'The Most Amazing Show': performative interactions with postelection South African society and culture
- Authors: Scholtz, Brink
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Performing arts , Drama -- Study and teaching , Recreational activities
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57527 , vital:26963
- Description: This research investigates contemporary South African performance within the context of prominent social and cultural change following the political transition from an apartheid state to democracy. Specifically, it looks at the relationship between a popular comic variety show The Most Amazing Show (TMAS), and aspects of contemporary South African society and culture, particularly relating to prominent efforts to affect post-election transformation of South African society and culture through the construction of a South African 'rainbow nation'. By analysing TMAS in terms of broader historical, performative and discursive contexts, it engages a relational reading of the performance. The study argues that TMAS both challenges and participates in the manner in which rainbow nation discourse constructs South African society and culture. Firstly, it considers the performance's construction of hybrid South African identities, including white Afrikaans, white English and white masculine identities. It argues that these reconstructions undermine the tendency within rainbow nation discourse to construct cultural hybridity in terms of stereotypically distinct identities. Secondly, it considers TMAS' construction of collective experience and social integration, which subverts the often glamorised and superficial representations of social healing and integration that are constructed within rainbow nation discourse. The analysis makes prominent reference to the notion of 'liminality' in order to describe the manner in which TMAS constructs significance within the tension that it establishes between oppositional, and often contradictory, positions. Furthermore, it attempts to establish a link between this notion of liminality and notions of theatrical syncretism that are prominent in contemporary South African theatre scholarship, and emphasise processes of signification that are constantly shifting and unstable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Scholtz, Brink
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Performing arts , Drama -- Study and teaching , Recreational activities
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/57527 , vital:26963
- Description: This research investigates contemporary South African performance within the context of prominent social and cultural change following the political transition from an apartheid state to democracy. Specifically, it looks at the relationship between a popular comic variety show The Most Amazing Show (TMAS), and aspects of contemporary South African society and culture, particularly relating to prominent efforts to affect post-election transformation of South African society and culture through the construction of a South African 'rainbow nation'. By analysing TMAS in terms of broader historical, performative and discursive contexts, it engages a relational reading of the performance. The study argues that TMAS both challenges and participates in the manner in which rainbow nation discourse constructs South African society and culture. Firstly, it considers the performance's construction of hybrid South African identities, including white Afrikaans, white English and white masculine identities. It argues that these reconstructions undermine the tendency within rainbow nation discourse to construct cultural hybridity in terms of stereotypically distinct identities. Secondly, it considers TMAS' construction of collective experience and social integration, which subverts the often glamorised and superficial representations of social healing and integration that are constructed within rainbow nation discourse. The analysis makes prominent reference to the notion of 'liminality' in order to describe the manner in which TMAS constructs significance within the tension that it establishes between oppositional, and often contradictory, positions. Furthermore, it attempts to establish a link between this notion of liminality and notions of theatrical syncretism that are prominent in contemporary South African theatre scholarship, and emphasise processes of signification that are constantly shifting and unstable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A book history study of Michael Radford's filmic production William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
- Green, Bryony Rose Humphries
- Authors: Green, Bryony Rose Humphries
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Film adaptations Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Merchant of Venice Merchant of Venice (Motion picture: 2004) English drama -- Film and video adaptations Film adaptations -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2197 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002239
- Description: Falling within the ambit of the Department of English Literature but with interdisciplinary scope and method, the research undertaken in this thesis examines Michael Radford’s 2004 film production William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice using the Book History approach to textual study. Previously applied almost exclusively to the study of books, Book History examines the text in terms of both its medium and its content, bringing together bibliographical, literary and historical approaches to the study of books within one theoretical paradigm. My research extends this interdisciplinary approach into the filmic medium by using a modified version of Robert Darnton’s “communication circuit” to examine the process of transmission of this Shakespearean film adaptation from creation to reception. The research is not intended as a complete Book History study and even less as a comprehensive investigation of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Rather, it uses a Shakespearean case study to bring together the two previously discrete fields of Book History and filmic investigation. Drawing on film studies, literary concepts, cultural and media studies, modern management theory as well as reception theories and with the use of both quantitative and qualitative data, I show Book History to be an eminently useful and constructive approach to the study of film.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Green, Bryony Rose Humphries
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Film adaptations Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Merchant of Venice Merchant of Venice (Motion picture: 2004) English drama -- Film and video adaptations Film adaptations -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2197 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002239
- Description: Falling within the ambit of the Department of English Literature but with interdisciplinary scope and method, the research undertaken in this thesis examines Michael Radford’s 2004 film production William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice using the Book History approach to textual study. Previously applied almost exclusively to the study of books, Book History examines the text in terms of both its medium and its content, bringing together bibliographical, literary and historical approaches to the study of books within one theoretical paradigm. My research extends this interdisciplinary approach into the filmic medium by using a modified version of Robert Darnton’s “communication circuit” to examine the process of transmission of this Shakespearean film adaptation from creation to reception. The research is not intended as a complete Book History study and even less as a comprehensive investigation of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Rather, it uses a Shakespearean case study to bring together the two previously discrete fields of Book History and filmic investigation. Drawing on film studies, literary concepts, cultural and media studies, modern management theory as well as reception theories and with the use of both quantitative and qualitative data, I show Book History to be an eminently useful and constructive approach to the study of film.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A comparison of whole body vibration versus conventional training on leg strenght
