Visualising Chinese presence: an analysis of the contemporary arts of Zambia and Zimbabwe
- Authors: Zhang, Lifang
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Art, Modern -- 21st century , Art, Modern -- 21st century -- Chinese influences , China -- Relations -- Zambia , China -- Relations -- Zimbabwe , Art and society -- Zambia , Social practice (Art) -- Zambia , Art and globalization -- Zambia , Art and society -- Zimbabwe , Social practice (Art) -- Zimbabwe , Art and globalization -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146618 , vital:38542
- Description: With the revival and rapid growth of relations between China and African countries in the present century, the “China-Africa relationship” has become a topic of close attention globally and the media and politicians have been dominating the mainstream discourses with dichotomised narratives. China-Africa engagement has also spurred academic research, most of which is oriented toward large-scale economic, political, and strategic concerns. In this context, it is significant to conduct in-depth research exploring specific engagement between Chinese and African people on the ground. Contemporary artists based in Africa have started to represent, through artworks and performances, their experiences and expressions of relations between China and various African countries. However, an examination of twenty-first century connections between Africa and China in relation to the contemporary visual arts is a new area of study and only a limited number of scholarly works exist. To contribute to the research in this area, this thesis explores the ways in which artists engage with specific realities and lived-experiences of Chinese presence through their artistic practices, with a focus on a selection of artists from Zambia and Zimbabwe. Through visual analysis, interviews and field work, this thesis provides a systematic investigation of contemporary arts of Zambia and Zimbabwe in relation to Africa- China encounters, engaging with four aspects: the discursive field, the material presence, individual experiences of encounters, and the broader relational connections within the arts. This thesis argues that, motivated by the histories and realities of African societies, artists from Zambia and Zimbabwe, through their artistic practices, form part of the Africa-China engagement and insert their agencies in the south-south relations between Africans and Chinese. Therefore, this thesis demonstrates the value in approaching the broader discussion on Africa-China engagements from the perspective of contemporary art, arguing that, with the social concerns of the artists and the expressive capacity of creative forms, visual arts are able to embrace diversity, dynamics, complexities and contradictions, and, therefore, can develop the topic beyond the stereotypical narratives about Africa-China relations to a more nuanced understanding of African-Chinese encounters in specific contexts.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Learning about volunteering: an exploration of literacy volunteers' experiences
- Authors: Yendall, Kaitlin Amy
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Literacy -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Literacy programs -- South Africa , Voluntarism -- South Africa , Volunteer workers in community development -- Training of , Service learning , Language and education -- South Africa , Language arts (Primary) , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) , Volunteer workers in Education -- Training of
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/138336 , vital:37623
- Description: After almost 25 years of democracy in South Africa, not everyone has access to the same quality education. The responsibility of creating a literate society however cannot rely on the national government and schools alone, but instead needs to fall on the shoulders of various stakeholders. Volunteers in particular have an important role to play in remedying the current literacy crisis experienced in South Africa. This study takes the form of a case study approach and examines the experiences of Project Read literacy volunteers. A telephonic survey and two focus group discussions were conducted in order to determine who it is that volunteers for the programme; what prompts these particular individuals to volunteer; the perceived benefits of volunteering; and how volunteers report on their volunteering experiences. Although the Project Read programme is focused on the early literacy development of learners, volunteers seemed to undergo a developmental process themselves – something they had not anticipated at the start of their volunteering journey. This study illustrates the power of meaningful relationships in breaking down artificial categories and in bringing about important change with regards to the perceptions and attitudes of individuals towards community engagement. It is hoped that the data generated through this study will assist in recruiting and retaining more literacy volunteers through feedback to the NGO. In this way more children will be assisted to enhance their literacy competencies, from which they can build and achieve.
