“New ways of telling”: African textual forms and dissemination in the age of digital media
- Authors: Friedemann, Oriole Megan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Digital media -- Africa , Self-publishing -- Africa , African literature , Literature publishing -- Technological innovations , Blog authorship -- Africa , African Storybook Reader , FunDza Literacy Project , Long Story SHORT
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115105 , vital:34078
- Description: In the age of digital media, creators are using the versatile nature of information and communication technologies and the ubiquity of the web to publish and distribute texts, circumventing traditional gatekeepers such as publishing institutions. In Africa, where web access and digitisation are relatively new, storytellers are eagerly exploring new mediums and the possibilities that they provide for African narratives and African representation. This thesis looks at the digital platforms of the African Storybook Reader, the FunDza Literacy Project, and Long Story SHORT, as well as Dudu Busani-Dube’s novel Hlomu the Wife, which first gained popularity on a blog platform. It examines three different web series, An African City, The Foxy Five, and Tuko Macho, as well as a transmedia documentary, Love Radio. The texts are grouped into literatures disseminated from digital platforms, localised narratives that explore the urban African woman, and narratives that make use of participatory culture. These are texts that make use of digital tools and platforms to create and disseminate African stories, making diverse and indigenous narratives more easily accessible to both local and global audiences. This thesis argues that digitisation and the global nature of the internet have created opportunities for Africans to become producers and exporters of indigenous information and representation, rather than passive consumers of imported knowledge, or subjects of external characterisation.
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- Date Issued: 2019
“Like walking barefoot on the gravel road”: the experience of caring for a child with physical disabilities
- Authors: Ndlovu, Nokanyo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: PhotoVoice , Photography in the social sciences , Action research , Children with disabilites -- Care -- South Africa , Children with disabilites -- Care -- South Africa -- Case studies , Caregivers -- South Africa -- Case studies , Caregivers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72479 , vital:30057
- Description: The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the experiences of caregivers of children with physical disabilities and to explore ways of improving this experience. Although there is a considerable amount of international research on the experiences of caring for children with disabilities, the focus of the methods of enquiry has mainly been on knowledge production and there is limited research conducted using an approach like participatory action research. Secondly, in South Africa, there is still inadequate information regarding the experiences of caregivers who are from low socio-economic backgrounds. It is for these reasons that the current study, which employed PhotoVoice, a participatory research data collection tool, to explore the lived experiences of caregivers of children with physical disabilities from low socio-economic backgrounds was embarked upon. The research methodology comprised two main parts: firstly, a study of relevant literature on the subject matter, in order to gain in-depth understanding of the field; and secondly, qualitative data collection, using PhotoVoice. A sample of six participants between the ages of 22-57 years was selected through purposive and convenience sampling. Cameras were distributed to participants and after processing of images narratives were shared around selected photographs and this was later followed by focused group discussions. This analysis process provided two master themes, which are supported by subordinate themes. The master themes are: 1) The challenges associated with the caregiving experience, 2) The positive side of the caregiving experience. Participants experienced a lack of resources, challenges of mobility, the hopelessness of the situation, loneliness of the experience and the financial burden of caring for a child with physical disabilities as challenges associated with the caregiving role. Whereas the joy brought about by support from family, the health service providers and the Association for People with Physical Disabilities personnel; precious moments shared with the child; and personal growth were associated with the positive side of the caregiving experience. These findings support and expand on the growing knowledge of caring for children with physical disabilities. This research culminated in a sharing of the narratives with stakeholders by caregivers themselves as a way of seeking to influence policy, enhance their well-being and engage in a discussion of exploring ways of improving their experience.
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- Date Issued: 2019
‘That mountain cannot be beautiful for nothing’: Zakes Mda’s aesthetics of liberation
- Authors: Dilinga, Siyamthanda Iribagiza
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mda, Zakes -- Criticism and interpretation , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , South Africa -- In literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70452 , vital:29662
- Description: Zakes Mda is a prominent post-apartheid black South African novelist whose style has been described as experimental. He also wrote plays intended to ‘rally people to action’ during the apartheid years. The changes in the political and social situation in South Africa since 1994 have had significant implications for those writers and artists who produced protest literature and art. The changes in Mda’s own practice and approach to art are themselves quite telling. His experimental novels place him among those African artists pioneering a new chapter for black South African art and the self-reflexive nature of his novels suggest that he is aware of the fact and is consciously forming and reforming his ideas about what it means to be an artist in post-apartheid South Africa. This study will unpack the role of the artist and the function of art in the becoming new South Africa as represented in Zakes Mda’s novels, thereby hypothesizing Mda’s aesthetic philosophy, as may be deduced from his practice, for what an African artist and art should be. This will be done first by locating Mda in the debates around art and literature within the sociopolitical context of a South Africa in transition. Despite the fact that when it comes to public action in the post-apartheid situation, Mda distinguishes between his own role in society as an artist who is a social activist and the role intended for his work, his own novels reveal a desire for the artefact (or artwork) to have a developmental, educational or conscientizing function. This is evident in representations of the effects of art in what this study proposes to be his extended South African black Kunstlerroman, which spans three novels. It is also demonstrated in his ekphrastic novel, The Madonna of Excelsior, in which visual art is interpreted in the process of description, thereby educating the reader. Not only that, but the reader is made into an ‘almost viewer’ and taught how to ‘see’ art. What emerges in the process of this study is Mda’s aesthetic philosophy or what may be termed his ‘aesthetics of liberation’ concerning the role of the artist in post-apartheid South Africa, a suitable African audience and how art works theoretically, as expressed through his fiction.
