at play. The study was qualitative and used the critical participatory action research design. The study purposively and conveniently sampled seven HOPES Project team members to collect data via focus groups and individual interviews and collected secondary data from NRF HOPES annual project reports. The study findings improved the participants' understanding of their journey, and the co-generated knowledge shed light on how NFR and community engagement grant funders could promote enabling conditions towards achieving individual scholars and collective project outcomes. The study findings provide learnings for the Faculty of Education and the Nelson Mandela University on how extrinsic and intrinsic enablers and barriers can be addressed to optimise a project of this nature. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, School of Postgraduate Education, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
Formulation of Fish Feed for Aquaculture using Olive Pomace Extract as an Antioxidant
- Authors: Koza, Nondumiso Norma
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Fishes -- Feeding and feeds , Fishes -- Ecology , Sustainable aquaculture
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/69318 , vital:77205
- Description: Olive pomace is a significant by-product of the olive oil extraction process and is an environmental issue in olive-producing countries. This project aimed to add extracts from olive pomace as an antioxidant to a fish feed formulation without compromising growth performance and meat quality, thereby contributing to the aquaculture industry. To produce the olive pomace extracts, Coratina cultivar olives were collected from a farm near Oudtshoorn, and the fresh pomace was immediately frozen at -22oC for preservation. The extracts were obtained using a large-scale extraction method using a solvent blend of n-heptane, ethanol, and water. A pressure filtration and centrifuge method were then applied to separate any residue from the extracts. An HPLC method was developed to characterise the extracts' content, identifying various bioactive compounds such as squalene, α-tocopherol, and water-soluble polyphenols like oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, and tyrosol. In a fish feeding trial it was concluded that the fish fed with the feed without olive pomace gained more weight than those fed the feed with the added pomace extract. Overall, the results indicate that fish sustained on the feed without the olive pomace extract ate more food, consuming more energy to support weight gain but that this did not necessarily translate to an improved feed conversion ratio. The morphometric variables suggest that fish used in the trial remained healthy, implying that there may be a taste or palatability difference between feeds that could explain why less of the feed with olive pomace extract was eaten. Overall, the observed feed conversion ratio values were somewhat lower than the expected values for tilapia (FCR: 1.5-2.0). The peroxide value of fish feed with an addition of 0.3% olive pomace extract was lower than that of the feed without olive pomace extract after 12 weeks of stability testing at room temperature. The results showed a value of 1.48 MeqO2/kg for the feed containing olive pomace extract compared to the peroxide value for the fish feed without olive pomace extract, which was 2.75 MeqO2/kg. This indicates that the nutritional content of the feed was preserved. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, School of Biomolecular & Chemical Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
- Authors: Koza, Nondumiso Norma
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Fishes -- Feeding and feeds , Fishes -- Ecology , Sustainable aquaculture
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/69318 , vital:77205
- Description: Olive pomace is a significant by-product of the olive oil extraction process and is an environmental issue in olive-producing countries. This project aimed to add extracts from olive pomace as an antioxidant to a fish feed formulation without compromising growth performance and meat quality, thereby contributing to the aquaculture industry. To produce the olive pomace extracts, Coratina cultivar olives were collected from a farm near Oudtshoorn, and the fresh pomace was immediately frozen at -22oC for preservation. The extracts were obtained using a large-scale extraction method using a solvent blend of n-heptane, ethanol, and water. A pressure filtration and centrifuge method were then applied to separate any residue from the extracts. An HPLC method was developed to characterise the extracts' content, identifying various bioactive compounds such as squalene, α-tocopherol, and water-soluble polyphenols like oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, and tyrosol. In a fish feeding trial it was concluded that the fish fed with the feed without olive pomace gained more weight than those fed the feed with the added pomace extract. Overall, the results indicate that fish sustained on the feed without the olive pomace extract ate more food, consuming more energy to support weight gain but that this did not necessarily translate to an improved feed conversion ratio. The morphometric variables suggest that fish used in the trial remained healthy, implying that there may be a taste or palatability difference between feeds that could explain why less of the feed with olive pomace extract was eaten. Overall, the observed feed conversion ratio values were somewhat lower than the expected values for tilapia (FCR: 1.5-2.0). The peroxide value of fish feed with an addition of 0.3% olive pomace extract was lower than that of the feed without olive pomace extract after 12 weeks of stability testing at room temperature. The results showed a value of 1.48 MeqO2/kg for the feed containing olive pomace extract compared to the peroxide value for the fish feed without olive pomace extract, which was 2.75 MeqO2/kg. This indicates that the nutritional content of the feed was preserved. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, School of Biomolecular & Chemical Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
Song lyrics and protest discourse in communally composed music in South Africa
- Pungu-Pungu, Phakamani Patrick
- Authors: Pungu-Pungu, Phakamani Patrick
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Songs -- Texts -- South Africa , Lyric writing (Popular music) , Music
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70393 , vital:78346
- Description: The study examines the function of communally composed protest song lyrics in South Africa. To explore the aims of the study, the songs composed by community members in South Africa are used as data for the content analysis. This is because the data(songs) will be analysed using content analysis. This serves as a tool to understand the messages in the song lyrics by identifying themes that emerge in the songs and their relevance to human and social injustices faced by marginalised people in the past and present. From this point, the study is approached from a decolonial perspective. The study argues that communally composed protest songs by Black people in South Africa are a historical reference for the people. Furthermore, they (communally composed protest songs) serve as a vital mode that has preserved Black languages under the colonial system of apartheid and maintained the Black oral archival system. This is an integral part of Black culture and tradition. Communally composed protest songs in South Africa are valuable in the fight against social injustice and they authenticate the oral traditions of the Black population. Moreover, context in understanding the lyrics of communally composed protest lyrics is crucial because it adds value to the interpretation of the songs. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Visual and Performing Arts, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