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- Date Issued: 2020
National Wool Growers Association programme for communal farmers in Amahlathi local Municipality
- Authors: Yeki, Precious Nomantande
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Farmers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Wool industry – South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50676 , vital:42331
- Description: By 2030, the majority of the world's population will live in urban areas and the farming populations we see today will be less. For the foreseeable future, meeting the needs of the future means confronting the problems that small farmers face in their daily struggle. The South African experience in relation to the agricultural sector is still principally dualistic, comprising of the large-scale commercial farming dominated by white farmers as well as small-scale sectors dominated by black farmers and this is distinctive in the local context of writings on agricultural and rural development. As a result, the government has adopted various approaches to promote Transformation in the sector, with mixed results. The well-known are the agricultural development programmes and black farmer empowerment programmes which also include land reform. This paper reviews one of the agricultural development programmes which seek to empower small holder farmers. The study assesses the impact of the National Wool Growers Association (NWGA) Wool Programme on the communal farmers productivity and agricultural income in Amahlathi Local Municipality. The NWGA has been the custodian for transformation and it has been a good vehicle to represent all wool producers in South Africa. The research discovered that the programme has a positive influence on productivity and agricultural income, yet there is a room for improvement both for the NWGA and the government. It was highlighted that the programme offers extension services, infrastructure for shearing shed, wool and carcass competition, shearing training to both shearers and wool farmers. The study also found that women and youth need to be included, in the programme.
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- Date Issued: 2020
“Womxn like me are made”: politics and poetics in Claudia Rankine’s Citizen
- Authors: Wilken, Chelsey
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Rankine, Claudia, 1963- Citizen , Putuma, Koleka -- Collective amnesia , Black people -- Race identity , Black people in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145735 , vital:38462
- Description: This thesis utilises an interdisciplinary approach to understand the political significance of the experimental poetics used by Claudia Rankine in Citizen: An American Lyric and Koleka Putuma in Collective Amnesia. Rankine and Putuma offer contemporary reflections on what it means to occupy marginalised spaces in society. These artists experiment with formal and conventional aspects of literature to explore and create new definitions of what it means to be Black in society. Their works and techniques allow for thinking outside of dominant ideologies of race and posit alternative Black identities that are not found within canonical theory on Blackness. This project reflects on existing theories of Black subjectivity as evident in Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks and Aimé Césaire’s Notebook on the Return to My Native Land. While these theorists did not reject the role of Black women in Western civilisation, they should be read as a moment in a series of counter-discourse to the Black Other rather than the finite canon of Black subjectivity. The emergence of Rankine and Putuma’s experimental poetics works to disrupt the conflation of the Black subject with the Black heteronormative male. Using Michelle M. Wright’s Physics of Blackness as its primary theoretical framework, this project advocates alternative and disruptive readings of Blackness that potentially shift Blackness away from its conflation with nationalism, masculinity and heteronormativity. This thesis uses a dialogical approach between political theory and literature which allows for Citizen and Collective Amnesia to be read as acts of resistance to epistemological erasure and as articulations of the politics relevant to the poets’ lived experiences. Both the United States and South Africa have a history of institutionalised racial segregation, which allows Rankine and Putuma to be read in relation to one another. Where the Civil Rights movement and the anti-apartheid struggle were both foregrounded as male-lead liberation movements contemporary social movements including #blacklivesmatter and #feesmustfall have initiated a return to the androcentric philosophies of Malcom X and Steve Biko, for example. As such Rankine and Putuma’s literature and art marks a reclamation of female empowerment and visibility in the face of a political rhetoric that continues to be masculine and nationalist in nature. In the absence of a space where Black female and queer bodies are adequately recognised, the poetry they write creates a space of self-representation and recognition.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Relevant knowledge: content analysis of research conducted by South African psychology masters students (2008-2012
- Authors: Whitehead, Tracey
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Psychology -- Research -- South Africa , Psychology -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Psychology students -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167683 , vital:41503
- Description: In South Africa, Psychology has had a chequered past mainly due to its role in the justification of apartheid policies. Due to apartheid's socio-economic injustices, confidence in the applicability of psychological knowledge to South Africa's social problems was insufficient. Psychologists attempted to raise consciousness of the social relevance of psychology by contributing relevant knowledge and being reactive to social inequalities and related psychosocial issues affecting South Africa. This study aimed to conduct a content analysis of trends in research produced by Psychology Masters' students in the fields of Clinical, Counselling and Research psychology over a period of 5 years (2008-2012). The corpus of data was then compared with the key issues raised in the United Nations Development Programme's South Africa human development report (2003), along with a focus on articles published by Macleod (2004) and Macleod and Howell (2013). It emerged that Empirical Qualitative studies, based on post-modern frameworks, as well as HIV/AIDS, Knowledge Production, Assessment and Measurement and Programme development and evaluation, dominated psychological research. Participants were mainly urban, middle class adults living in the 3 wealthiest provinces. University students were the most popular participant group. While it is encouraging that students were attempting to engage with psychosocial issues, the limited number of key social issues addressed, the under-representation of certain sectors of the South African population, as well as the impact of socioeconomic status on well-being requires greater attention at Masters' level to ensure Psychology's psychosocial relevance.
