"All vistas close in the unseen" : a study of the transcendent in the fiction of E. M. Forster
- Authors: Butler, Ian
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970 -- Criticism and interpretation , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2175 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001826
- Description: From introduction: It has become something of a commonplace among critics to remark Forster's relative lack of success in offering an alternative to the world which he satirises with such wit and humour. His comic treatment of the suburban absurdities of the Edwardian Englishman is, on the whole, far more compelling and memorable than the often vague, symbolic gestures by means of which he implies the possibility of something better. With the exception of his last and greatest novel, A Passage to India, his "alternatives" are largely factitious and contrived. Worse, the reader senses a fundamental uncertainty on the part of the author: his characteristic ambivalence in itself an indication of a perceptive and discriminating mind -- all too often suggests lack of conviction rather than an intelligent awareness of the infinitude of human possibilities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1987
- Authors: Butler, Ian
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970 -- Criticism and interpretation , Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2175 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001826
- Description: From introduction: It has become something of a commonplace among critics to remark Forster's relative lack of success in offering an alternative to the world which he satirises with such wit and humour. His comic treatment of the suburban absurdities of the Edwardian Englishman is, on the whole, far more compelling and memorable than the often vague, symbolic gestures by means of which he implies the possibility of something better. With the exception of his last and greatest novel, A Passage to India, his "alternatives" are largely factitious and contrived. Worse, the reader senses a fundamental uncertainty on the part of the author: his characteristic ambivalence in itself an indication of a perceptive and discriminating mind -- all too often suggests lack of conviction rather than an intelligent awareness of the infinitude of human possibilities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1987
"Burnout" in children's home houseparents
- Authors: Bath, Peter John
- Date: 1983
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/193118 , vital:45300
- Description: Aimed at replicating the results of an American study into "Burnout" in Group Home houseparents, this research had the following aims: 1) To ascertain the validity and reliability of the instrument used in the original study and presented as a "useful measure of burnout”. 2) To establish whether this line of research, within a highly problematic research field, can at present offer any guidelines in the resolution of the current staffing crisis faced by South African children's homes. 3} To describe more closely the burnout syndrome. 4) To study possible etiological factors within a local context. Sixty three houseparents completed questionaires and three independent measures of burnout were obtained. The results were regarded as having failed to replicate those of the original study. The reason for this was found to be the low validity of the original instrument. The main conclusion drawn was that the line of research adopted in the original study can offer only very tentative guidelines towards the resolution of the staffing crisis faced until such time as valid and reliable instruments to measure burnout have been developed. Many of the suggested relationships between situational variables and ones of personal characteristics were confirmed for the local population of houseparents. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 1983
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1983
- Authors: Bath, Peter John
- Date: 1983
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/193118 , vital:45300
- Description: Aimed at replicating the results of an American study into "Burnout" in Group Home houseparents, this research had the following aims: 1) To ascertain the validity and reliability of the instrument used in the original study and presented as a "useful measure of burnout”. 2) To establish whether this line of research, within a highly problematic research field, can at present offer any guidelines in the resolution of the current staffing crisis faced by South African children's homes. 3} To describe more closely the burnout syndrome. 4) To study possible etiological factors within a local context. Sixty three houseparents completed questionaires and three independent measures of burnout were obtained. The results were regarded as having failed to replicate those of the original study. The reason for this was found to be the low validity of the original instrument. The main conclusion drawn was that the line of research adopted in the original study can offer only very tentative guidelines towards the resolution of the staffing crisis faced until such time as valid and reliable instruments to measure burnout have been developed. Many of the suggested relationships between situational variables and ones of personal characteristics were confirmed for the local population of houseparents. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 1983
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1983
"I want to kill myself!": identity documents and mental health in the South African Daily Sun tabloid
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143549 , vital:38256 , ISBN , https://ischp.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ischp_2015_abstract_booklet.pdf
- Description: An Identity Document (ID) is needed by South Africans to study, apply for a pension or get married. However, Home Affairs, the state department responsible for issuing them, is poorly managed. The popular Daily Sun tabloid newspaper mediates for its five million working class readers the frustration caused by this incompetency in its “Horror Affairs” column. Readers tell their stories about (not) getting their IDs, stories often of suicide, depression and “giving up” on life. Using a Lacanian frame, and through a close reading of “Horror Affairs” texts, I argue that this tabloid plays a therapeutic role for its socially marginalised readers by mediating the “invisibility” engendered by the modernising state and its administrative technologies. Given the concern about high rates of mental health illness in South Africa, the research also demonstrates how popular culture forms can alert health care practitioners to issues which may otherwise go unnoticed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143549 , vital:38256 , ISBN , https://ischp.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ischp_2015_abstract_booklet.pdf
- Description: An Identity Document (ID) is needed by South Africans to study, apply for a pension or get married. However, Home Affairs, the state department responsible for issuing them, is poorly managed. The popular Daily Sun tabloid newspaper mediates for its five million working class readers the frustration caused by this incompetency in its “Horror Affairs” column. Readers tell their stories about (not) getting their IDs, stories often of suicide, depression and “giving up” on life. Using a Lacanian frame, and through a close reading of “Horror Affairs” texts, I argue that this tabloid plays a therapeutic role for its socially marginalised readers by mediating the “invisibility” engendered by the modernising state and its administrative technologies. Given the concern about high rates of mental health illness in South Africa, the research also demonstrates how popular culture forms can alert health care practitioners to issues which may otherwise go unnoticed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
"Making the News": a case study of East Cape News (ECN)
- Authors: Davidow, Audrey Beth
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Reporters and reporting Reporters and reporting -- South Africa Attribution of news News agencies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3424 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002877