- Authors: Pungu-Pungu, Phakamani Patrick
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Songs -- Texts -- South Africa , Lyric writing (Popular music) , Music
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70393 , vital:78346
- Description: The study examines the function of communally composed protest song lyrics in South Africa. To explore the aims of the study, the songs composed by community members in South Africa are used as data for the content analysis. This is because the data(songs) will be analysed using content analysis. This serves as a tool to understand the messages in the song lyrics by identifying themes that emerge in the songs and their relevance to human and social injustices faced by marginalised people in the past and present. From this point, the study is approached from a decolonial perspective. The study argues that communally composed protest songs by Black people in South Africa are a historical reference for the people. Furthermore, they (communally composed protest songs) serve as a vital mode that has preserved Black languages under the colonial system of apartheid and maintained the Black oral archival system. This is an integral part of Black culture and tradition. Communally composed protest songs in South Africa are valuable in the fight against social injustice and they authenticate the oral traditions of the Black population. Moreover, context in understanding the lyrics of communally composed protest lyrics is crucial because it adds value to the interpretation of the songs. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Visual and Performing Arts, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
The adoption of developmental local government functions in municipalities of the Eastern Cape: a case of Alfred Nzo District Municipality
- Authors: Kate, Siyanda
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70307 , vital:78338
- Description: The core objective of this study is to provide an analysis of the adoption of Developmental Local Government (DLG) functions in municipalities of the Eastern Cape, with a particular focus on Alfred Nzo District Municipality. More precisely, this study focuses on the changing focus of Integrated Development Plan (IDP) on Local Economic Development (LED) over time. This study argues that the post-1994 entrance of neoliberalism in the South African economic policy discourse has been a stumbling block for rural development. As a consequence, the study also argues that the post-1994 spatial planning (theory), which determines, on the basis of geographical positionality of a particular region, where, why, and how investments should be directed, and produces a continuity of uneven development for the rural municipality which modern capitalism thrives. This study further proclaims that the burgeoning of black leadership (the so-called ‘African National Congress (ANC) elites’) into the mainstream economy through the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy paved the way for the free-market compromise of post-1994, which has maintained the status quo of marginalisation of the Black South African indigenous majority. This study further offers an argument that neoliberalism (neoliberal governmentality) has transmuted the relationship between municipalities and citizens from a people needs-centered approach (espoused in Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to one that is more focused on who can pay for municipal services, which resulted in the pressure for municipalities to charge for service for them to be self-sustainable. The study equally addresses the role of international pressure, which dictated the post-1994 economic policy through the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization). The study argues that the re-entry of the (WB) and (IMF) in South Africa’s economic policy debate was fashioned through the so-called ‘secret meetings’ with the likes of Mandela in the early 80s and 90s. This pressure from international actors is evident even in the evolution of the (IDP) via the international trends in planning discourse, including the New Public Management (NPM) theory closely associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdom (UK) New Labour administration, the integrated planning and performance monitoring idea promoted in New Zealand (NZ) the combined regional policy in Switzerland, the integrated area planning in Europe, and the multi-sectoral investment planning advocated by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The researcher achieves this by employing decoloniality as the theoretical framework of the study. Based on this critical lens, the study argues that Eurocentric and Western hegemony in the developmental and planning discourse pose as universal, and because of this universality the development of the people in the global South is viewed with its parameters and impends the successful implementation of (DLG) functions in rural municipalities of South Africa. Central to the decolonial tradition, the study makes use of the Grosfoguel's model of coloniality, which draws a correlation between coloniality of being, power, and knowledge. This analysis is a qualitative descriptive case study design, employing documentary analysis methodology which relies on documentary sources, including (official documents, policy reports, newspapers, journal publications, and available research articles) to achieve the above-stated analysis. Thematic analysis (with the assistance of NVivo software) is adopted to ascertain how (IDP) presents a changing focus on (LED) over time. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Governmental and Social Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
- Authors: Kate, Siyanda
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70307 , vital:78338