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- Date Issued: 2019
‘Jujutech’: exploring cultural and epistemological hybridity in African science fiction
- Authors: Stier, Jordan Daniel
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Science fiction, African -- History and criticism , Tutuola, Amos. The palm-wine drunkard , Mkize, Loyiso, 1987- .Kwezi , Black Panther (Comic book) , Dila, Dilman, 1977-. A killing in the sun , Superheroes, Black , Mbvundula, Ekari. Montague's last
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96908 , vital:31346
- Description: This thesis aims to respond to the rise in the production of science fiction in Africa over the last decade, and to show how what I describe as the juju orientation of many of these works does not disqualify them from the genre of science fiction. Rather, I advocate for the recognition of juju ontologies as genuine sources of knowledge about the world, which have been overlooked by the globally dominant scientism that has informed science fiction theorisation to date. In my introduction I outline the theoretical frameworks of juju, science fiction and epistemology with which the thesis is in communication. In my second chapter I re-read Amos Tutuola’s novel The Palm-Wine Drinkard, showing the inherently science fictional structure of the juju-based storytelling that characterises colonial and pre-colonial African literature, as well as the essentiality of science fictional modes to Tutuola’s own prose. My third chapter considers Ian MacDonald’s theorisation of a jujutech aesthetic in African science fiction, wherein the speculations of the genres are rooted in both technoscientific and juju ontologies simultaneously. I account for the role this literary aesthetic plays in Ekari Mbvundula’s “Montague’s Last” to blur the divisions of worldly knowledge enforced by global epistemological inequalities, before showing how Dilman Dila’s A Killing in the Sun presents a critically frontier African epistemology in literary practice, and the value thereof. My fourth chapter considers the role of popular culture and consumption, and how the global literary industry resists juju-based texts. I conclude that juju-based nova and the jujutech aesthetic are not only essentially science fictional literary modes, but important players in science fiction’s role in being epistemologically productive in the future.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Youth responses to political party messages on Social Media: a case study of Rhodes University students during the 3 August 2016 local government elections
- Authors: Pela, Noko Tshegofatso
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes , Local elections -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Mass media and young adults -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68308 , vital:29237
- Description: Rhodes University was awash with political tension and activity in the 2015 and 2016 academic years. The University had been the scene of radical protests and demands for change by students. The #RhodesMustFall, #FeesMustFall and the #RUReferenceList protests at Rhodes University started debates, conversations and public lectures amongst students and staff on and off social media on aspects of decoloniality, transformation, free education, issues of safety on campus and gender-based violence (Grocott’s Mail, 2015b). However, very little of this was reflected in the election campaigns of political parties and seemingly, in student engagement with political processes, at least as reflected in this election. The three biggest political parties in South Africa, and the only ones that contested Ward 12 (Rhodes) ANC, EFF, and the DA, were active on social media aiming to directly engage with constituents and draw citizens to the polls. All the parties had former and current Rhodes University students as candidates for councillor. There was a substantial engagement by students on social media, on the Rhodes SRC Facebook page, and on Twitter. However, only 39% of registered students, turned out to cast their vote on election day (IEC, 2016b). This study examines the interpretations and meaning-making amongst young people at Rhodes University, of the political party messages during the 3 August 2016 local government elections on social media. In addition, the study sought to understand whether youth at Rhodes (Rhodes University) actively sought out political party messages on social media (by following the ANC, DA, EFF Facebook and Twitter accounts), or were the messages incidental on their timelines (for example, following news organisations). Finally, the study sought to understand whether the media messages resonated with them and spoke to the issues faced by young people on the campus. The research used qualitative thematic content analysis and focus group discussions to examine the relationship between the content provided by the political party messages and the audience’s process of making sense and derived meaning from the content. Six focus group discussions were convened. This study found that young people are social media enthusiasts, they actively sought election related content on social media by following the Twitter and Facebook accounts of the parties, and from news organisations. Furthermore, the study discovered that, although, young people engaged with the political party messages on social media, they did not feel like the messages were targeted at them, and as such they felt the messages did not speak to them and the issues they face.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Youth development through basketball in Nelson Mandela Bay
- Authors: Thuo, Andrew G
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Youth development -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Youth -- Services for Sports and state Basketball -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43776 , vital:37046
- Description: Limited research exists, both internationally and in the South African context, on the use of basketball as tool for youth development through sport. In almost all sport-based youth development programs, the desired sport is football and occasionally rugby. Developing the youth is crucial for the development of a nation and the United Nations has highlighted the progress sport has had as a development tool over the past 20 years. South Africa has recently received international acclaim by becoming the focal point of the National Basketball Associations (NBA) presence in Africa by hosting the last three NBA Africa games. South Africa’s Eastern Cape province was the home of elite basketball in the early eighties and is no stranger to the sport of basketball. The study aimed to explore the possibility of using basketball as a tool for youth development in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape. The study employed a mixed methods research approach that was explorative, descriptive and contextual in design. The empirical data was collected by means of a questionnaire distributed to target basketball players in the Nelson Mandela Bay area. While the data analysis and literature favoured basketball as a suitable tool to be used in sport-based youth development programs, there were limitations with respect to the number of female participants in the study. It was recommended that further research be considered within this field of study and on a wider scale, in an effort to expand the knowledge base on youth development through basketball across South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Young adults’ experiences and coping strategies following the termination of a significant romantic online relationship
- Authors: Seselinyane, Lineo Dorah
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Online dating , Love -- Computer network resources Man-woman relationships -- Computer network resources Mate selection -- Computer network resources Dating (Social customs) -- Computer network resources Man-woman relationships
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43390 , vital:36871
- Description: The Internet has made it feasible for people to establish and maintain romantic relationships online. Research findings indicate that high levels of intimacy are often experienced online, and individuals find these relationships to be meaningful, with high levels of relationship satisfaction reported. Some of these online romantic relationships are, however, terminated at some stage, leading to a painful experience. Limited research has been conducted on the experience of terminated online romantic relationships and coping strategies employed. The primary aim of this study was therefore to explore and describe young adults’ experiences and coping strategies following the termination of a significant online romantic relationship. Lazarus and Folkman’s psychological stress and coping theory and relevant literature were utilised to conceptualise the study. A qualitative approach was employed in order to meet the aim of the study. The study utilised purposive and snowball sampling. The participants included nine undergraduate students at Nelson Mandela University and one working adult, all of whom met the inclusion criteria. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews, and the collected data was analysed using thematic analysis. Based on the findings of the study, the experience of a terminated online romantic relationship has an adverse impact on individuals’ overall functioning. However, there seem to be coping strategies that are effective in overcoming the turmoil caused by online romantic relationship termination. This study has therefore generated an understanding of young adults’ experiences and coping strategies following the termination of a significant online romantic relationship.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Women’s narratives about alcohol use during pregnancy: a narrative-discursive study