- Description: To fully comprehend the complex process of news making, we must first understand that the events we read about everyday in the newspaper are not merely a reflection of the world in which we live. News does not just happen. Rather, it is a socially constructed product in which events are “made to mean” (Hall, 1978). Thus, the news plays a fundamental role in shaping our interpretations of reality - our perceptions of the world as we know it. Informed by a structuralist approach to news making, this research provides a detailed ethnographic study of the determinants that shape and produce news in the South African print media. I provide examples of the influence various factors, operating at all levels, exert within the news making process. The research focuses on the news production process at East Cape News Pty. Ltd. (ECN) a small news agency operating in the peripheral news region of South Africa’s Eastern Cape. It considers the journalistic routines and interests of the ECN reporters; how these reporters select events and turn them into news, how they interpret their significance and how they formulate them as news stories. The research also considers the second stage of selection ECN news must pass before it is read by the public - the “gates” of external newspapers. In this section, the study is primarily concerned with which ECN news stories succeed past the gates of national newspapers as these are the newpapers that play an influential role in shaping national perceptions of the marginalised Eastern Cape region. A province burdened with devastating rural poverty, unstable government, and little economic growth, the Eastern Cape warrants little coverage from the national, Johannesburg-based news market. As a result, little news of the Eastern Cape is published nationally, further perpetuating the region’s perceived insignificance on a national level. This point also demonstrates the fact that news both shapes, and is shaped by, our ideologies. News, therefore is ideological (Fishman, 1977). My findings reinforce many of the observations of other media researchers informed by a structuralist approach in the field of news making. However, some elements of news making emerge which appear to be unique in terms of other studies of news making. These elements are primarily a result of ECN’s informal organisational structures which allow the journalists a greater level of autonomy than a larger more bureaucratic organisation might. Thus, in addition to considering the structures that shape the news, I also discuss the role of human agency in making the news.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
- Authors: Davidow, Audrey Beth
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Reporters and reporting Reporters and reporting -- South Africa Attribution of news News agencies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3424 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002877
- Description: To fully comprehend the complex process of news making, we must first understand that the events we read about everyday in the newspaper are not merely a reflection of the world in which we live. News does not just happen. Rather, it is a socially constructed product in which events are “made to mean” (Hall, 1978). Thus, the news plays a fundamental role in shaping our interpretations of reality - our perceptions of the world as we know it. Informed by a structuralist approach to news making, this research provides a detailed ethnographic study of the determinants that shape and produce news in the South African print media. I provide examples of the influence various factors, operating at all levels, exert within the news making process. The research focuses on the news production process at East Cape News Pty. Ltd. (ECN) a small news agency operating in the peripheral news region of South Africa’s Eastern Cape. It considers the journalistic routines and interests of the ECN reporters; how these reporters select events and turn them into news, how they interpret their significance and how they formulate them as news stories. The research also considers the second stage of selection ECN news must pass before it is read by the public - the “gates” of external newspapers. In this section, the study is primarily concerned with which ECN news stories succeed past the gates of national newspapers as these are the newpapers that play an influential role in shaping national perceptions of the marginalised Eastern Cape region. A province burdened with devastating rural poverty, unstable government, and little economic growth, the Eastern Cape warrants little coverage from the national, Johannesburg-based news market. As a result, little news of the Eastern Cape is published nationally, further perpetuating the region’s perceived insignificance on a national level. This point also demonstrates the fact that news both shapes, and is shaped by, our ideologies. News, therefore is ideological (Fishman, 1977). My findings reinforce many of the observations of other media researchers informed by a structuralist approach in the field of news making. However, some elements of news making emerge which appear to be unique in terms of other studies of news making. These elements are primarily a result of ECN’s informal organisational structures which allow the journalists a greater level of autonomy than a larger more bureaucratic organisation might. Thus, in addition to considering the structures that shape the news, I also discuss the role of human agency in making the news.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
"The word as image": survey with special reference to the twentieth century
- Authors: Edworthy, S
- Date: 1991-03
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191247 , vital:45075
- Description: This essay is intended, firstly for those who at some time have had the urge to include words into their otherwise conventional representational images, but are deterred by the suspicion that such elements have no place in the picture plane. Secondly, it is hoped, that this dissertation will provide some understanding concerning the motivations and aims of artists, using "verbal symbols" in their visual images. At this point, I offer some explanation of the term "verbal symbols". The alphabet that we are accustomed to today differs vastly from the first writing that was invented. The naming of items nowadays is arbitrarily established and all we are left with is a name that bears no visual resemblance to the object it represents in real life. The word "house", for example, tells us nothing of the physical nature of a house. However, owing to our conditioning, the word evokes in us a mental picture of a house, even if the details of this picture will vary amongst individuals. Words then are symbols which denote, broadly speaking, objects that exist in our daily lives, without being in any way visual representations of these objects. Of course there are also words which are dependent on other words for their meaning, such as prepositions, conjunctions or suffices, but this is irrelevant to this essay. , Thesis (MFA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Fine Art, 1991
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991-03
- Authors: Edworthy, S
- Date: 1991-03
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191247 , vital:45075
- Description: This essay is intended, firstly for those who at some time have had the urge to include words into their otherwise conventional representational images, but are deterred by the suspicion that such elements have no place in the picture plane. Secondly, it is hoped, that this dissertation will provide some understanding concerning the motivations and aims of artists, using "verbal symbols" in their visual images. At this point, I offer some explanation of the term "verbal symbols". The alphabet that we are accustomed to today differs vastly from the first writing that was invented. The naming of items nowadays is arbitrarily established and all we are left with is a name that bears no visual resemblance to the object it represents in real life. The word "house", for example, tells us nothing of the physical nature of a house. However, owing to our conditioning, the word evokes in us a mental picture of a house, even if the details of this picture will vary amongst individuals. Words then are symbols which denote, broadly speaking, objects that exist in our daily lives, without being in any way visual representations of these objects. Of course there are also words which are dependent on other words for their meaning, such as prepositions, conjunctions or suffices, but this is irrelevant to this essay. , Thesis (MFA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Fine Art, 1991
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991-03
"Us" and "them": disagreement over the meanings of terms, ambiguity, contestability and strategy in the Zimbabwean House of Assembly
- Hasler, Arthur Richard Patrick
- Authors: Hasler, Arthur Richard Patrick
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Politicians -- Zimbabwe -- Language , Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- 1980- |xLanguage
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2083 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001600