- Description: The core objective of this study is to provide an analysis of the adoption of Developmental Local Government (DLG) functions in municipalities of the Eastern Cape, with a particular focus on Alfred Nzo District Municipality. More precisely, this study focuses on the changing focus of Integrated Development Plan (IDP) on Local Economic Development (LED) over time. This study argues that the post-1994 entrance of neoliberalism in the South African economic policy discourse has been a stumbling block for rural development. As a consequence, the study also argues that the post-1994 spatial planning (theory), which determines, on the basis of geographical positionality of a particular region, where, why, and how investments should be directed, and produces a continuity of uneven development for the rural municipality which modern capitalism thrives. This study further proclaims that the burgeoning of black leadership (the so-called ‘African National Congress (ANC) elites’) into the mainstream economy through the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy paved the way for the free-market compromise of post-1994, which has maintained the status quo of marginalisation of the Black South African indigenous majority. This study further offers an argument that neoliberalism (neoliberal governmentality) has transmuted the relationship between municipalities and citizens from a people needs-centered approach (espoused in Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to one that is more focused on who can pay for municipal services, which resulted in the pressure for municipalities to charge for service for them to be self-sustainable. The study equally addresses the role of international pressure, which dictated the post-1994 economic policy through the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization). The study argues that the re-entry of the (WB) and (IMF) in South Africa’s economic policy debate was fashioned through the so-called ‘secret meetings’ with the likes of Mandela in the early 80s and 90s. This pressure from international actors is evident even in the evolution of the (IDP) via the international trends in planning discourse, including the New Public Management (NPM) theory closely associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdom (UK) New Labour administration, the integrated planning and performance monitoring idea promoted in New Zealand (NZ) the combined regional policy in Switzerland, the integrated area planning in Europe, and the multi-sectoral investment planning advocated by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The researcher achieves this by employing decoloniality as the theoretical framework of the study. Based on this critical lens, the study argues that Eurocentric and Western hegemony in the developmental and planning discourse pose as universal, and because of this universality the development of the people in the global South is viewed with its parameters and impends the successful implementation of (DLG) functions in rural municipalities of South Africa. Central to the decolonial tradition, the study makes use of the Grosfoguel's model of coloniality, which draws a correlation between coloniality of being, power, and knowledge. This analysis is a qualitative descriptive case study design, employing documentary analysis methodology which relies on documentary sources, including (official documents, policy reports, newspapers, journal publications, and available research articles) to achieve the above-stated analysis. Thematic analysis (with the assistance of NVivo software) is adopted to ascertain how (IDP) presents a changing focus on (LED) over time. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Governmental and Social Sciences, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
The impact of international debt on taxation & economic growth on five SSA countries
- Authors: Mpompi, Liyema
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Taxation , Economic development -- South Africa , International finance
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70044 , vital:78282
- Description: This study investigated the effect of international debt on taxation and economic growth in five selected sub-Saharan African countries (SSA): Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ghana. The study employed panel data, and the data sample spans from 1990 to 2021. A unit root testing procedure utilising the Levin-Lin-Chu test, the Pearson and Shin test, the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test, the Breitung test, and the Hadri test was applied to test for stationarity among variables. Cointegration analysis was used to test the long-run association among variables, including Mean Group (MG), Pooled Mean Group (PMG), and Dynamic Fixed Effects (DFE) models for ascertaining if long-run coefficients vary across individual units, allowing for individual-specific short-run dynamics and capturing time-varying factors that affect the relationship between the dependent and independent variables in the study. The empirical results for the long-run relationship showed a strong correlation between GDP and external debt in all the countries. A unit increase in external debt reduces GDP growth by 0.628394%. This indicates that high levels of external debt have a significant negative impact on economic growth over time. The short-term relationship showed country-specific effects of debt on economic development, where an increase in the eternal debt-to-GDP ratio by one unit decreases GDP by 0.009029%. SSA countries differ significantly in how foreign debt and economic development are related. Countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ghana, which have large amounts of foreign debt, have experienced economic instability and uncertainty. Due to its heavy debt load, Kenya has faced periods of negative economic growth. However, South Africa has consistently seen GDP growth while maintaining constant levels of external debt. There is also a great deal of variation in how taxes affect economic development across the five selected SSA countries. Countries such as South Africa and Ghana, which have more consistent and large tax revenues, have made significant expenditures in economic development, boosting economic growth. Conversely, economic growth has been unequal in nations such as Nigeria, where tax revenue is subject to fluctuations. Furthermore, countries with low tax revenues, such as Ethiopia and Kenya, have seen their economic growth impeded due to their limited capacity to fund necessary development initiatives. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
- Authors: Mpompi, Liyema
- Date: 2024-12
- Subjects: Taxation , Economic development -- South Africa , International finance
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/70044 , vital:78282
- Description: This study investigated the effect of international debt on taxation and economic growth in five selected sub-Saharan African countries (SSA): Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ghana. The study employed panel data, and the data sample spans from 1990 to 2021. A unit root testing procedure utilising the Levin-Lin-Chu test, the Pearson and Shin test, the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test, the Breitung test, and the Hadri test was applied to test for stationarity among variables. Cointegration analysis was used to test the long-run association among variables, including Mean Group (MG), Pooled Mean Group (PMG), and Dynamic Fixed Effects (DFE) models for ascertaining if long-run coefficients vary across individual units, allowing for individual-specific short-run dynamics and capturing time-varying factors that affect the relationship between the dependent and independent variables in the study. The empirical results for the long-run relationship showed a strong correlation between GDP and external debt in all the countries. A unit increase in external debt reduces GDP growth by 0.628394%. This indicates that high levels of external debt have a significant negative