- Authors: Matebese, Sibongile
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Social conditions , Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Alcohol use , Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95196 , vital:31126
- Description: While research has explored the risk factors that contribute to alcohol use during pregnancy among South African women, such studies have mostly been quantitative in nature. There is a growing body of research that contextualises and articulates the attitudes, beliefs, and underlying motivations that influence drinking during pregnancy. However, few qualitative studies explore the cultural, economic, familial, and social contexts within which drinking during pregnancy takes place. Studies which have explored these contexts have been conducted in other geographical regions such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States but their findings are not generalisable to South Africa. Drawing on a feminist poststructuralist as well as a narrative-discursive approach including Foucault’s (1978) theory of power, this study sought to explore women’s narratives of the personal and interpersonal circumstances under which drinking during pregnancy takes place in terms of the discourses used to construct these narratives and the subject positions made available within these discourses. This allowed for the practice of alcohol use during pregnancy to be understood within the social and cultural narratives, practices, and discourses around pregnancy as well as gendered and social relations. Using the narrative interview method set out by Wengraf (2001), thirteen, unemployed ‘Black’ women from an area in the Eastern Cape were recruited and interviewed. Seven discourses emerged from the narratives namely, a discourse of ‘stress and coping’ ‘hegemonic masculinities’, ‘peer pressure’, ‘disablement and developmental delay’, ‘good mothering/appropriate pregnancies’, ‘culture’, and ‘religion’. These discourses informed the five narrative categories which emerged: narratives about the pregnancy, narratives about the drinking, narratives that justify/explain drinking, narratives that condemn the drinking, and narratives about the women knowing the effects of drinking during pregnancy. Within these narratives, the women mainly positioned themselves as dependent on alcohol during their pregnancies in order to cope with stress caused by various circumstances which were mainly centred on a lack of support from their partners, paternity denial, infidelity and unreliableness. As such, the women in this study mainly justified their drinking during pregnancy and in constructing this narrative, the ‘stress and coping’ discourse as well as the ‘male/masculine provider’ discourse were mainly drawn upon. In reflecting on this analysis, this study argues that alcohol use during pregnancy should be understood within the broader environmental and social context that makes a pregnancy challenging and/or difficult and thus necessitates drinking during pregnancy. Recommendations for future research include expanding the diversity of participants as well as interviewing healthcare providers and women who are currently pregnant, drinking, and part of an intervention aimed at addressing alcohol use during pregnancy so as to obtain a holistic understanding of engaging in this practice. The study makes key recommendations for interventions in practice to help work towards ensuring that the practice of alcohol use during pregnancy is not individualised, decontextualized, and stigmatised.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Who is a refugee? a philosophical account
- Authors: Oteng, Onalethata
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Refugees -- Philosophy , Refugees -- Government policy , Refugees -- Legal status, laws, etc. , United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons (1951 : Geneva, Switzerland)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92854 , vital:30755
- Description: This thesis comprises two sections: the first section considers who is a refugee and who is not a refugee; and the second section illustrates the necessity of amending the present international laws and conventions to include other people who should also be recognised as refugees. The critical issue regarding the definition of a refugee, is whether or not there is adequate evidence concerning the current understanding of the notion of who a refugee is. Therefore, in order to reach these goals, this thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter explores the definitions pertaining to what it means to be a refugee. The second chapter takes into account the different types of victims that are excluded from the notion of refugee. The third chapter considers the consequences of having a restricted understanding who qualifies to be a refugee. The fourth chapter provides alternative solutions that would assist in providing a more comprehensive definition. Furthermore, chapter five discusses the necessity to further expand the refugee concept to include other forms of victims that are not already included. Overall, this thesis seeks to support expansion of the term ‘refugee‘ since the reasons for forced migration have changed, and individuals are not only fleeing from individual persecution, for instance, but from other situations that can be considered to fall under forced migration. Consequently, extending the definition of the term ‘refugee‘ should occur, because refusing to consider revising the term amounts to a refusal to show acceptance and empathy to today‘s other migrants who are also experiencing survival challenges in their home countries.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Where dreams become reality: professionalism in flight training in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Allison, Martin
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Professional socialization , Flight training -- South Africa , Flight schools -- South Africa -- Case studies , Air pilots -- Training of -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95376 , vital:31150
- Description: This study explores the construction of the identity of professional pilots through a case study of a flying school in South Africa. Here, a 15-20-month period of intensive study and training of students, fresh from school or college, leads in most cases to the attainment of a Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence. The construction of identity is a continuous process and a lifelong project and hence this study can only reflect upon the factors influencing the early stages of a pilot’s career, until the point where the licenced Pilot leaves the Air School and enters full time employment with a commercial undertaking, but it is argued that this is a crucial step in the formation of professional identity, habitus in Bourdieu’s terms. The culture of the air School reflects the military background of the founders of the school and the staff employed in senior positions. The school, which is residential, observes a strict regime of Ground School and Practical Flying Training and a high standard of performance and personal conduct is demanded, both during training and in off duty hours and excessive consumption of alcohol and smoking are discouraged, and drug use absolutely taboo. Progress with training at the school is closely monitored and a disciplined environment maintained by surveillance cameras, house monitors and security guards; in Foucauldian terms, a modern version of the Panopticon, but somewhat less than Goffman’s Total Institution. It was found that the construction of a flying identity for most of the students entering the air school commenced in childhood or early adulthood, through the influence of friends and relatives and they enter the school with the firm intention of becoming Professional pilots. Full participation of the author in the Ground School revealed how professionalization is implemented through the discipline and rigor of the training methods employed. Through mastery of a complex body of theoretical knowledge in the Ground School and the practical skill of learning to fly in a one-on-one relationship with an instructor, the students gain confidence and efficacy which contributes to their self-respect and maturity. The international reputation of the school, confers prestige upon its graduates and they benefit from membership of a profession which commands respect and a high level of income. In large measure, the thesis shows, the success of the School is a function of the founders’ ‘invention of tradition’ focusing on the wartime training school that existed on the site and the many echoes of those times in the (re)construction of its buildings and facilities, continuing in the approach of the multinational that now owns the School.