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- Date Issued: 2020
The influence of perceived ethical leadership on employee engagement
- Authors: Wewers, Carryn Lauren
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Leadership -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects , Employee Engagement
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50687 , vital:42335
- Description: Many of today’s news headlines are fraught with alarming accounts of fraud and Corruption conducted by business leaders and this study was undertaken to investigate the influence of perceived ethical leadership on employee engagement. The question has arisen whether these unethical actions among business leaders impact the perceptions of employees and whether this affects their engagement with the organisation. There has been an increase in studies on employee engagement, due to the significant positive impact that it has on an organisation and the beneficial outcomes that engaged employees produce. In this study, the research design followed a positivist approach. The research participants consisted of middle managers in the public or private sectors in South Africa. Sampling was done using a non-probability convenience sampling technique. Secondary data was collected using research data from the Nelson Mandela University Library and its online database. Primary research data was collected using self-administered, standardised questionnaires making use of a 5-point Likert scale. Data was interpreted by means of inferential statistics and biographical information. Every precaution was taken to ensure the reliability, validity and trustworthiness of the study. Ethical approval was obtained for the study from the Nelson Mandela University Research Ethics Committee as per the protocols that were in place at the time of the data collection. This study is significant in terms of the upsurge in unethical conduct in the business arena. The primary objective of this research was to determine the influence of perceived ethical leadership (Perceived Leader Integrity) on employee engagement (the factors which constitute engagement are job commitment, job satisfaction and future intentions.). In the findings, a moderate relationship was found between PLI and job commitment and job satisfaction. A negative relationship was established between PLI and future intentions. Therefore, ethical leadership had an influence on employee engagement.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Does the construction of ‘rapeable’ bodies constitute an instance of hermeneutical injustice?
- Authors: Weiffenbach, Michaela
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Zuma, Jacob -- Trials, litigation, etc. , Rape -- Philosophy , Women's rights -- Africa , Women, Black -- Social conditions -- Africa , Masculinity -- Africa , Men, Black -- Africa -- Psychology , Justice (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145708 , vital:38460
- Description: This thesis argues that within the conventional imagination of the West, identity functions in a way that particular forms of embodiment are characterised by the experience of endured sexual vulnerability, which I argue is best understood as the construction of ‘rapeable’ bodies (Cahill 2001, 120). By this, I mean that the threat of rape is contingent upon the social and political construction of one’s identity as vulnerable. In virtue of this particular way of constructing the embodiment of certain subjectivities, there is an instance of hermeneutical injustice conferred (Fricker 2007, 114). I inquire into the function and meaning of stereotypic generalisations, prejudice and rape myths embedded within the dominant framework of the West and show how language and representation constructs these identities as ‘rapeable’. Furthermore, I consider how collective hermeneutical discourses construct Blackness, specifically Black masculinities and the construction of the ‘un-rapeable’ Black femxle body. To see how these ideas are congruous the prominent example that occurred in South Africa in 2005, namely, the Jacob Zuma rape trial comes to mind. One relevant feature of the case is that it shows how identities of race are constructed in the aftermath of apartheid and points to a Western collective imagination resistant to change. In addition, it demonstrates the triad of interrelatedness holding between the self-world-other, a relationship constituted mutually by the self and the socially constructed interpretations of identity and embodiment (du Toit 2009, 58). Lastly, the construction of ‘rapeable’ bodies is an example of how discursive narratives construct particular identities as vulnerable through rendering particular embodied subjects as sexually irrelevant and hermeneutically obscured.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Institutional culture and internationalisation: a study of Black African academics’ experiences at Rhodes University