impact on economic growth over time. The short-term relationship showed country-specific effects of debt on economic development, where an increase in the eternal debt-to-GDP ratio by one unit decreases GDP by 0.009029%. SSA countries differ significantly in how foreign debt and economic development are related. Countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ghana, which have large amounts of foreign debt, have experienced economic instability and uncertainty. Due to its heavy debt load, Kenya has faced periods of negative economic growth. However, South Africa has consistently seen GDP growth while maintaining constant levels of external debt. There is also a great deal of variation in how taxes affect economic development across the five selected SSA countries. Countries such as South Africa and Ghana, which have more consistent and large tax revenues, have made significant expenditures in economic development, boosting economic growth. Conversely, economic growth has been unequal in nations such as Nigeria, where tax revenue is subject to fluctuations. Furthermore, countries with low tax revenues, such as Ethiopia and Kenya, have seen their economic growth impeded due to their limited capacity to fund necessary development initiatives. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-12
A conspiracy of silence: the authorial potential of full masks in performer training, dramaturgy and audience perception in South African visual theatre
- Authors: Murray, Robert Ian
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Liezl de Kock , People with disabilities and the performing arts , Experimental theater South Africa , Actors Training of , Theater for deaf people South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/467083 , vital:76813 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/467083
- Description: Silent Mask Theatre in South Africa has the potential to cut across linguistic divides and deliver a product that offers an intimate, unique experience for the audience as well as the actor. South Africa not only has a complicated history, but also 11 languages (12 if one counts South African Sign Language – SASL -, which still holds a curious position of being counted official or not), and the one that theatre-makers choose to present in gives a certain “authority” to the production. Silent masks remove the need for linguistic understanding, something necessary for more abstract thought, and focusses instead on the emotional relevance and interplay between characters. In doing so, it proves an important way to create relevance for an audience, creating a delicate dance between the Mask (character and thereby text), how the actor plays it, and then the closing of meaning through the audience experience. Thus, is created a trialogue between these elements that gives the production the opportunity to speak to the hearts and minds of the audience. Globally, the study of silent character masks is still relatively new, with proponents of it only coming to the fore in the past few years (Wilsher, 2007). Mask Theatre has grown exponentially in the UK and Europe with companies like Vamos Theatre, exploring PTSD in works like A Brave Face (2018) or death in Dead Good (2021), and Familie Flöz either on the more whimsical side like Hotel Paradiso (2011) or the more hard-hitting Infinito (2006), gaining popularity and exposure. In South Africa, there is strangely not an indigenous tradition of masks, as opposed to other parts of Africa. This is fascinating, and probably points towards a more “oral tradition” of South Africa/Africa. However, the author aims to point out the ways that the silent mask entered South African consciousness at a time where more attention was being paid to “performing objects” (Proschan, 1985), and particularly in Cape Town with the advent of the Out the Box Festival. This thesis aims to contextualise Visual Theatre and Mask Theatre in a South African context, seeing within it a movement towards a more global perspective of puppetry, material performances, and performing objects. Although “ghettoised” for a long time (Taylor, 2004), performing objects emerged and became a leading case for the primal “text” of a performance. Handspring Puppet Company, Janni Younge, and the author’s company, FTH:K, became primary grounds of contestation against more conventional, text-based theatre. Starting with a reflective account of the author’s journey towards masks, the thesis branches out into a reflection on its author’s pedagogical praxis, and how silent masks work, before critically reflecting on and analysing his key works, such as Pictures of You (2008-2013), which deals with home invasions and grief, and Benchmarks (2011), which deals with the wave of xenophobia that hit South Africa around that time. . This were built from the ground up, working with current issues both in the author’s, and the country’s, mileau. In the last two decades, performing object work in South Africa has begun to flourish. This is the first thesis to investigate mask work in the country during this period. Its possibilities for Screen and Stage Acting are still being explored. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Drama, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Murray, Robert Ian
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Liezl de Kock , People with disabilities and the performing arts , Experimental theater South Africa , Actors Training of , Theater for deaf people South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/467083 , vital:76813 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/467083
- Description: Silent Mask Theatre in South Africa has the potential to cut across linguistic divides and deliver a product that offers an intimate, unique experience for the audience as well as the actor. South Africa not only has a complicated history, but also 11 languages (12 if one counts South African Sign Language – SASL -, which still holds a curious position of being counted official or not), and the one that theatre-makers choose to present in gives a certain “authority” to the production. Silent masks remove the need for linguistic understanding, something necessary for more abstract thought, and focusses instead on the emotional relevance and interplay between characters. In doing so, it proves an important way to create relevance for an audience, creating a delicate dance between the Mask (character and thereby text), how the actor plays it, and then the closing of meaning through the audience experience. Thus, is created a trialogue between these elements that gives the production the opportunity to speak to the hearts and minds of the audience. Globally, the study of silent character masks is still relatively new, with proponents of it only coming to the fore in the past few years (Wilsher, 2007). Mask Theatre has grown exponentially in the UK and Europe with companies like Vamos Theatre, exploring PTSD in works like A Brave Face (2018) or death in Dead Good (2021), and Familie Flöz either on the more whimsical side like Hotel Paradiso (2011) or the more hard-hitting Infinito (2006), gaining popularity and exposure. In South Africa, there is strangely not an indigenous tradition of masks, as opposed to other parts of Africa. This is