Nostalgia in reimagining the past: the subjectivity of memory in the representation of history. A textual analysis of Rehad Desai's documentary films
- Authors: Dlamini, Philani Vincent
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Documentary films -- South Africa , Nostalgia in motion pictures Nostalgia in mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45183 , vital:38261
- Description: South Africa occupies a unique space in terms of the decolonization of the continent of Africa. While massive projects of decolonization where happening across the continent, South Africa was subjected to a conservative and racialised project of segregation. This arrested development makes for an interesting anachronism in South Africa as disconcerting “Third- World” and “First-World” economies emerged creating an anomalous temporality. I was born just a month before the inimitable Ruth First was unceremoniously assassinated in Mozambique in 1982. While further South, one of the most underreported conflicts of apartheid South Africa was in its nascent stages no further than a kilometer away from my house. I am referring of course to the violent clashes between factions of both the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the African National Congress (ANC), played in the men’s hostel of the third largest township in the country, Umlazi, South of Durban. These would only come to have meaning to me later, when I was at university. I mention these cultural and perhaps socio-political artefacts in so far as they relate to the kind of environment that lead to this research enquiry. Which is to say that as social beings, we are in fact products of the things that affect the social environment that we exist in. This is not a new idea. What is particularly interesting for this enquiry is the eclecticism of the emblems that survive to shapes one’s own identity and perception of the world around them. Within the above stated mini-biography lies a complex matrix of emotions and extrapolated meanings mediated through a conflicted and negotiated understanding of what the social history of South Africa meant for my own personal history. This paper is an attempt to think through articulations of time as they are constituted by future-orientated subjectivities extending back to varied pasts. It does so by exploring a recent work of black South African self-writing, Jacob Dlamini’s Native Nostalgia (2009). Considering the text’s treatment of time, I argue that porous conceptions of temporality open up possibilities for self-enunciation. What Paul Gilroy has described as “the signs of sameness” (2000, 101). Meaning that these could be quantified and as such researchable and in fact applied across various cultural texts (including but not limited to film). The body of work from South African documentary filmmaker Rehad Desai provides an interesting case study to examine Jacob Dlamini’s thematic pre-occupations with nostalgia. Nostalgia here is used to see if such pre-occupations can be applied to a filmic body of work. Desai’s body of work is interesting to this enquiry because it almost exclusively deals with the temporalities of South Africa as “refracted through the prism of the past”. By this I mean Desai through his work appears to reflect on South Africa’s storied past as it affects current happenings. It is the intention of this paper to argue that Desai deals with his subject (the evolution of the South African political landscape) in similar terms to the way Jacob Dlamini explores the notion of reflective nostalgia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Dlamini, Philani Vincent
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Documentary films -- South Africa , Nostalgia in motion pictures Nostalgia in mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45183 , vital:38261
- Description: South Africa occupies a unique space in terms of the decolonization of the continent of Africa. While massive projects of decolonization where happening across the continent, South Africa was subjected to a conservative and racialised project of segregation. This arrested development makes for an interesting anachronism in South Africa as disconcerting “Third- World” and “First-World” economies emerged creating an anomalous temporality. I was born just a month before the inimitable Ruth First was unceremoniously assassinated in Mozambique in 1982. While further South, one of the most underreported conflicts of apartheid South Africa was in its nascent stages no further than a kilometer away from my house. I am referring of course to the violent clashes between factions of both the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the African National Congress (ANC), played in the men’s hostel of the third largest township in the country, Umlazi, South of Durban. These would only come to have meaning to me later, when I was at university. I mention these cultural and perhaps socio-political artefacts in so far as they relate to the kind of environment that lead to this research enquiry. Which is to say that as social beings, we are in fact products of the things that affect the social environment that we exist in. This is not a new idea. What is particularly interesting for this enquiry is the eclecticism of the emblems that survive to shapes one’s own identity and perception of the world around them. Within the above stated mini-biography lies a complex matrix of emotions and extrapolated meanings mediated through a conflicted and negotiated understanding of what the social history of South Africa meant for my own personal history. This paper is an attempt to think through articulations of time as they are constituted