- Authors: Wambua, Lloyd M
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Universities and colleges -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Sociological aspects , Discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rhodes University , College teachers, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Social conditions , College teachers, Foreign -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Social conditions , Globalization -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Educational change -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Sex discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , South Africa -- Race relations , Intersectionality (Sociology) , Pan-Africanism , Belonging (Social psychology) , Alienation (Social psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146607 , vital:38541
- Description: This research sets out to examine institutional culture and internationalisation in higher education in contemporary South Africa, by analysing the experiences of black foreign academics at Rhodes University. Much has been written on the adaptation processes of foreign students in South African universities (Ayliff and Wang, 2006; Dzansi and Monnapula-Mapesela, 2012; Mudhovozi, 2011). There is also a host of literature on the black South African experience of adaptation and (non) belonging at historically white universities (HWU) (Akoojee and Nkomo, 2007; Cornell and Kessi, 2017; Soudien, 2008). Comparatively less is written on whether there are any unique pressures regarding institutional culture that black foreign African academics face at historically white institutions such as Rhodes University. The black experience may be misrepresented as a homogenous one by much of the literature on higher education transformation (Batsai, 2019). But there are a host of factors that could change your experience of being ‘black’, such as your class, and gender and quite recently there has been a push to further examine the effect that one’s nationality has on their experience of being ‘black’ in the academy (Batsai, 2019). Institutional culture refers to the “behaviours and values that make up the unique psychological and social environment of a certain institution” (Toma et al., 2005). Internationalisation of higher education in the context of Africa, particularly South Africa refers to “the intentional or unintentional process to integrate intercultural, international and global dimensions in higher education” (Draft Policy Framework for the Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa, 2017). In analysing the experiences of international African academics, this research is trying to give a voice to an often-overlooked group of individuals. This research is also meant to portray the black experience in South African higher education as an experience that is not homogenous but reliant on a host of unique identity factors such as gender, class and also their nationality.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Index of coordination for swimming and running in triathletes: a comparative study
- Authors: Van Den Bergh, Katelyne Mei
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Triathletes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46406 , vital:39598
- Description: The primary aim of this study was to compare the Index of Coordination (IdC) for both sprint and endurance swimming and running of less-skilled level triathletes. The researchutilised a quantitative approach, specifically exploratory, with a one group post-test-only research design. Twenty participants from the triathlon community, ages 18 years and older, were selected via purposive and convenient sampling. The participants were expected to complete a total of four physical tests, namely 50 m sprint swim, 1500 m endurance swim, 50 m sprint run,and 5000 m endurance run, on four separate days, over a period of two weeks. The data was collected by video recording each participant performing each of the four different tests andcoded frame-by-frame onDartfish Video Solution (10.0).The IdCwas derived by identifying the time-in markers and time-out markers for both left and right arms when swimming; and by identifying the time-on markers and time-off markers for both left and right legs when running. The results revealed significant differencesbetweenthe IdCvalues ofsprint swimming and endurance swimming(p<0.001); sprint running andendurance running(p<0.001); sprint swimming andsprint running(p<0.001); andendurance swimmingandendurance running(p<0.001).The top performersin each testwere significantly faster than bottom performers(sprint swimming: p<0.001; sprint running:p<0.001; endurance swimming: p<0.001; endurance running: p<0.001) but no significant group