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- Date Issued: 2019
What meanings a selection of South African legal practitioners make of their role in the emerging digital media ecosystem
- Authors: Robertson, Heather Lillian
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Public sphere -- South Africa , Lawyers -- South Africa , Citizen journalism -- South Africa , User-generated content -- South Africa , Social media -- Authorship , Digital media -- South Africa , Online journalism -- South Africa , Liminality , Journalism, Legal -- South Africa , Gatewatching , New media ecosystem
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/114854 , vital:34042
- Description: This dissertation explores what a sample of South African lawyers understand about the roles they play in digital public spaces, and whether they perceive their contributions as impacting on journalism in general and legal knowledge among the public more broadly. The communications revolution triggered by web 2.0 interactivity has created a new media ecosystem in which mainstream media journalists co-exist with a variety of non-journalist content producers - including professionals like lawyers, who contribute to media content. This study specifically explores current debates about how the media ecosystem is changing in the digital age, including journalistic practices and routines and the role of journalism within a democracy and daily life. Thomas Hanitzsch and Tim Vos’s recent taxonomy of journalistic functions and roles in society is adapted by combining the domains of politics and daily life, to better describe the roles of non-journalists like the eleven digitally active members of the South African legal community in this study. Using qualitative interviews and content analysis research methods, the study suggests lawyers’ practices and routines challenge current theorisation about the new media ecosystem and digital public sphere in particular ways, suggesting that the affective nature of social media interactions between the lawyers and members of the public is more usefully understood via drawing on Chantal Mouffe’s concept of agonistic public spaces and Axel Bruns and Tim Highfield’s theorisation of ‘public sphericules’ than Jurgen Habermas’s conceptualisation of a rational public sphere. The study found that all of the digitally active lawyers played one or more active roles in contributing news, opinion and debate about legal and social justice matters on different digital public spaces, even though most were reluctant to describe what they do as journalism. The study concludes that this select group of lawyers do complement and enhance the work of journalists covering the legal field in the new media ecosystem in South Africa. It suggests that much more can be done by both journalists and the legal community to deepen co-operation to further enhance public knowledge about the workings of the South African legal system, in relation to legal rights and the rule of law. This dissertation explores what a sample of South African lawyers understand about the roles they play in digital public spaces, and whether they perceive their contributions as impacting on journalism in general and legal knowledge among the public more broadly. The communications revolution triggered by web 2.0 interactivity has created a new media ecosystem in which mainstream media journalists co-exist with a variety of non-journalist content producers - including professionals like lawyers, who contribute to media content. This study specifically explores current debates about how the media ecosystem is changing in the digital age, including journalistic practices and routines and the role of journalism within a democracy and daily life. Thomas Hanitzsch and Tim Vos’s recent taxonomy of journalistic functions and roles in society is adapted by combining the domains of politics and daily life, to better describe the roles of non-journalists like the eleven digitally active members of the South African legal community in this study. Using qualitative interviews and content analysis research methods, the study suggests lawyers’ practices and routines challenge current theorisation about the new media ecosystem and digital public sphere in particular ways, suggesting that the affective nature of social media interactions between the lawyers and members of the public is more usefully understood via drawing on Chantal Mouffe’s concept of agonistic public spaces and Axel Bruns and Tim Highfield’s theorisation of ‘public sphericules’ than Jurgen Habermas’s conceptualisation of a rational public sphere. The study found that all of the digitally active lawyers played one or more active roles in contributing news, opinion and debate about legal and social justice matters on different digital public spaces, even though most were reluctant to describe what they do as journalism. The study concludes that this select group of lawyers do complement and enhance the work of journalists covering the legal field in the new media ecosystem in South Africa. It suggests that much more can be done by both journalists and the legal community to deepen co-operation to further enhance public knowledge about the workings of the South African legal system, in relation to legal rights and the rule of law.