- Authors: Nieuwoudt, Nadus
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Leg -- Effect of vibration on , Exercise -- Physiological aspects , Muscle strength
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10093 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/907 , Leg -- Effect of vibration on , Exercise -- Physiological aspects , Muscle strength
- Description: Whole Body Vibration (WBV) training is a new addition to the field of Exercise and Sports Science and has been developed for the use in strength and conditioning exercises. With the introduction of this new mode of exercise, the study focused on comparing the strength gaining effect of WBV training versus conventional resistance training. The study was conducted in a descriptive, exploratory manner utilizing a quasi-experimental approach with a three group comparison pre-test-post-test design consisting of an experimental-, comparison- and control group. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to select 43 male and female healthy, sedentary volunteer participants. The research focused on reviewing the contribution that each mode of training offers to increase strength in the upper leg and underlines the important physiological adaptations that the human body undergoes to bring about an increase in muscle strength. Both the whole body vibration and land-based resistance groups trained three times a week over an eight week intervention period. Exercises were performed with progressive increments in the frequency, amplitude and duration for the WBV- and in workload, number of sets and repetitions for the conventional resistance training program. The control group remained sedentary throughout the duration of the study. The dependent variables of peak torque flexion and extension of the knee joint in both legs were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was done to determine intra-group differences. Post-hoc analysis in the form of Scheffé’s test was done to determine and compare inter-group differences. Practical significance was indicated by means of Partial eta2 The analysis of the results revealed significant strength increases in both conventional resistance training and WBV for most of the dependent variables, except for peak torque extension, where the WBV group did not increase significantly. Based on these results, it can be concluded that both modes of conventional resistance and whole body vibration increased selected dependent variables for upper leg strength in previously inactive individuals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Nieuwoudt, Nadus
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Leg -- Effect of vibration on , Exercise -- Physiological aspects , Muscle strength
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10093 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/907 , Leg -- Effect of vibration on , Exercise -- Physiological aspects , Muscle strength
- Description: Whole Body Vibration (WBV) training is a new addition to the field of Exercise and Sports Science and has been developed for the use in strength and conditioning exercises. With the introduction of this new mode of exercise, the study focused on comparing the strength gaining effect of WBV training versus conventional resistance training. The study was conducted in a descriptive, exploratory manner utilizing a quasi-experimental approach with a three group comparison pre-test-post-test design consisting of an experimental-, comparison- and control group. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to select 43 male and female healthy, sedentary volunteer participants. The research focused on reviewing the contribution that each mode of training offers to increase strength in the upper leg and underlines the important physiological adaptations that the human body undergoes to bring about an increase in muscle strength. Both the whole body vibration and land-based resistance groups trained three times a week over an eight week intervention period. Exercises were performed with progressive increments in the frequency, amplitude and duration for the WBV- and in workload, number of sets and repetitions for the conventional resistance training program. The control group remained sedentary throughout the duration of the study. The dependent variables of peak torque flexion and extension of the knee joint in both legs were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was done to determine intra-group differences. Post-hoc analysis in the form of Scheffé’s test was done to determine and compare inter-group differences. Practical significance was indicated by means of Partial eta2 The analysis of the results revealed significant strength increases in both conventional resistance training and WBV for most of the dependent variables, except for peak torque extension, where the WBV group did not increase significantly. Based on these results, it can be concluded that both modes of conventional resistance and whole body vibration increased selected dependent variables for upper leg strength in previously inactive individuals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A critical edition of the poems of Henry Vaux (c. 1559-1587) in MS. Folger Bd with STC 22957
- Hacksley, Timothy Christopher
- Authors: Hacksley, Timothy Christopher
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Vaux, Henry, ca. 1559-1587 -- Criticism and interpretation Vaux, Henry, ca. 1559-1587 Latin poetry, Medieval and modern -- History and criticism English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2200 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002242
- Description: This thesis offers an edition of the English and Latin poems found in MS. Folger bd with STC 22957, attributed to Henry Vaux (c. 1559—1587), a recusant, priest-smuggler, and child prodigy. THE TEXT of the edition is preceded by an introduction comprising three parts: a GENERAL INTRODUCTION describing Vaux‘s socio-historical and biographical context; a CRITICAL INTRODUCTION describing the Medieval and Early Modern literary contexts of Vaux‘s poems and the forms, traditions, topoi, and conventions adhered to in them; and a TEXTUAL INTRODUCTION describing the seventeenth-century manuscript copy of the poems used as the source text and explaining and justifying the editorial decisions made. Textual variants and instances of doubtful authorship are also discussed. THE TEXT itself is presented in the original spelling of the MS. and is a diplomatic edition: the scribe‘s use of characters that are now defunct (such as long ‗s‘ and ‗=‘ for ‗-‘) has not been modernised. A critical apparatus is provided with THE TEXT. THE TEXT is followed by an extensive COMMENTARY, which glosses un-usual or archaic words and phrases, points out allusions and their likely sources, discusses literary forms and conventions which inform the reading of the po-ems, and observes peculiarities in poetic metre. Translations and commentary are offered for Vaux‘s Latin poems. The five appendices following the COMMEN-TARY comprise a MODERNISED TEXT of the poems, a FACSIMILE OF THE FOLGER MS., a SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE VAUX FAMILY after Henry Vaux‘s death, a text JOHN OF PECHAM‘S PHILOMENA PRAEVIA (a text which informs the reading of Vaux‘s ―A complaint to the Nightingale‖) along with a parallel translation by me, and transcriptions of TEXTUAL VARIANTS. A BIBLIOGRAPHY of works cited, re-ferred to or consulted follows the appendices. A comprehensive GENERAL INDEX of subjects, people, places, and literary works and forms follows this, and an IN-DEX OF FIRST LINES AND TITLES of Vaux‘s poems completes the edition.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Hacksley, Timothy Christopher
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Vaux, Henry, ca. 1559-1587 -- Criticism and interpretation Vaux, Henry, ca. 1559-1587 Latin poetry, Medieval and modern -- History and criticism English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2200 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002242