differences on associated IdC were found(sprint swimming: p=0.535; sprint running: p=0.857; endurance swimming: p=0.132; endurance running: p=0.775).Bothendurance tests were divided into three equal portions and it was found that 23% ofthe fastest trial endurance swim time can be explained by the IdC obtained in portion three(p=0.032); and that 62% of the fastest trial endurance run time can be explained by the IdC obtained in portion one(p<0.001). The overall findings of the study suggest that an IdC mode is considered efficient relative to the environmental contextand thatIdCis relative to skill level or alternatively independent of performance times. The IdC, therefore, remains inconclusive as an alternative method but warrants further investigation particularly in longer distance endurance events.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Flying Cows & Other Traumas
- Authors: Twijnstra, Philisiwe
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145513 , vital:38445
- Description: My thesis combines short stories and flash fiction and a short novella collection. Working between reality and fantasy. The collection both engage the strangeness of magic in everyday life and explore other worlds. The stories uses different points of view to highlight the impossibility of a single stable reality. The writing is heavily influenced by Amos Tutuola (The Palm-Wine Drunkard) for his big imagination and how he draws from Yoruba folklore and mixes myth to fiction. Mica Dean Hicks (Electricity and other dreams) he writes with simplicity and his settings always believable yet with one sentence everything becomes a different world of seen and unseen. Margarita Karapanou (Kassandra and the wolf) The tone of the book captured me, how she balances heavy social theme around a young girl, the tone changes from chapter to chapter - from surreal to hallucinatory to mythic to something in between all these modes. She writes rape, but not once has she mentioned rape, yet she is writing about rape. Some books that revolutionized the way I see stories are (Kintu) written by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and (Homegoing) by Yaa Gyasi. They both draw from histories yet contemporize their stories. Which my thesis intends to do that in stories such ‘MoonEyed Maiden’ and Sorana. Flying Cows and Other Traumas is an exploration of female body, when the sacredness of the female body is dehumanized by social injustices. Each story is a stand alone; the structure holds the through-line of the collection which conditions the complexities, the rawness and bluntness of how imbalance our society is. When the body is tainted with unfairness and powered down- how does one come up from that? The collection deals with poverty, sexual assault, systemic injustice, and sexism and some stories draw from personal experiences and fears. The female body is used as a hostage of shame and commodity and the female protagonists in ‘Flying Cows & Other Traumas sharpen their own stuff and shields to face their own injustices through blurring lines of mundanity and fantastical with experimental tone.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Disco
- Authors: Trantraal, Nathan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Kaaps , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Afrikaans fiction -- 21st century , Afrikaans poetry -- 21st century
- Language: Afrikaans , English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145217 , vital:38419
- Description: Creative writing portfolio.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Diteng tsa ditlhopha tsa maina a Bantu: ntlhathakanelo e le mo Setswanang : “The semantics of Bandu noun classes: a focus on Setswana
- Authors: Tladi, Oboitshepo
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Tswana language , Tswana language -- Grammar , Tswana language -- Noun , Noun , Bantu languages , Bantu languages -- Noun , Bantu languages -- Grammar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167654 , vital:41500
- Description: The present study investigated the semantic classification of the Setswana noun class system. This enquiry falls under the broad area of the noun classification system in Bantu languages, psycholinguistics and lexicogrpahy. Specifically it explores the basis of noun classification in Setswana making indications that Setswana noun classification is based on a partial semantic classification. Data for the study was drawn from the Setswana Oxford Dictionary. Sixty Setswana nouns, from class 1, 3, 5, and 7, were selected and analysed and then grouped into semantic categories (i.e., PERSON, DEROGATION, TRANSPORATION and so forth). The study adopted Kgukutli’s (1994) semantic classification in performing the dictionary analysis. The rest of the data was drawn from the intuitions of thirty-nine contemporary speakers of