- Description: This is a study of how certain value loaded political terms are used in Zimbabwean Parliamentary debate. Before 1980 it is argued that aspects of lexical choice and an individual's sociopolitical position were extremely closely related, especially in the case of "white Rhodesians". There was also a marked lack of ambiguity in the use of value loaded terms at this time. In contemporary Zimbabwean House of Assembly, however, terms which became popularized when the new government came to power in 1980 are used with considerable ambiguity and contestability in order to further specific strategies. Though correlations between the choice of lexical units and individuals' positions in the social structure have been identified as "sociolinguistic variables" (Downes 1984, 75), it is argued that an analysis of this type of correlation should lead us to an analysis of how these lexical units or "terms" are used by individual speakers in a micro-political process. I hypothesize that the ambiguity and contestability which encompass certain key terms used in the Zimbabwean House contribute to their being used as strategies to achieve individual or party goals. I show that the terms are manipulated by individuals in various contexts, and that the normative connotations of terms, that is what the terms "ought" to mean, is not consistent with the ways in which they are used. This, in turn, has an effect on how people think the terms should be used. This process of language change exposes the interface between language usage and social life. Though not reducible to a single "correct" interpretation, it does provide rich material for the analysis of culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
- Authors: Hasler, Arthur Richard Patrick
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Politicians -- Zimbabwe -- Language , Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- 1980- |xLanguage
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2083 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001600
- Description: This is a study of how certain value loaded political terms are used in Zimbabwean Parliamentary debate. Before 1980 it is argued that aspects of lexical choice and an individual's sociopolitical position were extremely closely related, especially in the case of "white Rhodesians". There was also a marked lack of ambiguity in the use of value loaded terms at this time. In contemporary Zimbabwean House of Assembly, however, terms which became popularized when the new government came to power in 1980 are used with considerable ambiguity and contestability in order to further specific strategies. Though correlations between the choice of lexical units and individuals' positions in the social structure have been identified as "sociolinguistic variables" (Downes 1984, 75), it is argued that an analysis of this type of correlation should lead us to an analysis of how these lexical units or "terms" are used by individual speakers in a micro-political process. I hypothesize that the ambiguity and contestability which encompass certain key terms used in the Zimbabwean House contribute to their being used as strategies to achieve individual or party goals. I show that the terms are manipulated by individuals in various contexts, and that the normative connotations of terms, that is what the terms "ought" to mean, is not consistent with the ways in which they are used. This, in turn, has an effect on how people think the terms should be used. This process of language change exposes the interface between language usage and social life. Though not reducible to a single "correct" interpretation, it does provide rich material for the analysis of culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
#KeepItReal: discursive constructions of authenticity in South African consumer culture
- Authors: Plüg, Simóne Nikki
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Consumer behavior Consumers' preferences -- South Africa Brand choice -- South Africa Marketing -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64973 , vital:28641
- Description: Writers as diverse as Oscar Wilde (1915), Matthew Arnold (1960), Erich Fromm (1997) and a proliferation of contemporary self-help gurus, variously assert that it is preferable for people to focus on “being”, or to value “who you are”, instead of emphasising “having” or the material possessions you have acquired. These discourses assert that individuals content with “being” are happier and more fulfilled than those involved in the constant (and alienating) motion of acquiring material goods as representations of themselves (de Botton, 2004; Fromm, 1997; James, 2007). This thesis provides an in-depth critical exploration of one of these ideal “ways of being”: authenticity. It does not seek to discover what authenticity is in an empirical sense, nor to define what it should be in a normative sense, but to map the cultural work done by changing and often contradictory discourses of personal authenticity. More specifically, this study uses a qualitative research design, social constructionist theoretical framework, and discourse analytic method to critically discuss the discursive constructions of subject authenticity in South African brand culture. The sample consisted of (1.) ten marketing campaigns of several large, mainstream brands, which were popular in South Africa from 2015 to 2017, and (2.) fifteen smaller South African “craft” brands popular in the “artisanal” context. The analysis is presented in two distinct, but interrelated, sections (namely, Selling Stories and Crafting Authenticity), where the relevant discourses of authenticity for each data set are explored in depth. Through this analysis the thesis provides a critical discussion of the ways in which these discourses of authenticity work to produce and maintain, (or challenge and subvert), subject positions, ideologies, and power relations that structure contemporary South African society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Plüg, Simóne Nikki
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Consumer behavior Consumers' preferences -- South Africa Brand choice -- South Africa Marketing -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64973 , vital:28641
- Description: Writers as diverse as Oscar Wilde (1915), Matthew Arnold (1960), Erich Fromm (1997) and a proliferation of contemporary self-help gurus, variously assert that it is preferable for people to focus on “being”, or to value “who you are”, instead of emphasising “having” or the material possessions you have acquired. These discourses assert that individuals content with “being” are happier and more fulfilled than those involved in the constant (and alienating) motion of acquiring material goods as representations of themselves (de Botton, 2004; Fromm, 1997; James, 2007). This thesis provides an in-depth critical exploration of one of these ideal “ways of being”: authenticity. It does not seek to discover what authenticity is in an empirical sense, nor to define what it should be in a normative sense, but to map the cultural work done by changing and often contradictory discourses of personal authenticity. More specifically, this study uses a qualitative research design, social constructionist theoretical framework, and discourse analytic method to critically discuss the discursive constructions of subject authenticity in South African brand culture. The sample consisted of (1.) ten marketing campaigns of several large, mainstream brands, which were popular in South Africa from 2015 to 2017, and (2.) fifteen smaller South African “craft” brands popular in the “artisanal” context. The analysis is presented in two distinct, but interrelated, sections (namely, Selling Stories and Crafting Authenticity), where the relevant discourses of authenticity for each data set are explored in depth. Through this analysis the thesis provides a critical discussion of the ways in which these discourses of authenticity work to produce and maintain, (or challenge and subvert), subject positions, ideologies, and power relations that structure contemporary South African society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
& salt the earth behind you
- Authors: Naidoo, Prenesa
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship , Korean fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Short stories, Argentine -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Arabic fiction -- Palestine 21st century -- History and criticism , Argentine fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178212 , vital:42921
- Description: My thesis is a collection of prose pieces in the form of short stories, flash fiction and prose poetry drawing on memory and lived experiences to explore the trauma of death, grief and displacement, solace and the paroxysms of home. As a young woman from an Indian South Africa community, Hindu superstitions and folktales are my second skin, and shape both my worldview and my writing. I am inspired by Lidia Yuknavitch’s observation that, “all artists see things that are not there”, and by Dambudzo Marechera’s belief that, “Beneath reality, there is always fantasy: the writer’s task is to reveal it, to open it out, to feel it, to experience it.” In my stories about trauma and grief, I often distort the line between seen and unseen worlds, where, for example, hauntings are taken seriously as lived experiences. I have also been influenced by Han Kang’s The White Book, Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s Sabrina & Corina, and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. Read together, Kang’s stand-alone short stories form part of a greater collective ‘memory’ or ‘life’; Fajardo-Anstine’s collection illustrates how to write about a specific female Latina community while still telling individual stories; and Cisneros’ fragments of memories tell the story of a person’s life in narratives which are as long or short as they need to be. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Naidoo, Prenesa