- Description: This thesis offers an edition of the English and Latin poems found in MS. Folger bd with STC 22957, attributed to Henry Vaux (c. 1559—1587), a recusant, priest-smuggler, and child prodigy. THE TEXT of the edition is preceded by an introduction comprising three parts: a GENERAL INTRODUCTION describing Vaux‘s socio-historical and biographical context; a CRITICAL INTRODUCTION describing the Medieval and Early Modern literary contexts of Vaux‘s poems and the forms, traditions, topoi, and conventions adhered to in them; and a TEXTUAL INTRODUCTION describing the seventeenth-century manuscript copy of the poems used as the source text and explaining and justifying the editorial decisions made. Textual variants and instances of doubtful authorship are also discussed. THE TEXT itself is presented in the original spelling of the MS. and is a diplomatic edition: the scribe‘s use of characters that are now defunct (such as long ‗s‘ and ‗=‘ for ‗-‘) has not been modernised. A critical apparatus is provided with THE TEXT. THE TEXT is followed by an extensive COMMENTARY, which glosses un-usual or archaic words and phrases, points out allusions and their likely sources, discusses literary forms and conventions which inform the reading of the po-ems, and observes peculiarities in poetic metre. Translations and commentary are offered for Vaux‘s Latin poems. The five appendices following the COMMEN-TARY comprise a MODERNISED TEXT of the poems, a FACSIMILE OF THE FOLGER MS., a SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE VAUX FAMILY after Henry Vaux‘s death, a text JOHN OF PECHAM‘S PHILOMENA PRAEVIA (a text which informs the reading of Vaux‘s ―A complaint to the Nightingale‖) along with a parallel translation by me, and transcriptions of TEXTUAL VARIANTS. A BIBLIOGRAPHY of works cited, re-ferred to or consulted follows the appendices. A comprehensive GENERAL INDEX of subjects, people, places, and literary works and forms follows this, and an IN-DEX OF FIRST LINES AND TITLES of Vaux‘s poems completes the edition.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A critical inquiry into the absence of a gender equality discourse in the coverage of the land redistribution issue in two Zimbabwean newspapers, The Daily News and The Herald, between 01 February and 30 June 2000
- Authors: Mawarire, Jealousy Mbizvo
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: The Daily News (Zimbabwe) The Herald (Zimbabwe) Journalism -- Zimbabwe Mass media -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe Sex in mass media -- Zimbabwe Discourse analysis -- Social aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3460 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002915
- Description: The media, which help define what we think and our roles in the society, have a crucial role to project both men and women’s issues so as to change people’s perceptions and stereotypes about the role men and women play in the society. There is need, therefore, to ensure gender equality in the operations of the media so that issues to do with both men and women get adequate and equal coverage. This study on the reportage of the land redistribution exercise in Zimbabwe has, however, exposed the gendered nature of the operations of the media, particularly in the news production process. It provides that, overally, the news discourse is a masculine narrative whose androcentric form is a result of, and is protected by, claims to ‘objectivity,’ ‘professionalism’, ‘impartiality’ and the pursuit of a journalistic routine system that hegemonically prioritises men’s issues over those of women. The situation, as the research shows, has not been helped by journalists’ incapacity to do thematic appreciation of issues and their over-inclination towards a simplistic event-based journalism that fails to question policies as they are enacted and implemented in gender-skewed processes. The lack of gender policies, the operations of patriarchy and the pursuit of a journalistic routine system that sees nothing wrong with the ostracisation of women issues are very fundamental findings that the research uses in its attempts to explain why the gender equality discourse was left out of the news reports about the land reform exercise in Zimbabwe.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Mawarire, Jealousy Mbizvo
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: The Daily News (Zimbabwe) The Herald (Zimbabwe) Journalism -- Zimbabwe Mass media -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe Sex in mass media -- Zimbabwe Discourse analysis -- Social aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3460 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002915
- Description: The media, which help define what we think and our roles in the society, have a crucial role to project both men and women’s issues so as to change people’s perceptions and stereotypes about the role men and women play in the society. There is need, therefore, to ensure gender equality in the operations of the media so that issues to do with both men and women get adequate and equal coverage. This study on the reportage of the land redistribution exercise in Zimbabwe has, however, exposed the gendered nature of the operations of the media, particularly in the news production process. It provides that, overally, the news discourse is a masculine narrative whose androcentric form is a result of, and is protected by, claims to ‘objectivity,’ ‘professionalism’, ‘impartiality’ and the pursuit of a journalistic routine system that hegemonically prioritises men’s issues over those of women. The situation, as the research shows, has not been helped by journalists’ incapacity to do thematic appreciation of issues and their over-inclination towards a simplistic event-based journalism that fails to question policies as they are enacted and implemented in gender-skewed processes. The lack of gender policies, the operations of patriarchy and the pursuit of a journalistic routine system that sees nothing wrong with the ostracisation of women issues are very fundamental findings that the research uses in its attempts to explain why the gender equality discourse was left out of the news reports about the land reform exercise in Zimbabwe.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
An exploration of transformation at an institution of higher education using Anstey's conceptual framework
- Authors: Wannenburg, Iona
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Universities and colleges -- Mergers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Educational change -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Transformative learning -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Higher education and state -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9423 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/865 , Universities and colleges -- Mergers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Educational change -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Transformative learning -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Higher education and state -- South Africa