by future-orientated subjectivities extending back to varied pasts. It does so by exploring a recent work of black South African self-writing, Jacob Dlamini’s Native Nostalgia (2009). Considering the text’s treatment of time, I argue that porous conceptions of temporality open up possibilities for self-enunciation. What Paul Gilroy has described as “the signs of sameness” (2000, 101). Meaning that these could be quantified and as such researchable and in fact applied across various cultural texts (including but not limited to film). The body of work from South African documentary filmmaker Rehad Desai provides an interesting case study to examine Jacob Dlamini’s thematic pre-occupations with nostalgia. Nostalgia here is used to see if such pre-occupations can be applied to a filmic body of work. Desai’s body of work is interesting to this enquiry because it almost exclusively deals with the temporalities of South Africa as “refracted through the prism of the past”. By this I mean Desai through his work appears to reflect on South Africa’s storied past as it affects current happenings. It is the intention of this paper to argue that Desai deals with his subject (the evolution of the South African political landscape) in similar terms to the way Jacob Dlamini explores the notion of reflective nostalgia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Ungenelelwano leelwimi zaseafrika isixhosa nesishona kujoliswe kwifonoloji yamaqabane nezikhamiso
- Authors: Nenga, Thethelwa Maureen
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa language -- Grammar , Shona language -- Grammar African languages -- Africa African languages -- Africa, Southern
- Language: Isixhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45216 , vital:38333
- Description: Lo msebenzi uza kusebenza njengelinge lokuvumbulula kuhlahlelwa iimbonakalo ezithi ziphuhliswe ngabantu abathi benalo ulwimi olulolwabo lokuzalwa nolulolweenkobe, bathi banyanzelwe ziimeko zeentshukumo ezithile zentlalo bazibhaqe befunda ukuthetha nokubhala ulwimi lwabanye abantu. Kuye ke kuthi kwimigudu yabo yokuphimisela izandi kubekho ubunzima kuphimiselo lwezandi ezithile zolu lwimi bajolise ukulufunda nokulazi. Ulwimi lwabo luthi ludlale indima ephambili kuphimiselo lwezandi zolu lwimi lutsha bajolise ukulufunda nokulazi, (Lado 1957:77) kananjalo kuphawuleka ukuba kukho ukunxaxha okuthile kubizo nakubhalo lwezandi ezithile kulwimi abajolise ukulazi. Le ngcingane yokunxaxha kolwimi ethatyathwa njengenyaniso engekaqinisekiswa nethe yaveliswa ngabantu abathi benalo ulwimi olulolwabo kwiinzame zabo zokuthetha nokubhala ulwimi lwabanye abantu, iye yayimbangi nesizekabani sokuba kube kuthatyathwa uhambo olude lophando ziingcali zabaphandi beelwimi. Mandulo phaya oku kunxaxha kulwimi kwakubonwa njengesenzo esilisikizi nomqobo kwiinkqubo zokufunda ulwimi. Kuthe ngenxa yokuhamba kwamaxesha oosozilwimi baphawula ukuba oku kunxaxha makungathatyathwa njengeziphoso ezifuna ukulungiswa koko makuthatyathwe njengenyathelo lolwimi eliqhelekileyo nelingenakuthintelwa. Ngokweengcali zeelwimi kukholeleka ukuba oku kunxaxha kububungqina besixokelelwano solwimi esibalulekileyo kwiinkqubo zokufunda ulwimi. Kungoko kubalulekile ukuba kugqogqwe kucutyungulwe iincwadi zezi ngqwemla zilandelayo, uCoder (1967), uSelinker (1972), uTarone (1979), uNemser (1971), uChomsky (1965) kunye nezinye iingcali. Zezi ncwadi eziza kuphuhlisa ukunxaxha kolwimi okufuthelwa ziimeko ngeemeko njengoko ezi ngqwemla zicacisa. Ikwalolu phando oluza kushukuxa iinguqulelo-zandi ezithi zenzeke kubantu abantetho isisiShona xa bezama ukuthetha ulwimi lwesiXhosa ngokwefonoliji nethi yona ijongane neendlela ezithi izandi zifuthelane ngayo.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Nenga, Thethelwa Maureen
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa language -- Grammar , Shona language -- Grammar African languages -- Africa African languages -- Africa, Southern
- Language: Isixhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45216 , vital:38333
- Description: Lo msebenzi uza kusebenza njengelinge lokuvumbulula kuhlahlelwa iimbonakalo ezithi ziphuhliswe ngabantu abathi benalo ulwimi olulolwabo lokuzalwa nolulolweenkobe, bathi banyanzelwe ziimeko zeentshukumo ezithile zentlalo bazibhaqe befunda ukuthetha nokubhala ulwimi lwabanye abantu. Kuye ke kuthi kwimigudu yabo yokuphimisela izandi kubekho ubunzima kuphimiselo lwezandi ezithile zolu lwimi bajolise ukulufunda nokulazi. Ulwimi lwabo luthi ludlale indima ephambili kuphimiselo lwezandi zolu lwimi lutsha bajolise ukulufunda nokulazi, (Lado 1957:77) kananjalo kuphawuleka ukuba kukho ukunxaxha okuthile kubizo nakubhalo lwezandi ezithile kulwimi abajolise ukulazi. Le ngcingane yokunxaxha kolwimi ethatyathwa njengenyaniso engekaqinisekiswa nethe yaveliswa ngabantu abathi benalo ulwimi olulolwabo kwiinzame zabo zokuthetha nokubhala ulwimi lwabanye abantu, iye yayimbangi nesizekabani sokuba kube kuthatyathwa uhambo olude lophando ziingcali zabaphandi beelwimi. Mandulo phaya oku kunxaxha kulwimi kwakubonwa njengesenzo esilisikizi nomqobo kwiinkqubo zokufunda ulwimi. Kuthe ngenxa yokuhamba kwamaxesha oosozilwimi baphawula ukuba oku kunxaxha makungathatyathwa njengeziphoso ezifuna ukulungiswa koko makuthatyathwe njengenyathelo lolwimi eliqhelekileyo nelingenakuthintelwa. Ngokweengcali zeelwimi kukholeleka ukuba oku kunxaxha kububungqina besixokelelwano solwimi esibalulekileyo kwiinkqubo zokufunda ulwimi. Kungoko kubalulekile ukuba kugqogqwe kucutyungulwe iincwadi zezi ngqwemla zilandelayo, uCoder (1967), uSelinker (1972), uTarone (1979), uNemser (1971), uChomsky (1965) kunye nezinye iingcali. Zezi ncwadi eziza kuphuhlisa ukunxaxha kolwimi okufuthelwa ziimeko ngeemeko njengoko ezi ngqwemla zicacisa. Ikwalolu phando oluza kushukuxa iinguqulelo-zandi ezithi zenzeke kubantu abantetho isisiShona xa bezama ukuthetha ulwimi lwesiXhosa ngokwefonoliji nethi yona ijongane neendlela ezithi izandi zifuthelane ngayo.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