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- Date Issued: 2019
We are yet to kill the cattle
- Authors: Orleyn, Rithuli
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: South African fiction (English)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92769 , vital:30746
- Description: My novella comprises inter-linked fragments that combine fiction, autobiography and creative non-fiction. Ranging fluidly from pre-colonial times to the present, and largely set in South Africa but cutting across the native/diaspora divide, the project draws on historical and archival documents, found and fictive letters, oral testimonies and inadmissible facts, mythologies, ghost voices and fictional speculation. It uses the slim slippery voice of autobiography to cast a big shadow of doubt on the certitudes of authorial truth, harnessing multiple voices to disorient settled notions about self/other, black/white and man/machine. My intention is to explore possibilities of being that exceed the human. I draw inspiration from Zoë Wicomb's novella, You Can’t Get Lost In Cape Town, Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter and Mikhail Shishkin’s letter-narratives in Maidenhair. The narrative voice that threads stand-alone fragments seeks to express the demotics of subjects in search of a language for their unlanguaged ‘grammar of suffering’.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Vowel harmony in isiXhosa: an OT and acoustic study of [ATR]
- Authors: Kilian, Kelly
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Grammar, Comparative and general -- Vowel harmony , Xhosa language -- Vowels , Xhosa language -- Phonetics
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67678 , vital:29128
- Description: The vowel harmony system in isiXhosa is centred on a process of vowel raising. All mid-vowels preceding a high vowel take on the feature advanced tongue root (ATR) (e.g. thɛnga ‘buy’ → thengisa ‘sell’; bɔna 'see' → bonisa 'cause to see') (Harris 1987). The process of mid-vowel assimilation for the feature [+ATR] is consistent in all instances in which the mid-vowel occurs preceding a high vowel trigger, unless harmony is blocked by the low opaque vowel [a]. This is the analysis presented in Jokweni & Thipa (1996) the only previous literature to address the vowel harmony process of isiXhosa in detail. As an alternative approach to the rule-based phonology applied in the analysis presented by Jokweni & Thipa (1996), I propose the introduction of Optimality theory (OT) (Prince & Smolensky 1993, Bakovic 2000, and Pulleyblank 2002). I will present a map of the harmony system of isiXhosa using OT, while also presenting acoustic data to supplement the selected examples provided in Jokweni & Thipa (1996). This acoustic investigation will determine whether the harmonic feature is ATR, and how this feature patterns among vowels in different phonological contexts. In this paper vowel harmony is achieved through the implication of numerous rules, and with very specific directional and prosodic limitations on the spread of [+ATR]. Using generalisations based on my own collected data as well as those reported in previous literature, I have developed a constraint ranking to account for the harmony process in isiXhosa. By adapting the No-disagreement approach to harmony (Pulleyblank 2002), the final constraint ranking has the capacity to derive the optimal phonetic candidate for every harmony case. A selection of spread constraints is used to account for the raising as well as blocking processes, by driving either regressive or progressive spreading. Within the original No-disagreement approach a spread constraint would recognised only one feature in its prohibition of disagreeing segments. However, in the adapted approach the spread constraint driving [+ATR] assimilation is combined with a feature of correspondence (Krämer 2001) which considers the height as well as the ATR value of the sequential segments. The constraint is therefore adapted to consider more than one feature and is not activated unless the sequential segments agree for this particular feature. The regressive spread constraint is therefore only activated when the consecutive segments have an agreeing height value. The introduction of this adaptation was necessary to provide a more nuanced OT approach with the capacity to effectively characterise the idiosyncrasies observed in this harmony pattern. The harmony constraints are therefore no longer contradict one another by simultaneously driving harmony in opposite directions. Furthermore, the direct acoustic analysis is completed by means of the PRAAT software, to answer the salient question of the definitive harmonic feature. To provide a multiplicity of empirical evidence I have recorded utterances containing a number of vowel combinations. Each combination positions the alternating mid-vowels in a particular phonological context from which instances of ATR alternations have been extracted and phonetically analysed. Using the generalisations reported in Jokweni & Thipa (1996) as a starting point, the acoustic signal of each mid-vowel within a set phonological context is annotated for a predicted ATR value. Hence, if a mid-vowel occurs preceding a high vowel it is annotated as [+ATR] etc. The data sets representing each of the mid-variants found in a specific phonological context are then plotted into vowel charts and compared by means of statistical analysis (Baayen 2008, Bluman 2000). The results are then used to determine whether any significant phonetic alternation is occurring, and what the acoustic distinction between [+ATR] & [-ATR] variants is essentially comprised of. The final acoustic results indicate a significant difference between the mid-vowel ATR variants extracted from specific phonological contexts. Hence, due to co-articulatory effects or some other phonological influence the realisation of [+/-ATR] variants exist along a spectrum, and are therefore not phonetically consistent, but indicate a different acoustic make-up across the various groups.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Uphononongo-nzulu ngonxulumano lwamaqhalo esiXhosa nesimo sentlalo nendima yawo kuphuhliso lolwimi