- Description: In this study an exploration was conducted of change and transformation at an institution of higher education in South Africa using Anstey’s conceptual framework. This framework incorporated the work of major change theorists as well as the balanced scorecard of Kaplan and Norton. A quantitative and exploratory approach was used. The research question for this study was formulated as follows: How successful was the organizational transformation process at the newly established university in the period 2003 – 2007? The first objective of the study was to describe the organizational transformation process as it unfolded at the newly established university. The second objective was to evaluate the success of the organizational transformation process by using Anstey’s conceptual framework. Eight factors were identified in Anstey’s framework according to which the success of the merger was analyzed. These factors were: constructive unease; harnessed urgency; clear purpose; challenging vision with clear measurable objectives; champions at all levels; culture and community; competitive competencies; coherent strategy, and communication and consultation. A computerized survey tool was utilized to design a structured questionnaire with both fixed response and open-ended questions. Some 13 percent of the employees responded to the questionnaire. The internal consistency of the scores derived from the instrument was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha. Descriptive statistics revealed that 62.5 percent of factor scores were neutral and 37.5 percent negative with regard to staffs’ perceptions of the merger. Inferential statistics disclosed that academic staff viewed the merger more negatively on factor 3 challenging vision with clear measurable objectives than their administrative colleagues. The total success of the merger can be summarized by the following statement of one of the participants ‘If the NMMU merger is compared to other mergers in Higher Education in South Africa then it is clear that, from a systems and procedural perspective, it was managed satisfactory. Unfortunately the ‘people’ dimension of the merger did not feature as a priority and many staff members were alienated as a result of this.’ The limitation of the study was the small sample size. This study was also contextual in nature, meaning that it focused on the transformation process as it unfolded at a specific university in South African between the years 2003 – 2007. No results generated in this study can be generalized as they only presented a shot-in-time reflecting the transformation process at a particular organization at a particular period in time. This study also confirmed the usefulness of Anstey’s conceptual framework in assessing transformation at an institution of higher education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Wannenburg, Iona
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Universities and colleges -- Mergers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Educational change -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Transformative learning -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Higher education and state -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9423 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/865 , Universities and colleges -- Mergers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Educational change -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Transformative learning -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Higher education and state -- South Africa
- Description: In this study an exploration was conducted of change and transformation at an institution of higher education in South Africa using Anstey’s conceptual framework. This framework incorporated the work of major change theorists as well as the balanced scorecard of Kaplan and Norton. A quantitative and exploratory approach was used. The research question for this study was formulated as follows: How successful was the organizational transformation process at the newly established university in the period 2003 – 2007? The first objective of the study was to describe the organizational transformation process as it unfolded at the newly established university. The second objective was to evaluate the success of the organizational transformation process by using Anstey’s conceptual framework. Eight factors were identified in Anstey’s framework according to which the success of the merger was analyzed. These factors were: constructive unease; harnessed urgency; clear purpose; challenging vision with clear measurable objectives; champions at all levels; culture and community; competitive competencies; coherent strategy, and communication and consultation. A computerized survey tool was utilized to design a structured questionnaire with both fixed response and open-ended questions. Some 13 percent of the employees responded to the questionnaire. The internal consistency of the scores derived from the instrument was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha. Descriptive statistics revealed that 62.5 percent of factor scores were neutral and 37.5 percent negative with regard to staffs’ perceptions of the merger. Inferential statistics disclosed that academic staff viewed the merger more negatively on factor 3 challenging vision with clear measurable objectives than their administrative colleagues. The total success of the merger can be summarized by the following statement of one of the participants ‘If the NMMU merger is compared to other mergers in Higher Education in South Africa then it is clear that, from a systems and procedural perspective, it was managed satisfactory. Unfortunately the ‘people’ dimension of the merger did not feature as a priority and many staff members were alienated as a result of this.’ The limitation of the study was the small sample size. This study was also contextual in nature, meaning that it focused on the transformation process as it unfolded at a specific university in South African between the years 2003 – 2007. No results generated in this study can be generalized as they only presented a shot-in-time reflecting the transformation process at a particular organization at a particular period in time. This study also confirmed the usefulness of Anstey’s conceptual framework in assessing transformation at an institution of higher education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
An investigation of the Ugandan publication Red Pepper: a case study from 2001-2004
- Authors: Opolot, Benedict
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Red Pepper (Uganda) Sex in mass media -- Uganda Liberalism in mass media -- Uganda Homophobia -- Press coverage -- Uganda Mass media -- Political aspects -- Uganda Tabloid newspapers -- Uganda -- Case studies Newspapers -- Uganda -- 21st century Journalism -- Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3513 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007713
- Description: Red Pepper has been the subject of much discussion in Uganda, with some accounts describing it as a liberal mouthpiece, and others as pornography. This case study, therefore, sought to investigate Red Pepper as a media phenomenon in Uganda in the 21st century, specifically between 2001 and 2004. Employing quantitative and qualitative methodologies, it focused on the production process and the text. Although sexualised content dominate its pages, and news about issues such as the environment and education are near-absent, its managers describe the publication as legitimate, normative and consistent with liberal media standards. Accordingly, to interrogate Red Pepper in terms of its journalistic functions, selected debates associated with liberal approaches to news media, media political economy, tabloidisation, pornography and gendered relations were reviewed. The analysis entailed five phases. The first was a denotative or descriptive analysis, which focused on the publication's structure and content focus. This was followed by an interview with management, a broad content analysis to establish the incidence of predefined content categories expected of the tabloid, pornographic and liberal press and, lastly, a theme-based content analysis that sought to establish the potential meanings and framing of the dominant content categories of gossip and sexualised copy. Overall, the study found Red Pepper to be a misogynistic tabloid, having elements said to belong to pornography and homophobia. According to the findings, not only does Red Pepper fall short of a liberal understanding of a newspaper in terms of diversity of topics, provision of information and professional practice, it also does not fit the understanding of an alternative public sphere, mainly because it fails to challenge the patriarchal framing of sex, sexuality and gendered relations. This framing is undertaken deliberately as a means to securing economic rather than journalistic ideals to which the editors pay lip service. Consequently, the gossip and sexualised content are not problematised and as such discourses and power relations therein are not interrogated. Neither are inadequacies in local systems addressed nor corrective action mobilised as expected of some tabloids. All in all, the publication fronts superficial entertainment content that echoes particular gender constructions and patriarchal commonsense and entrenches the (undesirable) status quo which, ironically, it claims to challenge.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Opolot, Benedict