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship , Korean fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Short stories, Argentine -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Arabic fiction -- Palestine 21st century -- History and criticism , Argentine fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178212 , vital:42921
- Description: My thesis is a collection of prose pieces in the form of short stories, flash fiction and prose poetry drawing on memory and lived experiences to explore the trauma of death, grief and displacement, solace and the paroxysms of home. As a young woman from an Indian South Africa community, Hindu superstitions and folktales are my second skin, and shape both my worldview and my writing. I am inspired by Lidia Yuknavitch’s observation that, “all artists see things that are not there”, and by Dambudzo Marechera’s belief that, “Beneath reality, there is always fantasy: the writer’s task is to reveal it, to open it out, to feel it, to experience it.” In my stories about trauma and grief, I often distort the line between seen and unseen worlds, where, for example, hauntings are taken seriously as lived experiences. I have also been influenced by Han Kang’s The White Book, Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s Sabrina & Corina, and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. Read together, Kang’s stand-alone short stories form part of a greater collective ‘memory’ or ‘life’; Fajardo-Anstine’s collection illustrates how to write about a specific female Latina community while still telling individual stories; and Cisneros’ fragments of memories tell the story of a person’s life in narratives which are as long or short as they need to be. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
'n Marxisties-feministiese ondersoek van Wilma Stockenström se roman, Die kremetartekspedisie
- Authors: Gardner, Judy Hilary
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Stockenström, Wilma -- Criticism and interpretation , Stockenström, Wilma. Kremetartekspedisie
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3568 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002091
- Description: Chapter is an exploration of the meanings which may underly the title of this novel. I have tried initially to establish what kind of "expedition" is undertaken, and have come to the conclusion that "expedition" has a multidimensional meaning, that it implies a search, an expedition into different things: an expedition to the city of rose-quartz; the slave woman's expeditions from the baobab tree and back; an inner expedition to gain self-knowledge; an expedition into womanhood; an expedition into the history of Africa, into religion, into language. The second part of the chapter examines the nature of "baobab", since this tree, like the "Tree of Life", is regarded as one growing upside-down. It is this upside-down nature of the tree which led me to believe that many existing stereotypes and myths are turned upside-down in the novel: about slaves, about woman, language, the Afrikaans literary tradition, the "traditional" structure of the novel, culture transcending nature, the slave woman's language. In chapter 2 I have examined only one of these expeditions, viz. the slave woman's inner expeditions consisting of her experiences as a slave and her journeys of reminiscence. These journeys at the same time embrace all the other expeditions. Her inner expeditions are signified by a number of codes, which fulfil literally the function of processes of knowledge, of self- knowledge, as well as of systems in which meaning is contained. By undertaking this inner expedition, the woman gains greater clarity of vision concerning her own existence and the existence of man/woman in general. Chapter 3 deals mainly with the concept of possession/ownership, which results in two diametrically opposed groups: the owner class and the owned class. The peculiar institution of slavery has given rise to these two irreconcilable groups, and therefore a brief history of slavery is included in this chapter. The slave woman is initially one of the owned class, but through indoctrination, she too aspires to become a member of the owner class. In the second half of the chapter, then, the woman is discussed as owner. Her position becomes a reflection of the position of her owners, to illustrate the peculiarity of the capitalist system in which there will always be the rulers and the subjects, the oppressor and the oppressed, the owner and the owned.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
- Authors: Gardner, Judy Hilary
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Stockenström, Wilma -- Criticism and interpretation , Stockenström, Wilma. Kremetartekspedisie
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3568 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002091
- Description: Chapter is an exploration of the meanings which may underly the title of this novel. I have tried initially to establish what kind of "expedition" is undertaken, and have come to the conclusion that "expedition" has a multidimensional meaning, that it implies a search, an expedition into different things: an expedition to the city of rose-quartz; the slave woman's expeditions from the baobab tree and back; an inner expedition to gain self-knowledge; an expedition into womanhood; an expedition into the history of Africa, into religion, into language. The second part of the chapter examines the nature of "baobab", since this tree, like the "Tree of Life", is regarded as one growing upside-down. It is this upside-down nature of the tree which led me to believe that many existing stereotypes and myths are turned upside-down in the novel: about slaves, about woman, language, the Afrikaans literary tradition, the "traditional" structure of the novel, culture transcending nature, the slave woman's language. In chapter 2 I have examined only one of these expeditions, viz. the slave woman's inner expeditions consisting of her experiences as a slave and her journeys of reminiscence. These journeys at the same time embrace all the other expeditions. Her inner expeditions are signified by a number of codes, which fulfil literally the function of processes of knowledge, of self- knowledge, as well as of systems in which meaning is contained. By undertaking this inner expedition, the woman gains greater clarity of vision concerning her own existence and the existence of man/woman in general. Chapter 3 deals mainly with the concept of possession/ownership, which results in two diametrically opposed groups: the owner class and the owned class. The peculiar institution of slavery has given rise to these two irreconcilable groups, and therefore a brief history of slavery is included in this chapter. The slave woman is initially one of the owned class, but through indoctrination, she too aspires to become a member of the owner class. In the second half of the chapter, then, the woman is discussed as owner. Her position becomes a reflection of the position of her owners, to illustrate the peculiarity of the capitalist system in which there will always be the rulers and the subjects, the oppressor and the oppressed, the owner and the owned.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1989
'ORPHEIOI HYMNOI' The generic contexts of the Orphic Hymns
- Malamis, Daniel Scott Christos
- Authors: Malamis, Daniel Scott Christos
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Orphic hymns , Poetics Early works to 1800 , Hymns, Greek (Classical) History and criticism , Literary form
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327177 , vital:61088 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327177