- Authors: Dongwana, Nosicelo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Proverbs, Xhosa Xhosa language -- Idioms Xhosa language -- translation
- Language: IsiXhosa
- Type: MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/38741 , vital:34948
- Description: Olu phando luphonononga nzulu indlela amaqhalo anxulumene ngayo nesimo- sentlalo, wanendlela athi asetyenziswe ngayo ukuphuhlisa ulwimi. Ingcinga ephambili nengundoqo wophando ukuguquka nokutshintsha kolwimi lwesiXhosa ngenxa yesimo sentlalo esingasafaniyo neso samandulo. Kolu phando kuqale kwavela ingcaciso yokuba liyintoni iqhalo, lubeka elubala iingongoma ezahlukileyo ngokwezimvo neembono zeengcali zolwimi nababhali. Lukhangela indima yesimo sentlalo kulwimi lugxininisa kumaqhalo nezaci zamandulo. Luzama kangako ukuphawula indlela ulwimi olunxibelelana ngayo nesimo-ntlalo kwakunye nendalo ngokubanzi. Luveza indima ephambili edlalwa ngamaqhalo nezaci kwinkcubeko nobomi besizwe samaXhosa ngokubanzi, lusebenzisa amaqhalo nezaci zamandulo tanci. Lubonisa ukuba ulwimi aluphelelanga ekubeni yintetho edala ukunxibelelana phakathi kwabantu kuphela, koko luyinqwelo ethwala uxanduva lokudlulusela ulwazi nenkcubeko yesizwe evezwa ngezisusa, imisitho namatheko esiNtu, ngeembali namabali abaliswe ngomlomo esebenzisa izaci namaqhalo, eziyinkcubeko yesizwe zona kuqala. Olu phando lubhentsisa elubala indlela ulwimi olulityathanga loqhagamshelwano ngayo phakathi komntu nendalo. Luvelisa pahaha iimeko zasekuhlaleni ezithe zanefuthe elingelihle kwindalo nezithe zabangela ukutshabalala kolwimi. Le meko iboniswa ngokucacilelyo igxininisa ekubeni nantoni eyenzeka ekuhlaleni ichaphazele ulwimi olusisithuthi sokuchaza oko kwenzekayo. Ukuguquka kwesimo-sentlalo ngenxa yefuthe lokufika kwabantu abaMhlophe kuyabonakaliswa lolu phando, luveza kananjalo iindlela neemeko ezithe zabonakala zichaphazela ukusetyenziwsa kwamaqhalo nezaci kulwimi lwesiXhosa. UkuguqukaUluvo lweengcali lokuba ukusetyenziswa kwamaqhalo nezaci (amadala namatsha) ekufundiseni, ekuphuhliseni ushishino, ezinkonzweni kwiintshumayelo noqeqesho bashumyeli, ingayeyona ndlela igcina amaqhalo nezaci ilondoloze nenkcubeko yethu, ngolwimi lwethu luchatshazelwa lolu phando. Ubuchule bokubhala amaqhalo esiXhosa abesakuba yinxalenye yoncwadi lwemveli olube udluliselwa kwizizukulwana ngobaliso lomlomo ukhankanyiwe, kwakunye nendima yemigaqo-ntetho yolwimi lwesiXhosa, lujonga indlela amaqhalo athi abunjwe ngayo enganxaxhanga kwimigaqo-ntetho olwimi lwesiXhosa, koko ewaphuhlisa ngakumbi kubandakanywa kolu phando. Ndiyathemba ukuba olu phando luza kuba ngumchankcatho wocelo-mngeni kuphuhliso lolwimi lwesiXhosa ngamaqhalo nezaci, nayinkcubeko esisihombo solwimi lwesiXhosa, siwasebenzise ngendlela efanelekileyo sikhulise ulwimi lwethu sizidle ngalo sisazi ukuba singamelana nelizwe langomso.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Uphononongo-nzulu lwentsingiselo efihlakeleyo kulwimi lweencwadi ezikhethiweyo zesixhosa
- Authors: Siwisa, Luyanda Luancia
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa literature -- Research , Meaning (Philosophy) in literature Symbolism in literature
- Language: Isixhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43413 , vital:36876
- Description: Olu phando luza kuthi lugxile kuphononongo lwentsingiselo efihlakeleyo ekusetyenzisweni kolwimi kwiincwadi ezikhethiweyo zesiXhosa. Isizathu sokusebenzisa ezi ncwadi kukubona ukuba ababhali bazo babe nendlela ethile ethi izalane ekubhaleni iincwadi zabo. Ikakhulu aba babhali baza kutyhilwa kungekudala baphume izandla ekusebenziseni ulwimi oluntsonkothileyo kwaye ekungelula kulowo uzifundayo ukukhawuleza ayazi intsingiselo. Loo nto iyodwa iye yakhokelela ekubeni umphandi abe nomdla ekucubunguleni le ntsingiselo kwezi ncwadi zabo. Ezona zinto zingundoqo uphando oluza kuthi lugxininise kuyo, lulwimi kuba lulo olungundoqo wolu phando nangona uphando lona luza kuqwalasela intsingiselo efihlakeleyo. Le ntsingiselo iza kuqwalaselwa kusetyenziswa ulwimi. Ulwimi sesona sixhobo siphuhlisa ngalo iingcamango ezingundoqo zentsingiselo efihlakeleyo. Ukuba asinakulusebenzisa ulwimi, oyena nobangela wokubhala awusoze uphunyezwe luphando. Yile nto uphando kunyanzelekile ukuba lungene nzulu kulwimi, ingakumbi kwisimantiki yona ijongene nentsingiselo. Uphando luza kubetha nje koomofu kumasuntswana elingwistiki angala, ifonetiki, ifonoloji, imofoloji, isimantiki, isintaksi nepragmatiki njengoko kufuneke lujongisise ulwimi ngokubanzi. Luphinde lujonge intsingiselo engundoqo nentsingiselo efihlakeleyo yamagama kwisivakalisi kodwa lona uphando lube lujolise ekutyhileni intsingiselo efihlakeleyo kwiincwadi ezikhethiweyo. Owona