Setswana, with the aid of a linguistic test which was fashioned according to Selvik’s (2001) psycholinguistic test. The language test required participants to match the predetermined Setswana definitions with hypothetical Setswana nouns with selected class prefixes attached to them. The results from the empirical study showed that speakers were associating prefixes to certain semantic values, suggesting that each noun class had specific semantic content that was unique to that class. The semantic categories created through the dictionary analysis were then compared to those given by the thirty-nine Setswana speakers, to analyse whether there were any similaritires in the semantic classification of the noun classes. The findings of the dictionary analysis and linguistic test revealed that there were certain semantic characteristics that each class was associated with that seemed to be unique to the class. However, there were various semantic overlaps in the semantic categories associated with the different noun classes, which brings into question whether a semantic classification is viable in the classing of nouns. The study suggests that prior classification of Setswana nouns are not precise enough and that additional semantic categories are needed to offer a more precise classification of nouns in this language.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Effects of high-intensity speed training on the speed reserve of university middle-distance and field sport athletes
- Authors: Thomas, Emma Jayne
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Athletes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46346 , vital:39599
- Description: Context: Despite the multiple differences between athletic events and sports, they all share the sporadic bouts of moderate to extreme intensities and all require some contribution from an integrated bioenergetic system to allow for optimal performance. Although D’ is often considered as an ‘anaerobic work capacity’, such a definition is over-simplistic and its precise composition is nebulous, especially given the mixed findings of the experimental evidence. Clearly, further research is needed to provide a more complete understanding of the D’ parameter, as well as the speed reserve(range of speeds exceeding critical speed) especially within high-intensity exercise. Purpose (Aim): The aim of this study is to determine whether a short term high-intensity speed training intervention within the severe intensity domain effects speed reserve in athletic and non-athletic individuals considered moderately trained.Methods: A quantitative research design was used. Participantscompletedbaseline testing (pre-test), after which they were assigned into two groups. Both groups received a HIIT training program, with group 1 (G140%) receiving a program based on intensity prescription (work bouts performed at 140% of CS)and group 2 (G90-s) receiving a program based on time intervals (work bouts performed for 90-s). HIIT sessions were performed twice-weekly for a total of 6-weeks. A post-test assessment was then conducted by both groups to determine whether any changes have accrued in any of the physiological variables in question. Participants of the study met a specific criterion(18 –30 years of age, residing in Nelson Mandela Bay, and met the minimum fitness requirements). Results: No significant between-group differences were evident prior to and following cessation of the HIIT intervention. Findings that can be highlighted holistically include improvements in CS(G140%: M = 0.62 m.s-1; G90-s: M = 0.46 m.s-1)and 𝑉̇𝑂2𝑚𝑎𝑥 (G140%: +3.81 ml.kg-1.min-1; G90-s: +5.19 ml.kg-1.min-1)and a decrease in fatigue index (G140%: M = -6.75%; G90-s: M = -4.38%) and D’(G140%: M = -56.34 m; G90-s: M = -18.36 m).Normative data were generated for athletic and non-athletic participants using the standard nine (Stanine) categorization to facilitate interpretation and recommendations of key parameters for coaches and clinicians. Moreover, a deterministic model was also generated which revealed novel interactions and the strength of the relationship between variables-potentially opening new and innovative areas of future research. Conclusions: The interval durations and speeds utilised in the present study were insufficient to stimulate an increase in D’. To elicit an increase of D’, one would have to decrease the duration of the intervals performed(i.e. < 90-sec), while increasing speed at which the intervals performed at some speed greater than 140% of CS, but below MSS. Further research is needed to understand the physiological underpinning of the D’ parameter both in isolation and in conjunction with CS. It is clear that D’ is influenced by parameters such as MSS, 𝜏d and FI%; therefore, these sub-parameters should be explored further as potentiators for moderating the D’ parameter.