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Red Pepper (Uganda) Sex in mass media -- Uganda Liberalism in mass media -- Uganda Homophobia -- Press coverage -- Uganda Mass media -- Political aspects -- Uganda Tabloid newspapers -- Uganda -- Case studies Newspapers -- Uganda -- 21st century Journalism -- Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3513 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007713
- Description: Red Pepper has been the subject of much discussion in Uganda, with some accounts describing it as a liberal mouthpiece, and others as pornography. This case study, therefore, sought to investigate Red Pepper as a media phenomenon in Uganda in the 21st century, specifically between 2001 and 2004. Employing quantitative and qualitative methodologies, it focused on the production process and the text. Although sexualised content dominate its pages, and news about issues such as the environment and education are near-absent, its managers describe the publication as legitimate, normative and consistent with liberal media standards. Accordingly, to interrogate Red Pepper in terms of its journalistic functions, selected debates associated with liberal approaches to news media, media political economy, tabloidisation, pornography and gendered relations were reviewed. The analysis entailed five phases. The first was a denotative or descriptive analysis, which focused on the publication's structure and content focus. This was followed by an interview with management, a broad content analysis to establish the incidence of predefined content categories expected of the tabloid, pornographic and liberal press and, lastly, a theme-based content analysis that sought to establish the potential meanings and framing of the dominant content categories of gossip and sexualised copy. Overall, the study found Red Pepper to be a misogynistic tabloid, having elements said to belong to pornography and homophobia. According to the findings, not only does Red Pepper fall short of a liberal understanding of a newspaper in terms of diversity of topics, provision of information and professional practice, it also does not fit the understanding of an alternative public sphere, mainly because it fails to challenge the patriarchal framing of sex, sexuality and gendered relations. This framing is undertaken deliberately as a means to securing economic rather than journalistic ideals to which the editors pay lip service. Consequently, the gossip and sexualised content are not problematised and as such discourses and power relations therein are not interrogated. Neither are inadequacies in local systems addressed nor corrective action mobilised as expected of some tabloids. All in all, the publication fronts superficial entertainment content that echoes particular gender constructions and patriarchal commonsense and entrenches the (undesirable) status quo which, ironically, it claims to challenge.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Corporeal tales : an investigation into narrative form in contemporary South African dance and choreography
- Authors: Parker, Alan Charles
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Sichel, Adrienne Krouse, Matthew Dance -- South Africa Choreography -- South Africa Choreographers -- South Africa Dance criticism -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2157 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007658
- Description: In the years following the fall of Apartheid in South Africa, dance and choreography have undergone considerable transformation. This investigation stems from one observation relative to this change that has been articulated by two of South Africa's most respected dance critics, Adrienne Sichel and Matthew Krouse. Both critics have noted a growing concern for narrative in South African contemporary choreography, coupled with an apparent propensity for narratives of a distinctly personal and 'autobiographical' nature. In Part One: 'Just after the beginning', the proposed preoccupation with narrative in South African contemporary choreography is discussed in light of the relationship between narrative and the notion of personal identity. The use of the performed narrative as a medium to explore questions about identity is offered as one explanation underpinning this increased proclivity, where the interrogation of the form of the danced narrative provides a site for exploration of personal identity. Part Two: 'Somewhere in the middle' interrogates the notion of form through an in-depth discussion of the experimentation with form within theatrical and antitheatrical dance traditions over the last fifty years. Specific works by three selected South African choreographers (Ginslov, Maqoma and Sabbagha) are discussed in terms of their general approach to narrative form. This provides an illustration of some of the approaches to narrative form emergent in contemporary South African choreographic practices. Part Three: 'Nearing the end' offers Acty Tang's Chaste (2007) as a case study to illustrate the practical application of the dance narrative as a means to interrogate questions relating to personal identity. A detailed analysis of Tang's particular approach to forming the narrative of Chaste is conducted, exposing the intertextual, multimedia and multidisciplinary approach to creating the danced narrative.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Parker, Alan Charles
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Sichel, Adrienne Krouse, Matthew Dance -- South Africa Choreography -- South Africa Choreographers -- South Africa Dance criticism -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2157 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007658
- Description: In the years following the fall of Apartheid in South Africa, dance and choreography have undergone considerable transformation. This investigation stems from one observation relative to this change that has been articulated by two of South Africa's most respected dance critics, Adrienne Sichel and Matthew Krouse. Both critics have noted a growing concern for narrative in South African contemporary choreography, coupled with an apparent propensity for narratives of a distinctly personal and 'autobiographical' nature. In Part One: 'Just after the beginning', the proposed preoccupation with narrative in South African contemporary choreography is discussed in light of the relationship between narrative and the notion of personal identity. The use of the performed narrative as a medium to explore questions about identity is offered as one explanation underpinning this increased proclivity, where the interrogation of the form of the danced narrative provides a site for exploration of personal identity. Part Two: 'Somewhere in the middle' interrogates the notion of form through an in-depth discussion of the experimentation with form within theatrical and antitheatrical dance traditions over the last fifty years. Specific works by three selected South African choreographers (Ginslov, Maqoma and Sabbagha) are discussed in terms of their general approach to narrative form. This provides an illustration of some of the approaches to narrative form emergent in contemporary South African choreographic practices. Part Three: 'Nearing the end' offers Acty Tang's Chaste (2007) as a case study to illustrate the practical application of the dance narrative as a means to interrogate questions relating to personal identity. A detailed analysis of Tang's particular approach to forming the narrative of Chaste is conducted, exposing the intertextual, multimedia and multidisciplinary approach to creating the danced narrative.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Reading nonsense : a journey through the writing of Edward Lear
- Authors: Pendlebury, Kathleen Sarah
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Lear, Edward, 1812-1888 Lear, Edward, 1812-1888 Criticism and interpretation English poetry -- 19th century -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2206 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002249