- Description: Uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of Orphic Hymns’ composition and their intended use. Their author has substituted their own identity for that of the mythological poet and there is no certain reference to the extant collection in any ancient source. They are, in this sense, decontextualised. This study aims to make a contribution to the ongoing debate concerning the hymns’ composition, and the original function they might have served, through an analysis of their poetic and generic contexts. Following a detailed survey of scholarship on the hymns, I reflect first on the collection as a unified text, the constitutive parts of the individual hymns and the methods they employ for addressing, describing and praying to the gods. I then study a select group of stylistic features that the hymns prominently display: their use of phonic effects, including etymological figures, of antithesis and symmetrical patterning, and their extensive repetition of poetic formulae. In each case I discuss the deployment and significance of these poetic elements within the collection and consider the intertextual parallels suggested by their recurrence in Greek literary texts of all periods. This analysis reveals the hymns’ engagement with an overlapping set of poetic traditions, including, most prominently, cultic hymns and oracles, gnomic poetry, the theological discourses of the Presocratic philosophers and, in particular, Orphic poetry in its many forms. It suggests moreover that the hymns engage deeply with the oral strategies of the earliest Greek poets, underscoring the conclusion reached by several recent scholars, that the extant collection is essentially performative and was intended to be recited and heard. I argue that the Orphic Hymns were not a unique text in their employment of the stylistic features studied here, but drew extensively upon earlier hymns composed in Orpheus’ name. I further consider, in the light of this argument, the bearing this study has on the unresolved questions of the hymns’ composition, whether by a single author or many, and the aims of the poet(s) who composed them. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literature Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Malamis, Daniel Scott Christos
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Orphic hymns , Poetics Early works to 1800 , Hymns, Greek (Classical) History and criticism , Literary form
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327177 , vital:61088 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327177
- Description: Uncertainty surrounds the circumstances of Orphic Hymns’ composition and their intended use. Their author has substituted their own identity for that of the mythological poet and there is no certain reference to the extant collection in any ancient source. They are, in this sense, decontextualised. This study aims to make a contribution to the ongoing debate concerning the hymns’ composition, and the original function they might have served, through an analysis of their poetic and generic contexts. Following a detailed survey of scholarship on the hymns, I reflect first on the collection as a unified text, the constitutive parts of the individual hymns and the methods they employ for addressing, describing and praying to the gods. I then study a select group of stylistic features that the hymns prominently display: their use of phonic effects, including etymological figures, of antithesis and symmetrical patterning, and their extensive repetition of poetic formulae. In each case I discuss the deployment and significance of these poetic elements within the collection and consider the intertextual parallels suggested by their recurrence in Greek literary texts of all periods. This analysis reveals the hymns’ engagement with an overlapping set of poetic traditions, including, most prominently, cultic hymns and oracles, gnomic poetry, the theological discourses of the Presocratic philosophers and, in particular, Orphic poetry in its many forms. It suggests moreover that the hymns engage deeply with the oral strategies of the earliest Greek poets, underscoring the conclusion reached by several recent scholars, that the extant collection is essentially performative and was intended to be recited and heard. I argue that the Orphic Hymns were not a unique text in their employment of the stylistic features studied here, but drew extensively upon earlier hymns composed in Orpheus’ name. I further consider, in the light of this argument, the bearing this study has on the unresolved questions of the hymns’ composition, whether by a single author or many, and the aims of the poet(s) who composed them. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literature Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
300 grams
- Authors: Ainslie, Michelle
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140597 , vital:37903
- Description: This document consists of two (2) parts:Part A: Thesis (Creative Work)Part B: Portfolio.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Ainslie, Michelle
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140597 , vital:37903
- Description: This document consists of two (2) parts:Part A: Thesis (Creative Work)Part B: Portfolio.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
[iLahleko - Loss]
- Authors: Qhali, Itumeleng
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Xhosa poetry 21st century , South African poetry (English) 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) 21st century , Loss (Psychology) in literature , Poetry History and criticism , Bilingual authors , Bilingualism and literature , Bilingualism in literature
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191825 , vital:45169
- Description: My thesis is a collection of poems and prose that explores the disjunction of losses for women and children across the two languages I inhabit, isiXhosa and English. Ukulahlekelwa lithemba, ukudukelwa yingqondo, ukholo, ubuwena, umzimba nothando. For me, isiXhosa captures the innate musicality and deep emotions within a word or a sound that are not available in English. On the other hand, English readily produces visceral images that are more difficult for me to access in isiXhosa. Kolu phononongo ndikwasebenzisa namagama emboleko ukuze ndikhulise isigama. Ndisebenzisa amagama azibeka zinjalo iimvakalelo, angqalileyo kuncwadi lwesiXhosa. Ndisebenzisa zombini ilyric form kunye neprozi ngenxa yesingqi esiphuhliswa yilyric, nangenxa yenkululeko umbali ayifumanayo kwiprozi. As a bilingual writer ndifuthelwe sisingqi nobunzulu bentlungu obufumaneka in the translated and bilingual works of Isabella Motadinyane, noMarina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva, imibongo yeDaikwan eguqulwe nguStephen Watson ethi Song of the Broken String; iimbongi zespanish ezinjengo Antonia Machado; ngendlela abasebenzisa ngayo ulwimi lwabo ukunabisa nokugqithisa umyalezo ngeentlungu abadibana nazo, bakwanaso nesingqi somculo othuthuzelayo kwimibongo yabo. The structure of my thesis is inspired by the innovative mixed genre layout of Sindiswa Busuku-Mathese’s Loud and Yellow Laughter, and the new formats of isiXhosa writing presented in Mthunzikazi Mbugwana’s poetry. My work has also been shaped by the visceral imagery and briefly captured moments of loss in imisebenzi ka S.S Mema, Nontsizi Mgqwetho, noPascale Petit, novangile gantsho. Imisebenzi yabo ikuzobela umfanekiso ngqondweni ophilayo. Bonke abababhali bahambe indlela endinika umdla nendifuna ukuyihamba nam njengombhali omtsha obhala ngeelwimi ezimbini. , My thesis is a collection of poems and prose that explores the disjunction of losses for women and children across the two languages I inhabit, isiXhosa and English. For me, isiXhosa captures the innate musicality and deep emotions within a word or a sound that are not available to me in English. On the other hand, English readily produces visceral images that are more difficult for me to find in isiXhosa. My poems use the music and introspection of the lyric form, as well as the emotional outpouring that prose poetry allows. As a bilingual writer, I am influenced by the transference of musicality and gravity of loss conveyed in the translated and bilingual work of Isabella Motadinyane, the Russian Marina Tsvetaeva, Stephen Watson’s Song of the Broken String, as well as the Spanish poets Antonio Machado. The structure of my thesis is inspired by the innovative mixed genre layout of Sindiswa Busuku-Mathese’s Loud and Yellow Laughter, and the new formats of isiXhosa writing presented in Mthunzikazi Mbugwana’s poetry. My work has also been shaped by the visceral imagery and briefly captured moments of loss in the work of South African poets vangile gantsho, S.S. Mema, and Nontsizi Mgqwetho, as well as the English poet, Pascale Petit. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanitites, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Qhali, Itumeleng
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Xhosa poetry 21st century , South African poetry (English) 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) 21st century , Loss (Psychology) in literature , Poetry History and criticism , Bilingual authors , Bilingualism and literature , Bilingualism in literature
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191825 , vital:45169