fascinating, and probably points towards a more “oral tradition” of South Africa/Africa. However, the author aims to point out the ways that the silent mask entered South African consciousness at a time where more attention was being paid to “performing objects” (Proschan, 1985), and particularly in Cape Town with the advent of the Out the Box Festival. This thesis aims to contextualise Visual Theatre and Mask Theatre in a South African context, seeing within it a movement towards a more global perspective of puppetry, material performances, and performing objects. Although “ghettoised” for a long time (Taylor, 2004), performing objects emerged and became a leading case for the primal “text” of a performance. Handspring Puppet Company, Janni Younge, and the author’s company, FTH:K, became primary grounds of contestation against more conventional, text-based theatre. Starting with a reflective account of the author’s journey towards masks, the thesis branches out into a reflection on its author’s pedagogical praxis, and how silent masks work, before critically reflecting on and analysing his key works, such as Pictures of You (2008-2013), which deals with home invasions and grief, and Benchmarks (2011), which deals with the wave of xenophobia that hit South Africa around that time. . This were built from the ground up, working with current issues both in the author’s, and the country’s, mileau. In the last two decades, performing object work in South Africa has begun to flourish. This is the first thesis to investigate mask work in the country during this period. Its possibilities for Screen and Stage Acting are still being explored. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Drama, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
A house accursed: reconsidering Sophocles’ sisters, Antigone & Ismene
- Authors: Fox, Peta Ann , Sophocles
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Ismene (Greek mythology) , Antigone (Greek mythological figure) , Electra (Greek mythological figure) , Chrysothemis , Greek tragedy , Sisters in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/467028 , vital:76808 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/467028
- Description: Traditionally, Ismene’s refusal to help Antigone bury their brother in Sophocles’ Antigone tends to be regarded only in relation to Antigone’s own remarkable bravery. Antigone exists on the heroic level, Ismene on the ordinary; Antigone is courageous, Ismene is timid and submissive; Antigone is an idealist and an individualist, Ismene is convention and herd-bound. Ismene is, in many ways, presented as the antithesis of Antigone and Sophocles does indeed make use of her character as a foil to Antigone, but this thesis will argue that the relation between the two sisters is far more complicated than a dichotomous contrast between ‘extraordinary heroine’ and ‘average woman’. Like Antigone, Ismene is very much a character in her own right, and her emotions, motivations and impulses are every bit as realised and compelling as Antigone’s own. Both sisters have been deeply affected by the tragic misfortunes of their family, but their sad history affects each sister quite differently. Whereas Antigone’s instinctive reaction to Creon’s edict is a furious determination not to tolerate any further dishonour, Ismene’s equally instinctive reaction is to avoid the pattern of self-destructive inwardness that has plagued their family for generations. By offering a comprehensive re-examination of the key passages that have informed our critical reception of Ismene and the nature of her relationship with Antigone, this study aims to disrupt the established, and largely prejudiced, reading of Ismene as a model of feminine timidity and submission. Although Ismene is certainly no grand tragic heroine, titling the theoretical focus away from the death-oriented extremism of Antigone towards a more balanced consideration of the so-called ‘weaker sister’ not only allows for new insights into the nature of Sophoclean tragedy, but also challenges the very basis on which Ismene has so often been dismissed in favour of her more intrepid sister: the pervasive assumption that Sophocles has only given us one sister who is willing to risk her life for a principle. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Fox, Peta Ann , Sophocles
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Ismene (Greek mythology) , Antigone (Greek mythological figure) , Electra (Greek mythological figure) , Chrysothemis , Greek tragedy , Sisters in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/467028 , vital:76808 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/467028
- Description: Traditionally, Ismene’s refusal to help Antigone bury their brother in Sophocles’ Antigone tends to be regarded only in relation to Antigone’s own remarkable bravery. Antigone exists on the heroic level, Ismene on the ordinary; Antigone is courageous, Ismene is timid and submissive; Antigone is an idealist and an individualist, Ismene is convention and herd-bound. Ismene is, in many ways, presented as the antithesis of Antigone and Sophocles does indeed make use of her character as a foil to Antigone, but this thesis will argue that the relation between the two sisters is far more complicated than a dichotomous contrast between ‘extraordinary heroine’ and ‘average woman’. Like Antigone, Ismene is very much a character in her own right, and her emotions, motivations and impulses are every bit as realised and compelling as Antigone’s own. Both sisters have been deeply affected by the tragic misfortunes of their family, but their sad history affects each sister quite differently. Whereas Antigone’s instinctive reaction to Creon’s edict is a furious determination not to tolerate any further dishonour, Ismene’s equally instinctive reaction is to avoid the pattern of self-destructive inwardness that has plagued their family for generations. By offering a comprehensive re-examination of the key passages that have informed our critical reception of Ismene and the nature of her relationship with Antigone, this study aims to disrupt the established, and largely prejudiced, reading of Ismene as a model of feminine timidity and submission. Although Ismene is certainly no grand tragic heroine, titling the theoretical focus away from the death-oriented extremism of Antigone towards a more balanced consideration of the so-called ‘weaker sister’ not only allows for new insights into the nature of Sophoclean tragedy, but also challenges the very basis on which Ismene has so often been dismissed in favour of her more intrepid sister: the pervasive assumption that Sophocles has only given us one sister who is willing to risk her life for a principle. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
A social realist analysis of the professional identity formation of lecturers emerging from completing professional development at a South African research-intensive university
- Authors: Adams, Anthea
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Identity (Psychology) in education , Academic development , Staff development , Social realism , Critical realism , Scholarship of teaching and learning , Education, Higher South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466372 , vital:76722 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466372