- Description: In this thesis I have addressed some of the problems that have arisen in critical approaches to the nonsense works of Edward Lear from the late nineteenth century. I have entitled it “Reading Nonsense” because my central concern is with how best to apprehend the paradoxes inherent in literary nonsense, which inevitably raises interpretative questions. Because nonsense is a “basic type of communication” whose essence is “unresolved tension between [the] presence and absence of meaning” (Tigges, Anatomy 51), we are called upon either to “make sense of” that which claims to offer up no meaning or to surrender ourselves to meaninglessness. Broadly, critical approaches to nonsense fall into two classes: those that maintain that nonsense is not, in fact, “not sense”, but rather a kind of symbolic language that can be reconciled into meaning; and those which uphold the nonsensicality of nonsense, maintaining that certain ambiguities and paradoxes cannot be accounted for, and it is inappropriate to try to do so. In addition, Lear’s texts are situated in various traditions of writing for children and adults and in the distinctive setting of the Victorian era; and these cultural and literary influences play an important role in the interpretation and misinterpretation of nonsense. My first chapter comprises a mise en scène of the genre of literary nonsense; while in Chapter 2 I turn to the cultural backdrop of Lear’s nonsense in particular, and examine one of the claims frequently made in nonsense criticism: that Lear’s literary nonsense is distinctively “Victorian”. Chapter 3, “How to Read a Learian Limerick”, rests on the exegesis of nonsense that appears in Chapter 1, for here I propose a technique for reading Lear’s limericks that preserves both their “sensical” and nonsensical elements in contrast to critical analyses that attempt to reconcile the nonsense into a code. In Chapter 4 I examine Lear’s songs from the critical perspectives of nonsense and of romanticism. Finally, in conclusion, I consider the role and significance of humour in nonsense, and gesture towards further possible explorations, including in the appendix my essay on the nonsense poetry of South African writer Philip de Vos.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Pendlebury, Kathleen Sarah
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Lear, Edward, 1812-1888 Lear, Edward, 1812-1888 Criticism and interpretation English poetry -- 19th century -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2206 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002249
- Description: In this thesis I have addressed some of the problems that have arisen in critical approaches to the nonsense works of Edward Lear from the late nineteenth century. I have entitled it “Reading Nonsense” because my central concern is with how best to apprehend the paradoxes inherent in literary nonsense, which inevitably raises interpretative questions. Because nonsense is a “basic type of communication” whose essence is “unresolved tension between [the] presence and absence of meaning” (Tigges, Anatomy 51), we are called upon either to “make sense of” that which claims to offer up no meaning or to surrender ourselves to meaninglessness. Broadly, critical approaches to nonsense fall into two classes: those that maintain that nonsense is not, in fact, “not sense”, but rather a kind of symbolic language that can be reconciled into meaning; and those which uphold the nonsensicality of nonsense, maintaining that certain ambiguities and paradoxes cannot be accounted for, and it is inappropriate to try to do so. In addition, Lear’s texts are situated in various traditions of writing for children and adults and in the distinctive setting of the Victorian era; and these cultural and literary influences play an important role in the interpretation and misinterpretation of nonsense. My first chapter comprises a mise en scène of the genre of literary nonsense; while in Chapter 2 I turn to the cultural backdrop of Lear’s nonsense in particular, and examine one of the claims frequently made in nonsense criticism: that Lear’s literary nonsense is distinctively “Victorian”. Chapter 3, “How to Read a Learian Limerick”, rests on the exegesis of nonsense that appears in Chapter 1, for here I propose a technique for reading Lear’s limericks that preserves both their “sensical” and nonsensical elements in contrast to critical analyses that attempt to reconcile the nonsense into a code. In Chapter 4 I examine Lear’s songs from the critical perspectives of nonsense and of romanticism. Finally, in conclusion, I consider the role and significance of humour in nonsense, and gesture towards further possible explorations, including in the appendix my essay on the nonsense poetry of South African writer Philip de Vos.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Rhodes University during the segregation and apartheid eras, 1933 to 1990
- Authors: Greyling, Sean Andrew
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- History Post-apartheid era -- South Africa -- History College students -- South Africa -- Political activity South Africa -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century South Africa -- Politics and government -- 20th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002397
- Description: In 2004 Rhodes University celebrated its centenary. At a Critical Tradition Colloquium opportunity was given to explore the university’s past. In particular, its liberal image was questioned and its role during apartheid brought under scrutiny. This thesis investigates the questions raised at the Colloquium. It aims to cover the whole apartheid era in one coherent narrative by addressing the history of Rhodes during that era and how it handled issues of race and politics. It begins in 1933, when the first black student applied to Rhodes, and ends in 1990, when apartheid was drawing to a close.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Greyling, Sean Andrew
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- History Post-apartheid era -- South Africa -- History College students -- South Africa -- Political activity South Africa -- Race relations -- History -- 20th century South Africa -- Politics and government -- 20th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002397
- Description: In 2004 Rhodes University celebrated its centenary. At a Critical Tradition Colloquium opportunity was given to explore the university’s past. In particular, its liberal image was questioned and its role during apartheid brought under scrutiny. This thesis investigates the questions raised at the Colloquium. It aims to cover the whole apartheid era in one coherent narrative by addressing the history of Rhodes during that era and how it handled issues of race and politics. It begins in 1933, when the first black student applied to Rhodes, and ends in 1990, when apartheid was drawing to a close.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
The male novelist and the 'woman question' George Meredith's presentation of his Heroines in The Egoist (1879) and Diana of the Crossways (1885)
- Authors: Bell, Alan Nigel
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Meredith, George, 1828-1909 -- Criticism and interpretation Meredith, George, 1828-1909. Egoist Meredith, George, 1828-1909. Diana of the Crossways English fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism English fiction -- Male authors -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2203 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002245