- Description: My thesis is a collection of poems and prose that explores the disjunction of losses for women and children across the two languages I inhabit, isiXhosa and English. Ukulahlekelwa lithemba, ukudukelwa yingqondo, ukholo, ubuwena, umzimba nothando. For me, isiXhosa captures the innate musicality and deep emotions within a word or a sound that are not available in English. On the other hand, English readily produces visceral images that are more difficult for me to access in isiXhosa. Kolu phononongo ndikwasebenzisa namagama emboleko ukuze ndikhulise isigama. Ndisebenzisa amagama azibeka zinjalo iimvakalelo, angqalileyo kuncwadi lwesiXhosa. Ndisebenzisa zombini ilyric form kunye neprozi ngenxa yesingqi esiphuhliswa yilyric, nangenxa yenkululeko umbali ayifumanayo kwiprozi. As a bilingual writer ndifuthelwe sisingqi nobunzulu bentlungu obufumaneka in the translated and bilingual works of Isabella Motadinyane, noMarina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva, imibongo yeDaikwan eguqulwe nguStephen Watson ethi Song of the Broken String; iimbongi zespanish ezinjengo Antonia Machado; ngendlela abasebenzisa ngayo ulwimi lwabo ukunabisa nokugqithisa umyalezo ngeentlungu abadibana nazo, bakwanaso nesingqi somculo othuthuzelayo kwimibongo yabo. The structure of my thesis is inspired by the innovative mixed genre layout of Sindiswa Busuku-Mathese’s Loud and Yellow Laughter, and the new formats of isiXhosa writing presented in Mthunzikazi Mbugwana’s poetry. My work has also been shaped by the visceral imagery and briefly captured moments of loss in imisebenzi ka S.S Mema, Nontsizi Mgqwetho, noPascale Petit, novangile gantsho. Imisebenzi yabo ikuzobela umfanekiso ngqondweni ophilayo. Bonke abababhali bahambe indlela endinika umdla nendifuna ukuyihamba nam njengombhali omtsha obhala ngeelwimi ezimbini. , My thesis is a collection of poems and prose that explores the disjunction of losses for women and children across the two languages I inhabit, isiXhosa and English. For me, isiXhosa captures the innate musicality and deep emotions within a word or a sound that are not available to me in English. On the other hand, English readily produces visceral images that are more difficult for me to find in isiXhosa. My poems use the music and introspection of the lyric form, as well as the emotional outpouring that prose poetry allows. As a bilingual writer, I am influenced by the transference of musicality and gravity of loss conveyed in the translated and bilingual work of Isabella Motadinyane, the Russian Marina Tsvetaeva, Stephen Watson’s Song of the Broken String, as well as the Spanish poets Antonio Machado. The structure of my thesis is inspired by the innovative mixed genre layout of Sindiswa Busuku-Mathese’s Loud and Yellow Laughter, and the new formats of isiXhosa writing presented in Mthunzikazi Mbugwana’s poetry. My work has also been shaped by the visceral imagery and briefly captured moments of loss in the work of South African poets vangile gantsho, S.S. Mema, and Nontsizi Mgqwetho, as well as the English poet, Pascale Petit. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanitites, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
A 150 MHz all sky survey with the Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization
- Authors: Chege, James Kariuki
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Epoch of reionization -- Research , Astronomy -- Observations , Radio interferometers
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/117733 , vital:34556
- Description: The Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) was built to measure the redshifted 21 cm line of hydrogen from cosmic reionization. Such low frequency observations promise to be the best means of understanding the cosmic dawn; when the first galaxies in the universe formed, and also the Epoch of Reionization; when the intergalactic medium changed from neutral to ionized. The major challenges to these observations is the presence of astrophysical foregrounds that are much brighter than the cosmological signal. Here, I present an all-sky survey at 150 MHz obtained from the analysis of 300 hours of PAPER observations. Particular focus is given to the calibration and imaging techniques that need to deal with the wide field of view of a non-tracking instrument. The survey covers ~ 7000 square degrees of the southern sky. From a sky area of 4400 square degrees out of the total survey area, I extract a catalogue of sources brighter than 4 Jy whose accuracy was tested against the published GLEAM catalogue, leading to a fractional difference rms better than 20%. The catalogue provides an all-sky accurate model of the extragalactic foreground to be used for the calibration of future Epoch of Reionization observations and to be subtracted from the PAPER observations themselves in order to mitigate the foreground contamination.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Chege, James Kariuki
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Epoch of reionization -- Research , Astronomy -- Observations , Radio interferometers
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/117733 , vital:34556
- Description: The Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) was built to measure the redshifted 21 cm line of hydrogen from cosmic reionization. Such low frequency observations promise to be the best means of understanding the cosmic dawn; when the first galaxies in the universe formed, and also the Epoch of Reionization; when the intergalactic medium changed from neutral to ionized. The major challenges to these observations is the presence of astrophysical foregrounds that are much brighter than the cosmological signal. Here, I present an all-sky survey at 150 MHz obtained from the analysis of 300 hours of PAPER observations. Particular focus is given to the calibration and imaging techniques that need to deal with the wide field of view of a non-tracking instrument. The survey covers ~ 7000 square degrees of the southern sky. From a sky area of 4400 square degrees out of the total survey area, I extract a catalogue of sources brighter than 4 Jy whose accuracy was tested against the published GLEAM catalogue, leading to a fractional difference rms better than 20%. The catalogue provides an all-sky accurate model of the extragalactic foreground to be used for the calibration of future Epoch of Reionization observations and to be subtracted from the PAPER observations themselves in order to mitigate the foreground contamination.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A baseline survey of channel geomorphology with particular reference to the effects of sediment characteristics on ecosystem health in the Tsitsa River, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Huchzermeyer, Nicholaus Heinrich
- Authors: Huchzermeyer, Nicholaus Heinrich
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Fluvial geomorphology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Stream health -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , River sediments -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Watershed management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Dams -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tsitsa River (South Africa) , Ntabelanga Dam (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/58056 , vital:27040
- Description: Fluvial systems are dynamic systems in which variables in a catchment and river channel affect the morphology of river reaches. South African rivers are increasingly being exposed to stresses from a combination of factors, one of the most prevalent being the impacts of damming rivers which result in varying downstream sediment fluxes and flow regimes. The sediment load combined with flow characteristics for respective river channels provides the physical habitat for aquatic ecosystems. The damming of the Tsitsa River, through the construction of the Ntabelanga Dam, will change the overall downstream geomorphology. This creates an opportunity for research in the preconstruction window. The current condition of the Tsitsa River was monitored by completing a baseline survey of the channel geomorphology with specific reference to the influence of sediment on river habitats and ecosystem health. Five sites were established in variable reaches of the Tsitsa River, with Site 1 located above the proposed Ntabelanga Dam inundation and Sites 2-5 below the proposed dam wall. Each site included a range of features that can be monitored for their response to the dam. Physical variables, water quality and biota were monitored seasonally to note changes in habitat quality. A baseline survey of the present geomorphology and associated instream habitats of the selected reaches was set up by conducting cross-sectional surveys of channel topography, water slope surveys, discharge measurements and visual and quantitative assessments of substrate. Level loggers were installed at each site to collect continuous data on variations in depth and temperature. Monitoring surveys, in terms of fine sediment accumulation, were conducted to characterise dynamic habitat arrangements and macroinvertebrate community composition. A taxa related physical habitat score for the Tsitsa River was created. The relationship between water quality, physical and ecological characteristics of the Tsitsa River will aid further research in the area as well as create a better understanding of the influence of sediment on river habitats and ecosystem health. Monitoring sites can be used to monitor the impact of catchment-wide rehabilitation on river health prior to the dam being built. After dam construction, the top site above the dam inundation can still be used as a point to monitor the impact of catchment rehabilitation on ecosystem health in terms of fine sediment accumulation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Huchzermeyer, Nicholaus Heinrich