An ethnographic study of business documentation writing practices of selected human resource practitioners in the Nelson Mandela Metropole
- Authors: Blignaut, David Llewellyn
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Business writing English language -- Written English -- South Africa , Written communication -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50077 , vital:42031
- Description: The proposed study will focus on the dominant writing practices in the Human Resources (HR) workplace environment. Business writing is dominated by English and world Englishes as an international language, and users are increasingly second or foreign language speakers. As a result, business environments adopt English-only policies. As a result, the hegemony of English for business use has been entrenched. In addition, English has become a highly influential language in South Africa. As any document production is not simple and spontaneous where rules are visible and can be learned or known independently, this study specifically examines the business documentation writing practices of Human Resource (HR) practitioners in the workplace to evaluate the relevance of the BKH 1120 English in Communication A business writing curriculum. The integration of the workplace social context is essential as writing practices encompass not only the physical act of writing, but include abstract cognitive processes and the contexts of the reader, writer, text and social environment that pertain to text processing and production. Therefore, this study intends to inform current HE academic business writing requirements as well as documentation structures and layout practices for the curriculum development of the BKH1120 Communication in English A module. The study used a qualitative research tool based on an ethnographic design. Although an ethnographic study demands that the researcher spends extensive time in the field, an alternative strategy is to conduct the research based on interviews as a thick description of depth and detail that interviewers seek in interviews can be found in the interviewees’ first hand experiences”. Content analysis was also used to analyse the interview responses as well as the document samples collected from the participants. This research study concluded that HE often does not often adequately prepare students for the social, ideological and collaborative workplace writing expectations. Therefore, HE programmes should make careful decisions on which workplace discourse practices to include in their teaching practices and design meaningful and realistic ways to equip students in to prepare them well to deal with workplace writing challenges.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Blignaut, David Llewellyn
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Business writing English language -- Written English -- South Africa , Written communication -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50077 , vital:42031
- Description: The proposed study will focus on the dominant writing practices in the Human Resources (HR) workplace environment. Business writing is dominated by English and world Englishes as an international language, and users are increasingly second or foreign language speakers. As a result, business environments adopt English-only policies. As a result, the hegemony of English for business use has been entrenched. In addition, English has become a highly influential language in South Africa. As any document production is not simple and spontaneous where rules are visible and can be learned or known independently, this study specifically examines the business documentation writing practices of Human Resource (HR) practitioners in the workplace to evaluate the relevance of the BKH 1120 English in Communication A business writing curriculum. The integration of the workplace social context is essential as writing practices encompass not only the physical act of writing, but include abstract cognitive processes and the contexts of the reader, writer, text and social environment that pertain to text processing and production. Therefore, this study intends to inform current HE academic business writing requirements as well as documentation structures and layout practices for the curriculum development of the BKH1120 Communication in English A module. The study used a qualitative research tool based on an ethnographic design. Although an ethnographic study demands that the researcher spends extensive time in the field, an alternative strategy is to conduct the research based on interviews as a thick description of depth and detail that interviewers seek in interviews can be found in the interviewees’ first hand experiences”. Content analysis was also used to analyse the interview responses as well as the document samples collected from the participants. This research study concluded that HE often does not often adequately prepare students for the social, ideological and collaborative workplace writing expectations. Therefore, HE programmes should make careful decisions on which workplace discourse practices to include in their teaching practices and design meaningful and realistic ways to equip students in to prepare them well to deal with workplace writing challenges.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
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