ndoqo kukujonga iintsingiselo ezimbini ezahlukeneyo kulwimi. Kukho intsingiselo yolwimi ubani anakho ukuyijonga njengoko eyiva okanye eyibona kuphinde kubekho intsingiselo ethi ifihlakale leyo ke ubani angasayi kukhawuleza ayibone de abe kanti uzikisa ukucinga. Uphando luza kukekelela kwiintsingiselo ezimbolo-mbini kuba lufumanisa ukuba igama elinye liyakwazi ukutshintsha intsingiselo yonke yesivakalisi. Koko kubalulekile ukuba uphando luchaphazele oomabizwafane noomabizwahluke kuba bangayijika intsingiselo yesivakalisi. Kwakhona uphando luza kujonga indlela yentsingiselo apho isivakalisi siye sivakale ngendlela ethile ezindlebeni zalowo ufunda loo tekisi, abe umbhali engajolisanga kuloo mxholo umfundi yena awuve ngendlela yakhe. Kolu phando kuyanyanzeleka kucutyungulwe indlela ababhali abalusebenzisa ngayo ulwimi olufihlakeleyo kwiincwadi ezikhethiweyo. Ezi ntsingiselo zifihlakeleyo zingavezwa ngeendlela ezininzi ezizezi; imifanekiso ntelekelelo/imifanekiso ngqondweni, ngemiqondiso, izigqebelo, amaphupha, indalo, uphawu nezafobe ezithile. Zonke ezi mpawu zikhankanyiweyo ngentla zizo eziza kuthi zijongwe kwezi ncwadi zaba babhali. Isimiyotiki yona kuza kuthi kudlulwe kuyo kuba yona nesimantiki ziyathungelana asikwazi ukuthetha ngentsingiselo efihlakeleyo yolwimi sijike siyishiye isimiyotiki. La macandelo kuza kucaciswa ukubonisa imvelaphi yolwimi kodwa kungagxilwanga kuwo.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Uphononongo nzulu lwefuthe lempatho-mbi kubalinganiswa kwiincwadi ezichongiweyo zesiXhosa
- Authors: Ngaleka, Nontobeko Priscilla
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa fiction -- Research -- 21st century , Xhosa fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism Marriage in literature Abused women in literature Criticism Literature -- Philosophy
- Language: Isixhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41819 , vital:36600
- Description: Olu phando luza kucazulula ifuthe lempatho-mbi kwizimo zabalinganiswa kuza kujongwa iimeko zokuhlala nempembelelo yazo. Kuza kujongwa ngeliso elibanzi iingxaki ezizalwa yimpatho-mbi kwalapha kuza kuqwalaselwa ukuba abalinganiswa bachaphazeleka njani. Uphando luza kuphengulula incwadi kaDlulani ethi, ‘Ulimile nje uza kuvuna’, ekaGwegwe ethi, ‘Nosel’eyibethile akakayoji’, ekaMagqashela ethi, ‘Isangxa siyawhuza’, ekaSankqela ethi, ‘Kazi yozala nkomoni’ nekaThuthani ethi, ‘Nal’ilanga’. Apha kwezi ncwadi kuza kuhlutywa ifuthe lempatho-mbi kwizimo zabalinganiswa. Isahluko sokuqala kuza kunikwa amagqabantshintshi ngophando olu. Esi sahluko siphethe. Ingabula zigcawu, Iinjongo zophando, Ingxaki yolu phando, Imibuzo yophando, Indlela oluza kuqhutywa ngayo uphando, Izimvo zabanye ababhali, Ingcaciso yamagama. Isahluko sesibini apha sifumana isiseko sengcingane yobume bengqondo, eluphahla loluphando kunye nengcingane yempatho-mbi. Sifumane neengcingane ezoyamileyo ingcingane yokuqonda, eyenkcubeko neyokuhlala. Isahluko sesithathu siqulethe iingxaki ezizala utshintsho kwizimo zabalinganiswa. Isahluko sesine sona sizisa iziphumo zempatho-mbi kwizimo zabalinganiswa. Isahluko sesihlanu sishwankathela sizise iziphumo zophando, kunikwe umkhombandlela kuqukunjelwe uphando.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Uphicotho nzulu lobunzululwazi bolwimi olusetyenziswa kwimiyalezo emifutshane yesiXhosa sisini esahlukeneyo
- Authors: Gwavu-Peter, Yoliswa Ruby
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa language -- Grammar , Applied linguistics , Sociolinguistics , Linguistic change -- Social aspects
- Language: Isixhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/39653 , vital:35343
- Description: Olu phando luza kuthi lubeke umnwe kwindlela ulwimi negrama ezithi zisetyenziswe ngayo kumakhasi onxibelelwano zizini ezahlukileyo. Imiyalezo emifutshane iye yathatha unyawo kule mihla sikuyo. Ukanti kukho nokugxekwa kwayo ngenxa yokuba inempembelelo kuphanzo lolwimi. Olunye uphando olwenziweyo luyaphikisana nale mbono njengokuba lungqina ukuba itextism* ayonakalisi lwazi lwamntu kulwimi. Umahluko ophawulekayo kwimiyalezo ethunyelwa ngamadoda nabafazi awukabonakali uphandiwe esiXhoseni, nto leyo ethe yakhuthaza umphandi ukuba akhe avule indlela. Olu phando lujolise ekuphononongeni igrama yesiXhosa kwimiyalezo emifutshane ethunyelwa zizini ezahlukeneyo. Abathathi nxaxheba kolu phando bayikhethe ngokwabo imiyalezo eza kuthi isetyenziswe kolu phando. Uhlalutyo luza kuthi lujonge ikhophasi engangemiyalezo elikhulu linamashumi mahlanu (150) ethunyelwe ngabathathi nxaxheba abangamashumi amahlanu anesihlanu (55), amadoda angamashumi amabini anesihlanu (25) kunye namabhinqa angamashumi amathathu (30). Abantu abanikezele ngemiyalezo baza kunikwa uxwebhu oluchaza ngeenjongo zolu phando nesizathu sokusebenzisa imiyalezo emifutshane njengomsimelelo wolu phando. Kuza kufuneka batyikitye noxwebhu lwesivumelwano. Yonke le miyalezo ivela kubantu abathetha isiXhosa njengolwimi lwasekhaya. Iminyaka yabantu abanikele ngemiyalezo yabo ngokukhululekileyo iphakathi kwama-25 kunye nama-48. Isizathu sokuba amabhinqa ibe ngawona maninzi anikezele ngemiyalezo kunamadoda sesokuba amadoda ebemadolwa-nzima ukunikezela ngemiyalezo yawo kunamabhinqa. Injongo ibikukufumana amanani alinganayo kwisini ngasinye. Olu phando luza kuthi luthathe indlela yentyila-lwazi njengoko kuza kuthi kuhlalutywe, kucakacwe kuchazwe le miyalezo ikhethelwe uphando. Umphandi uza kuthi asebenzise ingcingane yobunzululwazi yolwimi yoluntu (sociolinguistics*) njengengundoqo kolu phando ze ezinye iingcingane ezifana nefonoloji, isintaksi kunye netextism zisetyenziswe ukuxhasa le ingundoqo.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Uphandonzulu malunga nokutyeshelwa kokufundiswa kolwimi lwesixhosa kwizikolo ezazibizwa model C