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Fluvial geomorphology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Stream health -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , River sediments -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Watershed management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Dams -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Tsitsa River (South Africa) , Ntabelanga Dam (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/58056 , vital:27040
- Description: Fluvial systems are dynamic systems in which variables in a catchment and river channel affect the morphology of river reaches. South African rivers are increasingly being exposed to stresses from a combination of factors, one of the most prevalent being the impacts of damming rivers which result in varying downstream sediment fluxes and flow regimes. The sediment load combined with flow characteristics for respective river channels provides the physical habitat for aquatic ecosystems. The damming of the Tsitsa River, through the construction of the Ntabelanga Dam, will change the overall downstream geomorphology. This creates an opportunity for research in the preconstruction window. The current condition of the Tsitsa River was monitored by completing a baseline survey of the channel geomorphology with specific reference to the influence of sediment on river habitats and ecosystem health. Five sites were established in variable reaches of the Tsitsa River, with Site 1 located above the proposed Ntabelanga Dam inundation and Sites 2-5 below the proposed dam wall. Each site included a range of features that can be monitored for their response to the dam. Physical variables, water quality and biota were monitored seasonally to note changes in habitat quality. A baseline survey of the present geomorphology and associated instream habitats of the selected reaches was set up by conducting cross-sectional surveys of channel topography, water slope surveys, discharge measurements and visual and quantitative assessments of substrate. Level loggers were installed at each site to collect continuous data on variations in depth and temperature. Monitoring surveys, in terms of fine sediment accumulation, were conducted to characterise dynamic habitat arrangements and macroinvertebrate community composition. A taxa related physical habitat score for the Tsitsa River was created. The relationship between water quality, physical and ecological characteristics of the Tsitsa River will aid further research in the area as well as create a better understanding of the influence of sediment on river habitats and ecosystem health. Monitoring sites can be used to monitor the impact of catchment-wide rehabilitation on river health prior to the dam being built. After dam construction, the top site above the dam inundation can still be used as a point to monitor the impact of catchment rehabilitation on ecosystem health in terms of fine sediment accumulation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
A Bayesian approach to tilted-ring modelling of galaxies
- Authors: Maina, Eric Kamau
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Bayesian statistical decision theory , Galaxies , Radio astronomy , TiRiFiC (Tilted Ring Fitting Code) , Neutral hydrogen , Spectroscopic data cubes , Galaxy parametrisation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145783 , vital:38466
- Description: The orbits of neutral hydrogen (H I) gas found in most disk galaxies are circular and also exhibit long-lived warps at large radii where the restoring gravitational forces of the inner disk become weak (Spekkens and Giovanelli 2006). These warps make the tilted-ring model an ideal choice for galaxy parametrisation. Analysis software utilizing the tilted-ring-model can be grouped into two and three-dimensional based software. Józsa et al. (2007b) demonstrated that three dimensional based software is better suited for galaxy parametrisation because it is affected by the effect of beam smearing only by increasing the uncertainty of parameters but not with the notorious systematic effects observed for two-dimensional fitting techniques. TiRiFiC, The Tilted Ring Fitting Code (Józsa et al. 2007b), is a software to construct parameterised models of high-resolution data cubes of rotating galaxies. It uses the tilted-ring model, and with that, a combination of some parameters such as surface brightness, position angle, rotation velocity and inclination, to describe galaxies. TiRiFiC works by directly fitting tilted-ring models to spectroscopic data cubes and hence is not affected by beam smearing or line-of-site-effects, e.g. strong warps. Because of that, the method is unavoidable as an analytic method in future Hi surveys. In the current implementation, though, there are several drawbacks. The implemented optimisers search for local solutions in parameter space only, do not quantify correlations between parameters and cannot find errors of single parameters. In theory, these drawbacks can be overcome by using Bayesian statistics, implemented in Multinest (Feroz et al. 2008), as it allows for sampling a posterior distribution irrespective of its multimodal nature resulting in parameter samples that correspond to the maximum in the posterior distribution. These parameter samples can be used as well to quantify correlations and find errors of single parameters. Since this method employs Bayesian statistics, it also allows the user to leverage any prior information they may have on parameter values.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Maina, Eric Kamau
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Bayesian statistical decision theory , Galaxies , Radio astronomy , TiRiFiC (Tilted Ring Fitting Code) , Neutral hydrogen , Spectroscopic data cubes , Galaxy parametrisation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145783 , vital:38466
- Description: The orbits of neutral hydrogen (H I) gas found in most disk galaxies are circular and also exhibit long-lived warps at large radii where the restoring gravitational forces of the inner disk become weak (Spekkens and Giovanelli 2006). These warps make the tilted-ring model an ideal choice for galaxy parametrisation. Analysis software utilizing the tilted-ring-model can be grouped into two and three-dimensional based software. Józsa et al. (2007b) demonstrated that three dimensional based software is better suited for galaxy parametrisation because it is affected by the effect of beam smearing only by increasing the uncertainty of parameters but not with the notorious systematic effects observed for two-dimensional fitting techniques. TiRiFiC, The Tilted Ring Fitting Code (Józsa et al. 2007b), is a software to construct parameterised models of high-resolution data cubes of rotating galaxies. It uses the tilted-ring model, and with that, a combination of some parameters such as surface brightness, position angle, rotation velocity and inclination, to describe galaxies. TiRiFiC works by directly fitting tilted-ring models to spectroscopic data cubes and hence is not affected by beam smearing or line-of-site-effects, e.g. strong warps. Because of that, the method is unavoidable as an analytic method in future Hi surveys. In the current implementation, though, there are several drawbacks. The implemented optimisers search for local solutions in parameter space only, do not quantify correlations between parameters and cannot find errors of single parameters. In theory, these drawbacks can be overcome by using Bayesian statistics, implemented in Multinest (Feroz et al. 2008), as it allows for sampling a posterior distribution irrespective of its multimodal nature resulting in parameter samples that correspond to the maximum in the posterior distribution. These parameter samples can be used as well to quantify correlations and find errors of single parameters. Since this method employs Bayesian statistics, it also allows the user to leverage any prior information they may have on parameter values.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A biography on inkosi Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli as an African intellectual
- Mngadi, Samkelo Ntobeko Vukani
- Authors: Mngadi, Samkelo Ntobeko Vukani
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Luthuli, A J (Albert John), 1898-1967 , Luthuli, A J (Albert John), 1898-1967 Political and social views , Africans Intellectual life , South Africa History , South Africa Politics and government , African National Congress Biography , Apartheid South Africa , Political activists South Africa Biography , Intellectuals Political activity South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294493 , vital:57226