- Description: This doctoral study is part of a Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) capacity development project, Phakamisa. Using Margaret Archer's Social Realism as a substantive theory and methodological tool and Roy Bhaskar's Critical Realism as a meta-theory, I was able to identify and explain the interplay between the structural, cultural and agential mechanisms within a professional development course that enabled or constrained the emergence of lecturers' professional academic identities. My research participants are fourteen lecturers who completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (PGDip HE) at Rhodes University between 2007 and 2017. Social Realism's explanatory methodologies, analytical dualism, and the morphogenetic cycle allowed me to provide causal explanations and account for the historicity of the emergence of lecturers' professional academic identities as teachers. A qualitative research design involving case study research allowed me to search for generative mechanisms to understand and explain the conditioning influence of often unobservable phenomena and underlying mechanisms in developing lecturers' identities as teachers in a research-intensive university. As strong social actors imbued with power and material resources, university leadership should consider the constraining influence of contextual conditions, such as the hegemony of disciplinary research versus research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The socio-cultural (S-C) interactions of the fourteen lecturers (agents) signal the possibilities for structural, cultural and agential morphogenesis when agents choose to exercise their agency, i.e., their personal emergent properties (PEPs) to mediate prevalent structural and cultural emergent properties (SEPs and CEPs) enabling or constraining their personal projects. Lecturers' personal projects are the courses of action they intentionally engage in as they strive to establish sustainable yet evolving practices as teachers in their disciplines. This thesis shows that exercising their PEPs involves subjective reflexivity and transforming from primary agents to corporate agents due to collective action and alliances with like-minded peers and colleagues to shape the teaching and learning agenda in their respective departments and the broader higher education context. Triple morphogenesis of lecturers' agency occurred through their realisation as social actors. It signified the formation of their professional identities as teachers and how they uniquely embodied and enacted their teacher roles. , Hierdie doktorale studie is deel van 'n Departement van Hoër Onderwys en Opleiding (DHOO) kapasiteitsontwikkelingsprojek, naamlik Phakamisa. Deur gebruik te maak van Margaret Archer se Sosiale Realisme ("Social Realism") as 'n substantiewe teorie en metodologiese instrument, en Roy Bhaskar se Kritiese Realisme ("Critical Realism") as 'n metateorie, was ek in staat om die wisselwerking tussen die strukturele, kulturele en agentiese meganismes binne 'n professionele ontwikkelingskursus te identifiseer en te verduidelik wat die ontstaan van dosente se professionele akademiese identiteite moontlik gemaak of beperk het. Die deelnemers in my navorsing is veertien dosente wat die Nagraadse Diploma in Hoër Onderwys (NGDip HO) aan Rhodes Universiteit tussen 2007 en 2017 voltooi het. Sosiale Realisme se verklarende metodologieë, analitiese dualisme en die morfogenetiese siklus het my toegelaat om oorsaaklike verklarings te verskaf en die historisiteit van die ontstaan van dosente se professionele akademiese identiteite as onderwysers te verantwoord. ’n Kwalitatiewe navorsingsontwerp wat gevallestudienavorsing behels het, het my toegelaat om na generatiewe meganismes te soek om die kondisionerende invloed van dikwels onwaarneembare verskynsels en onderliggende meganismes in die ontwikkeling van dosente se identiteit as onderwysers in ’n navorsingsintensiewe universiteit te verstaan en te verduidelik. As sterk sosiale rolspelers deurdrenk met mag en materiële hulpbronne, behoort universiteitsleierskap die beperkende invloed van kontekstuele toestande, soos die hegemonie van dissiplinêre navorsing versus navorsing in die Akademieskap van Onderrig en Leer (AvOL, of in Engels "Scholarship of Teaching and Learning", afgekort na SoTL) in ag te neem. Die sosiokulturele (S-K) interaksie van die veertien dosente (agente) dui op die moontlikhede vir strukturele, kulturele en agentiale morfogenese wanneer agente doelbewus kies om hul agentskap uit te oefen, dit wil sê hul persoonlike ontluikende eienskappe (in Engels "personal emergent properties", afgekort na PEPs) om heersende strukturele en kulturele ontluikende eienskappe te bemiddel (in Engels "cultural emergent properties", afgekort na CEPs) wat hul persoonlike projekte moontlik maak of beperk. Dosente se persoonlike projekte is die aksies wat hulle doelbewus aangepak het terwyl hulle daarna gestreef het om volhoubare dog ontwikkelende praktyke as onderwysers in hul dissiplines te vestig. Hierdie tesis dui aan dat die uitoefening van hul persoonlike ontluikende eienskappe ("PEPs") behels subjektiewe refleksiwiteit en transformasie van primêre agente na korporatiewe agente as gevolg van kollektiewe optrede en alliansies met eendersdenkende eweknieë en kollegas om die onderrigen leeragenda in hul onderskeie departemente en die breër hoëronderwyskonteks te beïnvloed. Drievoudige morfogenese van dosente se agentskap het plaasgevind deur hul verwesenliking as sosiale rolspelers. Dit het die vorming van hul professionele identiteite as onderwysers aangedui en die unieke manier hoe hulle hul onderwyserrolle interpreteer en uitleef. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Adams, Anthea
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Identity (Psychology) in education , Academic development , Staff development , Social realism , Critical realism , Scholarship of teaching and learning , Education, Higher South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466372 , vital:76722 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466372
- Description: This doctoral study is part of a Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) capacity development project, Phakamisa. Using Margaret Archer's Social Realism as a substantive theory and methodological tool and Roy Bhaskar's Critical Realism as a meta-theory, I was able to identify and explain the interplay between the structural, cultural and agential mechanisms within a professional development course that enabled or constrained the emergence of lecturers' professional academic identities. My research participants are fourteen lecturers who completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (PGDip HE) at Rhodes University between 2007 and 2017. Social Realism's explanatory methodologies, analytical dualism, and the morphogenetic cycle allowed me to provide causal explanations and account for the historicity of the emergence of lecturers' professional academic identities as teachers. A qualitative research design involving case study research allowed me to search for generative mechanisms to understand and explain the conditioning influence of often unobservable