Browsing Faculty of Arts by Subject "South Africa"
Now showing items 1-18 of 18
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van der Spuy, Patricia; Clowes, Lindsay (History Department, University of the Western Cape, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: This article reviews Helen Scanlon's book, "Representation and reality", and Nombonisa Gasa's "Women in South African history", and locates each against the historiography of South African women's history URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/139 Files in this item: 1
vanderSpuyAccidentalFeminists2007.pdf (173.5Kb) -
Field, Roger (Taylor & Francis, 2012)[more][less]
Abstract: The Greek poet George Seferis (1900-1971) spent 10 months in South Africa during WWII as a senior diplomatic official attached to the Greek government in exile. Drawing on his diary entries, correspondence and poetry this article challenges earlier interpretations of his work best described as a ‘synchronic panoptic vision’ (Bhabha). Beginning with an exploration of the troubled relationship between the ‘glory that was Greece’ and the failure of its early 20thcentury nationalist, expansionist and modernization projects, the article argues that Seferis tried to overcome alienation from landscape and a crisis of creativity in two ways: he transcribed and commented on Cavafy’s poetry, but was unable to resolve his relationship with the latter; by reaching down into the ruins of ancient Greece and back into its mythological past, through a process of negative displacement he transforms these crises into a descent to the world of the dead. Unlike Odysseus, he receives no guidance from its inhabitants, for they speak only the language of flowers and there are none. Accompanying Seferis’ dual purpose use of classical mythology as national heritage and ironic device is a more problematic aspect of modernism – the relegation of Africa and its sub- Saharan inhabitants to a primitive otherness that, he felt, limited his ability to express himself, and which generated some of his greatest poetry. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/512 Files in this item: 1
FieldGeorgeSeferis2012.pdf (266.4Kb) -
Bock, Zannie; Gough, David H. (Routledge, 2001)[more][less]
Abstract: The question of the 'great divide' between orality and literacy has been critically addressed by various scholars of literacy, including social literacy theorists. This paper uses the notions of primary and secondary discourse across both oral and literate contexts to examine this 'divide'. Using evidence from the oral tradition of the Xhosa, it is shown that 'traditional' societies have well-established primary and secondary discourse types. Against this understanding, the issue of 'access' to Western academic literacy is examined. It is argued that within the changing context of South African society and as a direct result of former apartheid policies, individuals may have failed to acquire the cultural capital of both oral secondary and literate secondary discourse types. The literate secondary discourse practices of Xhosa-speaking students at univer¬sity are explored through an analysis of student writing. This paper then reports on several projects which attempt to address some of the concerns of academic staff with respect to student writing. In particular, this section argues for a broadening of the notion of 'academic literacy' and suggests some ways in which texts derived from the oral tradition may be used to develop awareness of secondary discourse types. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/266 Files in this item: 1
Bock_Perspectives2001.pdf (637.5Kb) -
Gough, David H.; Bock, Zannie (Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand, 2003)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper examines the effectiveness of linguistic analysis in developing scientific thinking skills and scientific attitudes. It reports on a project established at a South Africa university in South Africa which engaged students in the analysis of code-mixed data. Students who participated in the project showed gains in being able to analyze linguistic data using problem solving skills. While transfer of such skills to mainstream science teaching was not investigated, the study confirms the effectiveness of linguistic analysis in engaging students in the activities associated with the development of skills for science. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/282 Files in this item: 1
Bock_ApplyingLinguistics2003.pdf (676.4Kb) -
Conradie, Ernst (Stellenbosch University, 2010)[more][less]
Abstract: This contribution explores the significance but also the immense complexities of Christian discourse on confessing guilt within the context of climate change. It draws especially on South African discourse on confessing guilt in the context of apartheid. The argument of the essay is twofold: Christians with an enduring large carbon footprint may wish to confess their guilt in this regard, but typically find it difficult to live from God’s liberating forgiveness and are therefore prone to rather desperate efforts to save the world themselves. By contrast, Christians with a small carbon footprint may opt for alternative understanding of salvation, namely in terms of redemption from the looming threat of climate change. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/456 Files in this item: 1
ConradieConfessingGuilt2010.pdf (126.6Kb) -
Bock, Zannie; Dadlana, Phakamani (University of Stellenbosch, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: This article aims to characterize typical linguistic and discourse features of academic writing in Xhosa and English among prospective Xhosa-speaking students at the University of the Western Cape so as to account for strengths and weaknesses in the writing and provide possible ‘points’ for pedagogic intervention. It presents an analysis of a sample of entrance essays written by these students in English and Xhosa. The analysis is in terms of a framework which considers aspects of argument, register and syntax. It aims to highlight strengths and weaknesses in student writing and to ascertain the extent to which these characteristics are language-specific or cross-linguistic. The results of the analysis suggest that the ability to argue coherently in an appropriate register is the defining mark of good writing in any language, and that control over the syntax of the language is particularly important for these students when writing in English. The ability to write well, like certain aspects of style, seems to be a generic ability and affects students’ performance in both languages. URI: http://dx.doi.org /10.5785/18-1-8 Files in this item: 1
Bock_cross-linguistic2002.pdf (243.5Kb) -