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- Date Issued: 2020
My crazy character
- Authors: Sojini, Lungile
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148217 , vital:38720
- Description: My thesis is a metafictional novella. I am interested in fictionalising the processes that writers use when they sit down to plan, write and publish novels. Metafiction interests me because it breaks from the traditional way of writing fiction, particularly with regards to the appearance of the author in the fictional world created. Devin Gribbons’s metafictional story (titled A Short Story), in the anthology of innovative writing, 30 Under 30, was my inspiration for developing the metafictional approach to novella length. Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, Chief Fagunwa’s Forest of a Thousand Daemons, and Charles Bukowski’s autobiographical Ham on Rye, have for varying reasons, all influenced this writing.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Either way you die: a collection of short stories
- Authors: Sithole, Sipho
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145081 , vital:38406
- Description: Part A: Thesis (Creative Work); Part B: Portfolio.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Crossing shades
- Authors: Singh, Shareen
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145049 , vital:38404
- Description: This collection of stories draw on culture, history, memory, musings and imagination. The stories are set primarily in South Africa but includes travels to other countries. I explore journeys to different worlds and minds. I challenge the reader to see how place and time influence our ways of seeing, living and evolving. I use different forms and tones that resonate with the subjective nature of each creative piece. My writing includes formal prose as well as works that experiment with fragments, vignettes and flash fiction.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Power in Africa: a comparison of selected South African and Nigerian dystopian fiction
- Authors: Simelane, Smangaliso
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Dystopias in literature , Africa -- In literature , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Nigerian fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Beukes, Lauren -- Moxyland , Herne, Lily -- Deadlands , Bandele-Thomas, Biyi, 1967- The Sympathetic Undertaker and Other Dreams , Bandele-Thomas, Biyi, 1967- The Man Who Came in from the Back of Beyond
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148171 , vital:38716
- Description: Dystopias have frequently been explored in literature to better understand the present and imagine the effects of certain elements of society if taken to a logical extreme. In this way, dystopian fiction can act as both cautionary tales and a form of social commentary. This can be explored within the context of African dystopian fiction where power is a recurring theme, highlighting the anxiety and turbulent history several countries on the continent continue to face. To demonstrate this, I compare selected South African and Nigerian Dystopian texts. With regards to South Africa, I analyse novels by South African science fiction authors Lauren Beukes and Lily Herne, namely Moxyland (2008) and Deadlands (2011) respectively, to investigate how South Africa’s past under Apartheid shapes the segregated societies presented. Nigerian dystopian texts by Biyi Bandele-Thomas, namely The Sympathetic Undertaker And Other Dreams (1993) and The Man Who Came in from the Back of Beyond (1992), are discussed with regards to the way Nigeria’s colonial past and several military juntas have contributed to the kinds of corruption that are depicted. I argue that all four texts warn of the dangers of power, albeit in ways that pertain specifically to their countries of origin. With regards to the South African texts, readers are shown the ways in which those in power can manipulate the desire to survive to keep those they subjugate dependent and, consequently, obedient through what Judith Butler terms ‘passionate attachments’. In the case of the Nigerian dystopias, I argue that Bandele-Thomas’s texts warn of tyranny and effects of the corruption that result from misused power strategies. While the dire settings of dystopian fiction may be grim enough, on their own, to motivate change in the real world, this may not be enough to prevent the texts from becoming pessimistic and fatalistic outlooks. Hence, I seek to understand how the selected novels maintain hope and, consequently, convince readers that the depicted dystopias are ones that can be avoided. Typically, dystopian literature fosters hope by setting the narratives in the future, giving readers hope that they may take steps today to protect their societies from becoming like the damned worlds described by dystopian authors. However, the selected texts are not set in the future. Hence, I explore three literary techniques that might foster hope within the selected African dystopian texts in lieu of temporal distancing. They are, namely: identification with the protagonist, defamiliarization and cognitive estrangement.