- Description: Focusing on four early works, then three from his middle period and three from the 1890s, this dissertation explores Meredith’s role as a novelist in the unfolding of a social and literary paradox, namely, that with the death of George Eliot in 1880, the dominant writers of fiction were male, and this remained the case until the advent of Virginia Woolf, while at the same time the woman’s movement for emancipation in all spheres of life—domestic, commercial, professional and political—was gathering in strength and conviction. None of the late nineteenth-century male novelists—James, Hardy, Moore and Gissing, as well as Meredith—was ideologically committed to the feminist cause; in fact the very term ‘feminist’ did not begin to become current in England until the mid-1890s. But they were all interested in one aspect or another of the ‘Woman Question’, even if James was ambivalent about female emancipation, and Gissing, on the whole, was somewhat hostile. Of all these novelists, it was Meredith whose work, especially in its last two decades, most copiously reveals a profound sympathy for women and their struggles to realize their desires and ambitions, both inside and outside the home, in a patriarchal world. The dissertation therefore concentrates on his presentation of his heroines in their relationships with the men who, in one way or another, dominate them, and with whom they must negotiate, within the social and sexual conventions of the time, a modus vivendi—a procedure that will entail, especially in the later work, some transgression of those conventions. Chapter 1 sketches more than two centuries of development in female consciousness of severe social disadvantage, from literary observations in the mid-seventeenth century to the intensifying of political representations in the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft, and the rise of the woman’s movement in the course of the Victorian century. The chapter includes an account of the impact on Meredith of John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women (1869), and an examination of some of his female friendships by way of illuminating the experiential component of his insights into the ‘Woman Question’ as reflected in his fiction and letters. His unhappy first marriage is reserved for consideration in Chapter 2, as background to the discussion of The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859). This early novel, Meredith’s first in the realist mode, is widely accepted as being of high quality, and is given extended treatment, together with briefer accounts of three other early works, The Shaving of Shagpat (1855), Evan Harrington (1861), and Rhoda Fleming (1865), and one from Meredith’s middle period, Beauchamp’s Career (1876). Two more novels of this period, The Egoist (1879) and Diana of the Crossways (1885), are generally considered to be among his best works, and their heroines are given chapters to themselves (3 and 4). Chapter 5 provides further contextualization for the changing socio-political circumstances of the 1880s and 1890s, with particular reference to that heightening of feminist consciousness represented by the short-lived ‘New Woman’ phenomenon, to which Diana of the Crossways had been considered by some to be a contribution. Brief discussion of some other ‘New Woman’ novels of the 80s and 90s follows, giving literary context to the heroines of Meredith’s three late candidates in the genre, One of Our Conquerors (1891), Lord Ormont and His Aminta (1894), and The Amazing Marriage (1895). The dissertation concludes with a glance at Meredith’s influence on a few early twentieth-century novelists.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Bell, Alan Nigel
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Meredith, George, 1828-1909 -- Criticism and interpretation Meredith, George, 1828-1909. Egoist Meredith, George, 1828-1909. Diana of the Crossways English fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism English fiction -- Male authors -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2203 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002245
- Description: Focusing on four early works, then three from his middle period and three from the 1890s, this dissertation explores Meredith’s role as a novelist in the unfolding of a social and literary paradox, namely, that with the death of George Eliot in 1880, the dominant writers of fiction were male, and this remained the case until the advent of Virginia Woolf, while at the same time the woman’s movement for emancipation in all spheres of life—domestic, commercial, professional and political—was gathering in strength and conviction. None of the late nineteenth-century male novelists—James, Hardy, Moore and Gissing, as well as Meredith—was ideologically committed to the feminist cause; in fact the very term ‘feminist’ did not begin to become current in England until the mid-1890s. But they were all interested in one aspect or another of the ‘Woman Question’, even if James was ambivalent about female emancipation, and Gissing, on the whole, was somewhat hostile. Of all these novelists, it was Meredith whose work, especially in its last two decades, most copiously reveals a profound sympathy for women and their struggles to realize their desires and ambitions, both inside and outside the home, in a patriarchal world. The dissertation therefore concentrates on his presentation of his heroines in their relationships with the men who, in one way or another, dominate them, and with whom they must negotiate, within the social and sexual conventions of the time, a modus vivendi—a procedure that will entail, especially in the later work, some transgression of those conventions. Chapter 1 sketches more than two centuries of development in female consciousness of severe social disadvantage, from literary observations in the mid-seventeenth century to the intensifying of political representations in the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft, and the rise of the woman’s movement in the course of the Victorian century. The chapter includes an account of the impact on Meredith of John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women (1869), and an examination of some of his female friendships by way of illuminating the experiential component of his insights into the ‘Woman Question’ as reflected in his fiction and letters. His unhappy first marriage is reserved for consideration in Chapter 2, as background to the discussion of The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859). This early novel, Meredith’s first in the realist mode, is widely accepted as being of high quality, and is given extended treatment, together with briefer accounts of three other early works, The Shaving of Shagpat (1855), Evan Harrington (1861), and Rhoda Fleming (1865), and one from Meredith’s middle period, Beauchamp’s Career (1876). Two more novels of this period, The Egoist (1879) and Diana of the Crossways (1885), are generally considered to be among his best works, and their heroines are given chapters to themselves (3 and 4). Chapter 5 provides further contextualization for the changing socio-political circumstances of the 1880s and 1890s, with particular reference to that heightening of feminist consciousness represented by the short-lived ‘New Woman’ phenomenon, to which Diana of the Crossways had been considered by some to be a contribution. Brief discussion of some other ‘New Woman’ novels of the 80s and 90s follows, giving literary context to the heroines of Meredith’s three late candidates in the genre, One of Our Conquerors (1891), Lord Ormont and His Aminta (1894), and The Amazing Marriage (1895). The dissertation concludes with a glance at Meredith’s influence on a few early twentieth-century novelists.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
The originating impulses of Ankoku Butoh: towards an understanding of the trans-cultural embodiment of Tatsumi Hijikata's dance of darkness
- Authors: Truter, Orlando Vincent
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Hijikata, Tatsumi, 1928-1986 , Butō , Modern dance -- Japan , Dancers -- Japan , Choreographers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2153 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004454
- Description: From Introduction: Ankoku Butoh is a performing art devised in Japan in the wake of the Second World War by the dancer and choreographer Tatsumi Hijikata (born Akita, 1928; died Tokyo, 1986). A highly aesthetic and subversive performing art, Butoh often evokes "images of decay, of fear and desperation, images of eroticism, ecstasy and stillness." Typically performed with a white layer of paint covering the entire body of the dancer, Butoh is visually characterized by continual transformations between postures, distorted physical and facial expressions, and an emphasis on condensed and visually slow movements. Some of the general characteristics of Butoh performance include "a particular openness to working with the subtle energy in the body; the malleability of time; the power of the grotesque."