Hart, Genevieve (International Association of School Librarianship, 2006)[more][less]
Abstract: The paper comes out of a month-long case study of information literacy education in two public libraries in a small South African town in the rural province of Mpumalanga, undertaken in October 2004. The participant observation study is the second phase of a two-phase mixed methods study, which explores the capacity of public libraries in South Africa for information literacy education – in the context of the dire shortage of school libraries. The focus in the second phase is on the connections between public libraries and schools. However, the relations between the two libraries and their staff members are found to impact on these relations with the study finding that historical context and the conflicts arising from unequal positions of power impact significantly on information literacy education in the town. The paper concentrates, however, on just two threads of enquiry: the views of teachers and principals in the seven schools of the town on the educational role of libraries as revealed in interviews; and pupils’ use of the two public libraries in seeking information for their school assignments. The study reveals a lack of cognizance of the high level demands of information-seeking in libraries among the teachers. They tend to see the library as a warehouse from which things are “fetched”. The study finds a paradox – a gulf certainly exists between the public libraries and schools but the gulf comes from shared limited conceptions of the educational role of public libraries and of information literacy. The intense gaze of the participant observation contributes a nuanced understanding of the challenges for information literacy education in South Africa. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/471 Files in this item: 1
HartIASL2006.pdf (266.4Kb) -
Zinn, Sandy; Langdown, Natasha (Library & Information Association of South Africa, 2011)[more][less]
Abstract: The purpose of this study completed in 2010 was to investigate the use of e-books amongst academic librarians; in particular which e-books are available to academic librarians, why they choose this format, what impact e-books have on librarians’ professional practice and what the usage patterns of e-books are amongst academic librarians. A web-based questionnaire was distributed on the LIASA mailing list. The results reflect a more gradual trend towards e-book adoption. There is still a preference for print or a “bit of both” – print and electronic. This is because of the high costs of e-books using the subscription model as the predominant e-book acquisition model and the lack of sufficient e-books in all subject fields. E-books are used for “browsing for information” and are selected for functionalities such as having the ability to search the document, anytime access and automatic citation. Major problems identified with e-books are: the cost of the equipment to read e-book formats; the cost of the e-books, especially if the subscription purchasing model is used; the lack of reliability of the Internet; and the lack of training in the use of e-books. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/527 Files in this item: 1
ZinnEbooks2011.pdf (398.3Kb) -
Witbooi, Sally (University of Free State, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: The South African government and proffessions are taking stock of the transforamtion of the last decade. Manucipalities still face serious problems such as urbun populattion growth, poverty, housing shortages environmental and health problems. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/609 Files in this item: 1
WitbooiInformationLandscape2004.pdf (6.625Mb) -
Hart, Genevieve (Elsevier, 2010)[more][less]
Abstract: Job satisfaction was investigated at a South African university library undergoing change on many fronts. The study included 31 members of staff and the data were gathered via interviews/questionnaires, informed by standard HRM job satisfaction theory. The study found a “love–hate” relationship between respondents and their work. The key positive finding is that 61% report overall job satisfaction—with the core work of an academic library, providing for the information needs of clients, the source. However, only 51% claim to be proud to work at their library and 50% are open to other job offers. Causes for the restlessness include a sense of stagnation, frustration with inadequate resources, and anger at poor remuneration. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/252 Files in this item: 1
HartJobSatisfaction2010.pdf (1.839Mb) -
Clowes, Lindsay (Routledge, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: In this article I discuss some of the ways in which Drum tended to ascribe ‘modernity’ to particular practices and processes in opposition to other practices and processes portrayed as ‘traditional’. In mid-twentieth-century South Africa, dominant discourses tended to signal (white) male adulthood through independent decision making alongside financial autonomy. In contrast African discourses tended to signal male adulthood through proximity to family members, through respect for age and seniority and through deference to the praxis of ‘tradition’. In the representations of black men in its pages, Drum magazine negotiated a somewhat disorderly path through these competing racialised discourses. I suggest that Drum’s claim that black males were indeed men was made through highlighting and condoning practices that demonstrated similarities and continuities between subordinate black and dominant white versions of manhood. In challenging the racial discourse the magazine paradoxically found itself simultaneously reinforcing western rather than African versions of manhood. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/132 Files in this item: 1
ClowesMasculinity2008.pdf (696.3Kb) -
Clowes, Lindsay (HSRC Press, 2006)[more][less]
Abstract: This chapter explores changing representations of fatherhood and masculinity in Drum magazine over the course of the 1950s. In the early 1950s men were portrayed in close proximity to their children and adult masculinities were tied to being a father. Over the course of the 1950s this changed such that by the 1960s adult masculinities were portrayed outside the home and disconnected and distinct from their offspring. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/133 Files in this item: 1
ClowesFatherhood2006.pdf (287.7Kb) -
Hart, Genevieve (Library and Information Association of South Africa, 2010)[more][less]