- Authors: Notuku, Liza
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xhosa language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Xhosa language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) Multicultural education -- South Africa Native language and education -- South Africa
- Language: Isixhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42803 , vital:36693
- Description: Olu phando lusekelezelwe ukubuyisela inkcubeko yabaNtsundu esele bephulukene nayo ngenxa yokulandela iilwimi zaseNtshona. Ngokwenkcubeko yeMveli kubalulekile ukuba umntu azazi izithethe, amasiko nenkcubeko yakhe ngobubanzi. Ukuzazi kuya kumnceda umntu asinde kwimikhuba nemikhwa ebonwa komabonakude neviwa koonomathotholo imihla nezolo. Kolu phando ulwimi lusetyenziswa njengesixhobo sokunqanda ukwehla komgangatho womntu oMnyama phakathi kwezinye iintlanga ngenxa yokungahoywa kolwimi lwesiXhosa. Uphando luthwele inkuthazo yokufakwa kolwimi lwesiXhosa kwikharityhulam yokufunda nokufundisa kwizikolo ezikumbindi wedolophu. Intsusamabandla yolu phando kukubona indlela abafundi abaMnyama abafunda kwizikolo ezazibizwa ngooModel C abalahlekelwa ngalo lulwimi lwabo lweenkobe ngenxa yokutyeshelwa kwalo. Lukwabonisa abazali babantwana ubungozi bokufunda ngolwimi olongezelelweyo, lwimi olo lwenza abantwana bangaphuhli ngokupheleleyo njengoko besenza abantwana abafunda ngolwimi lwabo lweenkobe. Ubungozi ngokufunda ngolwimi lo mnye umntu kukuba abantwana abazuzi izakhono ngokulinganayo kuba lo ungafundi ngolwimi lwakhe uya sokola, aphele engaphantsi ngokomgangatho kulo ufunda ngolwimi lwakhe lweenkobe. Uphando olu lukwasisilumkiso nangendlela olulahleka ngalo ulwimi lude lube kanti luya phela ngenxa yokunyevulelwa kwangabo aba balo. Loo nto ibenza baphulukane kwanezinto esele benazo basale bezimpula zikalujacu. Olu xwebhu luyinkuthazo kumzi wonke wakwaXhosa ukuba kucingwe nzulu nangokutsha ngokusetyenziswa kolwimi lwabo ukuze ukwazi ukuthatha inxaxheba kubutyebi beli lizwe. Lo msebenzi ndiwunikela kuni mzi wakwaXhosa ngethemba lokuba nakukhe nizirhabulele kulo vimba uzele yingqaka nibuye niwonwabele.
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- 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.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Understanding the perceived role of mobile media in relation to development in a South African rural area
- Authors: Chatikobo, Tatenda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mobile communication systems -- South Africa , Internet telephony -- South Africa , Mobile communication systems -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Internet telephony -- Social aspects --South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95360 , vital:31148
- Description: This study explores the different perceptions of mobile media in relation to development within Dwesa, a marginalised rural community in South Africa. The proliferation of mobile phones and increasing access to the internet in Africa, and South Africa in particular, is extensively documented and attempts have been made to explore its impact on development. Drawing on adapted aspects of the Diffusion of innovation theory (DoI), the study seeks to understand the relative advantage, compatibility with needs and values, and observable benefits of using mobile media for a rural community. I provide a critical discussion of the concept of development and its relationship with digital technologies and innovation. I reflect on the Diffusion of innovation theory, highlighting its critiques, adaptations and modifications in studies, particularly in the Global South. The present study employs a qualitative methodology and relies on focus groups, semi-structured interviews and observation as methods of data collection. Participants were divided into three focus groups based on Rogers classification of innovativeness (early adopters, majority adopters and late/non-adopters) and I conducted two follow-up interviews with participants of each focus group. I analysed the data thematically. Research participants identified several areas where mobile media contributed to development and positive change, such as lowering the cost of access to information and communication, staying in touch with distant relatives, increasing access to services and providing entertainment, especially among young people. The participants noted that despite these positive changes, that mobile media on its own cannot be expected to address challenges of infrastructure and public service delivery. Research findings also revealed that mobile media might interfere with socio-cultural values of respect, human dignity and privacy. I conclude that, while mobile media is generally considered as beneficial, its critical role in improving the socio-economic conditions of people in Dwesa still remains in doubt. The study provides an opportunity to further investigate the compatibility of mobile media with socio-cultural values along the lines of age and gender, and address issues of digital skills and digital marginalisation.
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- Date Issued: 2019