phenomena and underlying mechanisms in developing lecturers' identities as teachers in a research-intensive university. As strong social actors imbued with power and material resources, university leadership should consider the constraining influence of contextual conditions, such as the hegemony of disciplinary research versus research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The socio-cultural (S-C) interactions of the fourteen lecturers (agents) signal the possibilities for structural, cultural and agential morphogenesis when agents choose to exercise their agency, i.e., their personal emergent properties (PEPs) to mediate prevalent structural and cultural emergent properties (SEPs and CEPs) enabling or constraining their personal projects. Lecturers' personal projects are the courses of action they intentionally engage in as they strive to establish sustainable yet evolving practices as teachers in their disciplines. This thesis shows that exercising their PEPs involves subjective reflexivity and transforming from primary agents to corporate agents due to collective action and alliances with like-minded peers and colleagues to shape the teaching and learning agenda in their respective departments and the broader higher education context. Triple morphogenesis of lecturers' agency occurred through their realisation as social actors. It signified the formation of their professional identities as teachers and how they uniquely embodied and enacted their teacher roles. , Hierdie doktorale studie is deel van 'n Departement van Hoër Onderwys en Opleiding (DHOO) kapasiteitsontwikkelingsprojek, naamlik Phakamisa. Deur gebruik te maak van Margaret Archer se Sosiale Realisme ("Social Realism") as 'n substantiewe teorie en metodologiese instrument, en Roy Bhaskar se Kritiese Realisme ("Critical Realism") as 'n metateorie, was ek in staat om die wisselwerking tussen die strukturele, kulturele en agentiese meganismes binne 'n professionele ontwikkelingskursus te identifiseer en te verduidelik wat die ontstaan van dosente se professionele akademiese identiteite moontlik gemaak of beperk het. Die deelnemers in my navorsing is veertien dosente wat die Nagraadse Diploma in Hoër Onderwys (NGDip HO) aan Rhodes Universiteit tussen 2007 en 2017 voltooi het. Sosiale Realisme se verklarende metodologieë, analitiese dualisme en die morfogenetiese siklus het my toegelaat om oorsaaklike verklarings te verskaf en die historisiteit van die ontstaan van dosente se professionele akademiese identiteite as onderwysers te verantwoord. ’n Kwalitatiewe navorsingsontwerp wat gevallestudienavorsing behels het, het my toegelaat om na generatiewe meganismes te soek om die kondisionerende invloed van dikwels onwaarneembare verskynsels en onderliggende meganismes in die ontwikkeling van dosente se identiteit as onderwysers in ’n navorsingsintensiewe universiteit te verstaan en te verduidelik. As sterk sosiale rolspelers deurdrenk met mag en materiële hulpbronne, behoort universiteitsleierskap die beperkende invloed van kontekstuele toestande, soos die hegemonie van dissiplinêre navorsing versus navorsing in die Akademieskap van Onderrig en Leer (AvOL, of in Engels "Scholarship of Teaching and Learning", afgekort na SoTL) in ag te neem. Die sosiokulturele (S-K) interaksie van die veertien dosente (agente) dui op die moontlikhede vir strukturele, kulturele en agentiale morfogenese wanneer agente doelbewus kies om hul agentskap uit te oefen, dit wil sê hul persoonlike ontluikende eienskappe (in Engels "personal emergent properties", afgekort na PEPs) om heersende strukturele en kulturele ontluikende eienskappe te bemiddel (in Engels "cultural emergent properties", afgekort na CEPs) wat hul persoonlike projekte moontlik maak of beperk. Dosente se persoonlike projekte is die aksies wat hulle doelbewus aangepak het terwyl hulle daarna gestreef het om volhoubare dog ontwikkelende praktyke as onderwysers in hul dissiplines te vestig. Hierdie tesis dui aan dat die uitoefening van hul persoonlike ontluikende eienskappe ("PEPs") behels subjektiewe refleksiwiteit en transformasie van primêre agente na korporatiewe agente as gevolg van kollektiewe optrede en alliansies met eendersdenkende eweknieë en kollegas om die onderrigen leeragenda in hul onderskeie departemente en die breër hoëronderwyskonteks te beïnvloed. Drievoudige morfogenese van dosente se agentskap het plaasgevind deur hul verwesenliking as sosiale rolspelers. Dit het die vorming van hul professionele identiteite as onderwysers aangedui en die unieke manier hoe hulle hul onderwyserrolle interpreteer en uitleef. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Activist radio and the struggle to empower audiences: a case study of the Zimbabwean history
- Authors: Chaunza, Garikai
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Activism Zimbabwe , Radio broadcasting Political aspects Zimbabwe , Authoritarianism Zimbabwe , Democracy Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe Social conditions , Zimbabwe Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466907 , vital:76797 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466907
- Description: This study is grounded in my 18-year career in journalism in Zimbabwe. This journey began in January 2006 at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), where I started as a news reporter. In June 2008, I left ZBC and transitioned to freelance roles, including work at Radio Voice of the People (VOP), which broadcasted from South Africa using Radio Netherlands' transmitters in Madagascar. Simultaneously, I corresponded for The Zimbabwean Newspaper, edited in the UK, printed in Johannesburg, South Africa, and distributed to Zimbabwe, Radio Netherlands, Free Speech Radio News (USA), KPFA Pacifica Foundation Radio (USA), and DW (German). More recently, my work has expanded into the digital domain, contributing to New Zimbabwe, an online newspaper for the Zimbabwean diaspora in the UK, before transitioning to Community Radio Harare. Throughout my 18-year career as a media practitioner and journalist in Zimbabwe, I faced constant state-sanctioned interference, and even physical violence, while executing my responsibilities. Initially, at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), several colleagues and I, including our news editor, were politically victimised and ultimately fired for covering opposition political players and human rights activists. Later, when I was operating outside state-established media outlets, I experienced a series of threats, intimidation, arrests and detentions by state security. This was also true during my six-year tenure as the chairperson of the Media Institute of Southern Africa's Harare advocacy committee. This experience underscored the importance of studying the history of media activism in this country, focusing on the role that activists have played sustaining the alternative media despite intimidation by the state. I am convinced of the importance documenting their experiences, capturing their contribution to the creation of alternative communication platforms for marginalised audiences. In exploring the literature I discovered that the traditions of activist media, in which I have been involved myself, are rooted in a much older history that can be traced back to