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- Date Issued: 2020
“Ntombazana, ugayela bani?”: ubunzululwazi beentsimbi
- Authors: Silo, Tolakele Talitha
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Beadwork, Xhosa , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs , Beadwork, Tembu , Tembu (African people) -- Social life and customs
- Language: Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167487 , vital:41485
- Description: “ NTOMBAZANA, UGAYELA BANI?”: UBUNZULULWAZI BEENTSIMBI is a study on the culture of abaThembu, one of the amaXhosa subgroups. Focusing on beadwork as one of this group’s cultural aspects, this research is an initiative to ensure documentation of such indigenous knowledge as an influence on the lifestyle of abaThembu. It also strives to uplift the use of oral literature to present it a fair chance at being a driving force for change as it has previously been ousted with the acceptability of written literature. Of great surprise is to see that despite western civilization, which affected the people’s culture, beadwork remains a pillar of the abaThembu-amaXhosa culture. This craft has evolved and thus, shows no signs of regression. This thesis is an indigenous knowledge focused research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A systematic review of the efficacy of internet-based interventions for depression and anxiety disorders: the possibilities and limitations for feasibility within South Africa
- Authors: Sealy-Fisher, Kay Tibeta
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Depression, Mental -- Treatment -- South Africa , Anxiety disorders -- Treatment -- South Africa , Internet in psychotherapy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144632 , vital:38364
- Description: Technological advances may alleviate the burden on South Africa’s mental healthcare system. This study is a systematic review of literature that assesses the efficacy of high quality online interventions for depression and anxiety, and that compares the reviewed studies’ characteristics to the South African context to assist in future developments of online interventions for depression and anxiety within South Africa. This was achieved through using a 2010 systematic review of Griffiths, Farrer, and Christensen as point of departure. This research had two aims: to provide an updated systematic review of the literature reporting on the efficacy of internet-based interventions for depression and anxiety disorders; and to evaluate the possibilities and limitations for the feasibility of implementing internet-based interventions for depression and anxiety disorders in the South African context. Databases accessed were PubMed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Included studies must: (i) report on one or more internet-based intervention, (ii) target depression or anxiety or both, (iii) report the effect size or provide enough information to calculate it, (iv) report a measure of symptoms outcome, (v) be a Randomised Controlled Trial, (vi) include a control group that received no active intervention, (vii) be published and peer-reviewed, (viii) have been published after January 2010. The search yielded 2999 potential studies of which 20 full texts were reviewed. Of these, 75% (n=15) of the studies report effect sizes above 0.20, and 25% (n=5) of the studies report effect sizes above 0.80. Themes emergent from literature and included studies distinguished effective from non-effective studies included the use of cognitive behavioural therapy, therapist input and reminders to engage with the intervention, and duration of over 6 weeks. Attrition rates did not differ between experimental and control groups. Sample characteristics between the reviewed interventions and South Africa’s population were found to be different and is discussed. Unfortunately, 37 potential studies could not be accessed and thus not included, although several attempts were made. The majority of studies had effect sizes equal to that of face-to-face therapeutic interventions. Implications of application in South Africa’s context with limited technological familiarity, insufficiency of professionally trained therapists, poor literacy, and high costs of internet data are discussed. It is concluded that with appropriate adaptation, online internet interventions for depression and anxiety would be beneficial to South Africa’s people and assist in lowering the country’s burden of mental health disorders.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Psychologists’ perceptions of cultural competence in working with clients from diverse cultures in psychotherapy within the Nelson Mandela Bay area
- Authors: Sdinane, Thembeka Gloria
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Cultural competence
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46453 , vital:39597
- Description: There has beenanincreasedacknowledgement of the need for current psychological interventions to meet the needs of the diverse cultural contexts reflective of the SouthAfrican clients. As such, researchers began exploring, enhancing,and evaluating modelsof psychotherapy, applicable to the cultures of the diverse clients. To address disparities caused by Eurocentricepistemologies that fail to recognise the impact of culture on clients, the concept of cultural competence was introduced.While there is international literature available on cultural competence in psychotherapy, there is still a significant gap in South African literature.Consequently, this study explored psychologists’ perceptions of cultural competence when working with diverse clients in psychotherapy. A general exploratory qualitative approach informed this study. The qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Using a purposive sampling strategy, registered clinical and counselling psychologists who are in private practice were selected. A total of 6 participants were interviewed.The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and the thematic analysis method was used to analyse data with aid from the Atlas.ti coding Software. Findings of this study are presented using the four identified themes i) Complexities of working with diverse cultures, ii) knowledge limitation hinders complete cultural competence, iii) Actions towards cultural competence and iv) The geographical context. The findings of this study suggest that the idea of complete cultural competence in psychological therapyis not plausible, given the nuances embedded within South African society. As such, the researcher suggests a move from cultural competence to cultural effectiveness as an alternative that could potentially create aplatform that bridges the gap between psychological science and the nuances posed by cultures.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020