Abstract: The article reflects on a case study of a group of six school-based dual use libraries in rural South Africa – focusing specifically on their community role. Its starting point is the library and information services (LIS) Transformation Charter’s vision of public libraries that play a meaningful role in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. The study employed a mix of data gathering methodologies – interviews, observation and analysis of documents. The key question that emerges from the study relates to the rather low usage of the libraries by the adults in the surrounding villages. All six libraries claim to provide “access” but it is not clear what they provide access to. The study suggests that a sharper focus on their community information services is required. More leadership, staff education and focused programming might enable the libraries to fulfil their exciting potential. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/250 Files in this item: 1
HartNewVision2010.pdf (192.3Kb) -
Nasson, Bill (Stellenbosch University) (Published by History Dept, University of the Western Cape, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: This review essay explores the racial and social divides that have permeated cricket in South Africa. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/105 Files in this item: 1
NassonCricket2009.pdf (131.5Kb) -
Langenhoven, Belinda; Dyssel, Michael (Springer, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: The article reflects the findings of a survey undertaken in Mitchell’s Plain and presents a case study of the factors that impact recycle-related employment tendencies and opportunities in the area of the Cape Flats in South Africa. The article states recycling also has advantages for the creation of formal and informal employment and it can be enhanced with the encouragement of local authorities through incentives URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/542 Files in this item: 1
LangenhovenMitchellsPlain2007.pdf (978.8Kb) -
Hayes, Patricia (Wiley - Blackwell Publishing, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: Born in 1956, Santu Mofokeng formed part of the Afrapix Collective that engaged in exposé and documentary photography of anti-apartheid resistance and social conditions during the 1980s in South Africa. However, Mofokeng was an increasingly important internal critic of mainstream photojournalism, and of the ways black South Africans were represented in the bigger international picture economy during the political struggle. Eschewing scenes of violence and the third-party view of white-on-black brutality in particular, he began his profound explorations of the everyday and spiritual dimensions of African life, both in the city and in the countryside. His formal techniques favor “fictions” that contain smoke, mist, and other matters and techniques that occlude rather than expose. Using angularity and ambivalence, he also ruptures realist expectations and allows space for the uncanny and the supernatural. He works with the notion of seriti (a northern seSotho term encompassing aura, shadow, power, essence, and many other things). The essay follows strands in Mofokeng’s writings and statements in relation to certain of his photographs, most recently repositioned in the substantial 2007 exhibition Invoice, to argue that he has pushed for a desecularization and Africanization of photography from the 1980s to the present. In more recent work the scourge of apartheid has been replaced by the HIV/AIDS virus, a mutation of nature, exacerbating the spiritual insecurities of many people in postapartheid South Africa. The essay concludes that Mofokeng’s work poses a critique of the parallel paradigms of Marxist-influenced social history and documentary photography in 1980s South Africa, both still highly influential, by attempting to reinsert aura (seriti) into photography and by highlighting what secular Marxism has concealed and proscribed. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/559 Files in this item: 1
HayesSantuMofokeng2009.pdf (660.2Kb) -
Hart, Genevieve (Library and Information Association of South Africa, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: The article argues that the construct of social capital offers South African public librarianship fresh vision – urgently needed if it is to fulfil its potential role in social inclusion. Social capital refers to the stocks of social trust, norms and networks that a community can draw on to solve common problems. A wide body of research in Southern Africa bears witness to its role in the success of development projects. Restrictive economic policies, coupled with new demands, have put pressure on public libraries and research points to a prevailing low morale among their staff, who, it is suggested, find themselves caught in the transition towards new models of service. Government’s acceptance of social capital as a crucial tool in the developmental state and the news of its intervention to transform South African public libraries suggest the need to articulate the library as “a place for all”. In reaction to neglect in the literature of social capital, internationally, librarians have documented their building of social capital through their education, information and community programmes. This work offers South African librarians a rich resource to draw on in their search for new direction and vision URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/583 Files in this item: 1
HartSocialcapital 2007.pdf (204.7Kb) -
Hart, Genevieve (Walter de Gruyter, 2011)[more][less]
Abstract: The article describes an interpretive case study of a group of six dual use school community libraries in one remote region of South Africa. Its focus is rather more on the libraries as school libraries than public libraries. The recent government sponsored LIS Transformation Charter has placed a spotlight on the backlogs in school and public library provision. The case study, conducted in April 2009, investigates if dual or joint use libraries might help fill gaps and, if so, under what conditions. The article describes background, research questions, methodology, site and some of the findings. The study highlights the relationships among role-players, the realities of dual use functioning and the complex issue of librarian identity. The study concludes that, although many of the international criteria for dual use libraries are not met, the six libraries do provide a crucial service for their schools and other schools in the surrounding areas. And they offer a tantalising picture of the possibilities of dual use for rural information services. The article suggests that with more dynamic leadership these possibilities could be fulfilled. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/442 Files in this item: 1
HartCommunityLibraries2011.pdf (315.5Kb)
Now showing items 1-18 of 18