pre-independent Zimbabwe. At that time, colonial authorities also restricted media freedoms and employed violence against pro-democracy activities, referred to as nationalists. I decided, for the purpose of this study, to delve into this pre-history of media activism in Zimbabwe, focusing on radio in particular. I wished to gain insight into the way media activists have, over time, sustained their involvement in the traditions of radio practice that can empower marginalised communities. I was conscious that the continued survival of activist radio in this country has often been arduous, with activists facing harassment, arrests, and detentions by authoritarian administrations resisting the opening up of democratic spaces. I wished to trace this history of resistance from its origins in the mid-twentieth century to the time of my own involvement in such radio in the 21st century. In particular, I hoped to identify shared normative foundations as well as shared practices for the implementation of these ideals. Chapter One of the study explores the history of activist radio from the mid-20th century to the present, identifying five distinct phases in Zimbabwe's socio-political history and illustrating how each phase shaped the media landscape. Building on this, Chapter Two establishes a theoretical framework underpinning the values and principles driving media activists to create people-oriented radio projects to empower marginalized communities. Chapter Three delves into the documented history of activist radio within the broader context of media activism in Zimbabwe, engaging with each of the five key moments detailed in Chapter One. Chapter Four outlines the research plan for the empirical fieldwork and discusses its implementation. In Chapter Five, I present interviews with radio activists from the 1970s' nationalist radio and those involved in the pirate radio tradition that re-emerged at the turn of the millennium, sharing their practical experiences. Chapter Six focuses on interviews with community radio advocates, detailing their involvement in radio activism during the first decade of the millennium. Finally, Chapter Seven examines the activities of community radio practitioners, exploring their experiences with unlicensed radio projects and highlighting their creative endeavours. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
- Authors: Chaunza, Garikai
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Activism Zimbabwe , Radio broadcasting Political aspects Zimbabwe , Authoritarianism Zimbabwe , Democracy Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe Social conditions , Zimbabwe Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466907 , vital:76797 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466907
- Description: This study is grounded in my 18-year career in journalism in Zimbabwe. This journey began in January 2006 at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), where I started as a news reporter. In June 2008, I left ZBC and transitioned to freelance roles, including work at Radio Voice of the People (VOP), which broadcasted from South Africa using Radio Netherlands' transmitters in Madagascar. Simultaneously, I corresponded for The Zimbabwean Newspaper, edited in the UK, printed in Johannesburg, South Africa, and distributed to Zimbabwe, Radio Netherlands, Free Speech Radio News (USA), KPFA Pacifica Foundation Radio (USA), and DW (German). More recently, my work has expanded into the digital domain, contributing to New Zimbabwe, an online newspaper for the Zimbabwean diaspora in the UK, before transitioning to Community Radio Harare. Throughout my 18-year career as a media practitioner and journalist in Zimbabwe, I faced constant state-sanctioned interference, and even physical violence, while executing my responsibilities. Initially, at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), several colleagues and I, including our news editor, were politically victimised and ultimately fired for covering opposition political players and human rights activists. Later, when I was operating outside state-established media outlets, I experienced a series of threats, intimidation, arrests and detentions by state security. This was also true during my six-year tenure as the chairperson of the Media Institute of Southern Africa's Harare advocacy committee. This experience underscored the importance of studying the history of media activism in this country, focusing on the role that activists have played sustaining the alternative media despite intimidation by the state. I am convinced of the importance documenting their experiences, capturing their contribution to the creation of alternative communication platforms for marginalised audiences. In exploring the literature I discovered that the traditions of activist media, in which I have been involved myself, are rooted in a much older history that can be traced back to pre-independent Zimbabwe. At that time, colonial authorities also restricted media freedoms and employed violence against pro-democracy activities, referred to as nationalists. I decided, for the purpose of this study, to delve into this pre-history of media activism in Zimbabwe, focusing on radio in particular. I wished to gain insight into the way media activists have, over time, sustained their involvement in the traditions of radio practice that can empower marginalised communities. I was conscious that the continued survival of activist radio in this country has often been arduous, with activists facing harassment, arrests, and detentions by authoritarian administrations resisting the opening up of democratic spaces. I wished to trace this history of resistance from its origins in the mid-twentieth century to the time of my own involvement in such radio in the 21st century. In particular, I hoped to identify shared normative foundations as well as shared practices for the implementation of these ideals. Chapter One of the study explores the history of activist radio from the mid-20th century to the present, identifying five distinct phases in Zimbabwe's socio-political history and illustrating how each phase shaped the media landscape. Building on this, Chapter Two establishes a theoretical framework underpinning the values and principles driving media activists to create people-oriented radio projects to empower marginalized communities. Chapter Three delves into the documented history of activist radio within the broader context of media activism in Zimbabwe, engaging with each of the five key moments detailed in Chapter One. Chapter Four outlines the research plan for the empirical fieldwork and discusses its implementation. In Chapter Five, I present interviews with radio activists from the 1970s' nationalist radio and those involved in the pirate radio tradition that re-emerged at the turn of the millennium, sharing their practical experiences. Chapter Six focuses on interviews with community radio advocates, detailing their involvement in radio activism during the first decade of the millennium. Finally, Chapter Seven examines the activities of community radio practitioners, exploring their experiences with unlicensed radio projects and highlighting their creative endeavours. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-10-11