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Truter, Orlando Vincent
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Hijikata, Tatsumi, 1928-1986 , Butō , Modern dance -- Japan , Dancers -- Japan , Choreographers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2153 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004454
- Description: From Introduction: Ankoku Butoh is a performing art devised in Japan in the wake of the Second World War by the dancer and choreographer Tatsumi Hijikata (born Akita, 1928; died Tokyo, 1986). A highly aesthetic and subversive performing art, Butoh often evokes "images of decay, of fear and desperation, images of eroticism, ecstasy and stillness." Typically performed with a white layer of paint covering the entire body of the dancer, Butoh is visually characterized by continual transformations between postures, distorted physical and facial expressions, and an emphasis on condensed and visually slow movements. Some of the general characteristics of Butoh performance include "a particular openness to working with the subtle energy in the body; the malleability of time; the power of the grotesque."
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
The psychofortology of women undergoing infertility treatment at a privately managed health care unit
- Authors: Phillips, Kerry Megan
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa , Stress (Psychology) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9917 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/729 , Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa , Stress (Psychology) -- South Africa
- Description: Infertility, the inability to conceive a child or carry a pregnancy to birth, is an age-old concern, the anguish and disappointment of which is universal regardless of the etiology. Although technological advancement in the field of reproductive medicine has led to the possibilities of near miraculous procedures, infertility treatment offers the hope of conception without guaranteeing it and places the couple under tremendous emotional and financial strain. A moderate amount of research has explored the coping of individuals and the couple experiencing infertility, but has been primarily orientated to a clinical and medical focus as well as an exploration of the pathological symptoms that individuals may experience. This study has adopted a psychofortigenic focus and explored and described the coping (i.e., the coping resources and sense of coherence) and subjective well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life and happiness) of women undergoing infertility treatment. An exploratory descriptive research design was used and the participants were selected by means of non-probability purposive sampling. The sample consisted of 61women who were aged 30 years and older and required that they had received infertility treatment at a privately managed health care unit. Contextual and biographical data were gathered by means of a biographical questionnaire. Hammer and Marting’s (1988) Coping Resources Inventory was used to assess the participant’s coping resources. Antonovsky’s (1987) Orientation to Life Scale was used to measure the construct of Sense of Coherence. The Satisfaction with Life Scale by Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin (1985) was used to assess respondents’ overall satisfaction with life while Kamman and Flett’s (1983) Affectometer-2 (AFM-2) was used to measure participants’ subjective happiness. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. The results of the CRI indicated a total coping resources score slightly below the mean of 50 as established by Hammer and Marting (1988). Results revealed that the highest mean score was obtained on the spiritual/philosophical subscale. Results from the SOC-29 indicated that the women sampled had an average Sense of Coherence. In terms of the construct of satisfaction with life as measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the results indicated that the participants were slightly satisfied with their lives. Results from the AFM-2 revealed that the majority of participants experienced a below average feeling of happiness. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct clusters that differed significantly across the four measures.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Phillips, Kerry Megan
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa , Stress (Psychology) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9917 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/729 , Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa , Stress (Psychology) -- South Africa
- Description: Infertility, the inability to conceive a child or carry a pregnancy to birth, is an age-old concern, the anguish and disappointment of which is universal regardless of the etiology. Although technological advancement in the field of reproductive medicine has led to the possibilities of near miraculous procedures, infertility treatment offers the hope of conception without guaranteeing it and places the couple under tremendous emotional and financial strain. A moderate amount of research has explored the coping of individuals and the couple experiencing infertility, but has been primarily orientated to a clinical and medical focus as well as an exploration of the pathological symptoms that individuals may experience. This study has adopted a psychofortigenic focus and explored and described the coping (i.e., the coping resources and sense of coherence) and subjective well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life and happiness) of women undergoing infertility treatment. An exploratory descriptive research design was used and the participants were selected by means of non-probability purposive sampling. The sample consisted of 61women who were aged 30 years and older and required that they had received infertility treatment at a privately managed health care unit. Contextual and biographical data were gathered by means of a biographical questionnaire. Hammer and Marting’s (1988) Coping Resources Inventory was used to assess the participant’s coping resources. Antonovsky’s (1987) Orientation to Life Scale was used to measure the construct of Sense of Coherence. The Satisfaction with Life Scale by Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin (1985) was used to assess respondents’ overall satisfaction with life while Kamman and Flett’s (1983) Affectometer-2 (AFM-2) was used to measure participants’ subjective happiness. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. The results of the CRI indicated a total coping resources score slightly below the mean of 50 as established by Hammer and Marting (1988). Results revealed that the highest mean score was obtained on the spiritual/philosophical subscale. Results from the SOC-29 indicated that the women sampled had an average Sense of Coherence. In terms of the construct of satisfaction with life as measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the results indicated that the participants were slightly satisfied with their lives. Results from the AFM-2 revealed that the majority of participants experienced a below average feeling of happiness. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct clusters that differed significantly across the four measures.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
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