- Description: [Excerpt taken from Introduction] The purpose of this study is to take a look at one of these African leaders, inkosi Albert Luthuli through a biographical lens to assess whether he should be recognised as an African intellectual. Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu states that inkosi Luthuli is recognised as the father of South Africa’s non-racialism. He used his moral authority in a historic fashion to influence the liberation movement to adopt non-violent resistance. During his time as President-General, he became the beacon of non-violent resistance. As the president of the liberation organisation, he delivered speeches that steered the African National Congress (ANC) and the liberation movement when the State escalated its oppression against Africans. The State retaliated by deposing him as an elected Chief, imprisoned him, imposed multiple bans on him in attempts to silence him. His intellect proved to be a threat to the State. He spoke out boldly against the apartheid state and advocated for chiefs, African people, African women, sugar farmers, and all oppressed racial groups. Inkosi Luthuli used his speeches to deliver political concepts like non-racialism, multiracialism, African nationalism and democracy into the public space. He cemented ANC’s cooperation policy that created the environment for the existence of the Congress Alliance that produced the Freedom Charter. He spoke out against the oppression of not just South Africans but Africa and all oppressed groups internationally. He illustrated that he possessed geopolitics that would gain the attention of the world. He illustrated his geopolitics through his internationalism philosophy gained the international community’s attention. Inkosi Luthuli was revered and respected by his Groutville community, the African community, South Africans of all racial groups and the international community. His impact can be seen through him being the first African-born Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He pushed for the international community to place economic sanctions and believed that international sanctions were the appropriate non-violent method the global community could get involved in fighting apartheid.5 The purpose of this study will be to explore how a Christian Zulu Chief’s intellectual thinking was able to move South Africa towards a multiracial democracy using non-violent resistance as a strategy to gain Africa and the world’s attention—looking at him from the vantage point of being an African intellectual. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Mngadi, Samkelo Ntobeko Vukani
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Luthuli, A J (Albert John), 1898-1967 , Luthuli, A J (Albert John), 1898-1967 Political and social views , Africans Intellectual life , South Africa History , South Africa Politics and government , African National Congress Biography , Apartheid South Africa , Political activists South Africa Biography , Intellectuals Political activity South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294493 , vital:57226
- Description: [Excerpt taken from Introduction] The purpose of this study is to take a look at one of these African leaders, inkosi Albert Luthuli through a biographical lens to assess whether he should be recognised as an African intellectual. Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu states that inkosi Luthuli is recognised as the father of South Africa’s non-racialism. He used his moral authority in a historic fashion to influence the liberation movement to adopt non-violent resistance. During his time as President-General, he became the beacon of non-violent resistance. As the president of the liberation organisation, he delivered speeches that steered the African National Congress (ANC) and the liberation movement when the State escalated its oppression against Africans. The State retaliated by deposing him as an elected Chief, imprisoned him, imposed multiple bans on him in attempts to silence him. His intellect proved to be a threat to the State. He spoke out boldly against the apartheid state and advocated for chiefs, African people, African women, sugar farmers, and all oppressed racial groups. Inkosi Luthuli used his speeches to deliver political concepts like non-racialism, multiracialism, African nationalism and democracy into the public space. He cemented ANC’s cooperation policy that created the environment for the existence of the Congress Alliance that produced the Freedom Charter. He spoke out against the oppression of not just South Africans but Africa and all oppressed groups internationally. He illustrated that he possessed geopolitics that would gain the attention of the world. He illustrated his geopolitics through his internationalism philosophy gained the international community’s attention. Inkosi Luthuli was revered and respected by his Groutville community, the African community, South Africans of all racial groups and the international community. His impact can be seen through him being the first African-born Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He pushed for the international community to place economic sanctions and believed that international sanctions were the appropriate non-violent method the global community could get involved in fighting apartheid.5 The purpose of this study will be to explore how a Christian Zulu Chief’s intellectual thinking was able to move South Africa towards a multiracial democracy using non-violent resistance as a strategy to gain Africa and the world’s attention—looking at him from the vantage point of being an African intellectual. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
A biological assessment of the Cape knifejaw (Oplegnathus conwayi) an endemic South African teleost
- Authors: Foster, Ryan Matthew
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Perciformes South Africa , Osteichthyes South Africa , Fisheries South Africa , Perciformes Growth , Perciformes Age , Perciformes Reproduction , Sampling Citizen participation , Cape knifejaw (Oplegnathus conwayi)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191057 , vital:45054
- Description: The South African spearfishery forms a small component of South Africa’s complex coastal fishery. Although the smallest, this fishery sector has the largest proportion of data deficient species, and as a consequence is poorly managed. Oplegnathus conwayi (Cape knifejaw) is an example of one of these species for which there is very little and outdated biological and ecological data. This species is among the top target species by recreational spearfishers in South Africa. This thesis aimed to improve our socio-ecological knowledge of the South African spearfishery through the collection of biological and Fishers’ Ecological Knowledge (FEK) information on Oplegnathus conwayi, and human dimension information on the South African spearfishery. Monthly biological samples were collected through routine sampling (spearfishing) and augmented by recreational spearfishers. A total of 254 fish were collected from the warm-temperate coastal zone (East London – Cape Agulhas), 28 from the sub-tropical zone (Durban – East London) and 23 from the cool-temperate zone (Cape Agulhas – Cape Point). The results indicated that Oplegnathus conwayi is a slow-growing species, with a maximum recorded age of 27 years. The population sex ratio was skewed, with males dominant in the population (1M:0.6F). The length- and age-frequency distributions were, however, similar for both sexes. No significant differences were observed between male and female growth (LRT, p > 0.05), with the overall population growth curve being best described as L(t) = 697.15(1-e-0.06(t-6.30)). Males matured at a slightly larger size than females, however, no significant differences were observed (LRT, p > 0.05). The length- and age- at-50% maturity was 330 mm (FL) and 5.73 years for the full population, respectively. Histological analyses showed that Oplegnathus conwayi are asynchronous spawners with a gonochoristic reproductive style. Macroscopic staging and gonadosomatic index results indicated a protracted spawning season for Oplegnathus conwayi, with a peak in spring. A survey was designed and disseminated to collect FEK on the biology and population status of Oplegnathus conwayi and human dimension information on South Africa’s spearfishery. A total of 103 survey responses were received, of which 94 were regarded as specialised (spearfishers who had greater experience, skill and avidity, and maintained spearfishing as an important component of their lifestyle) spearfishers. Based on the responses of the specialist spearfishers, the top four main species caught by spearfishers from this survey were Seriola lalandi (13.9%), Pachymetopon grande (11.7%), Oplegnathus conwayi (11.4%) and Sparodon durbanensis (11%), and the majority of respondents indicated that there had been no changes in abundance, size and catches of these species in the years that they had been spearfishing. Respondents indicated that Oplegnathus conwayi are most commonly targeted in the Eastern Cape and are found at depths of up to 40 m. Respondents also indicated that there may be a seasonal onshore (Summer/Winter) and offshore (Summer/Winter) migration with year-round spawning and a peak in November, December and January. The incorporation of spearfishers into the data collection, both through the collection of specimens and their FEK, was beneficial to this study. Besides providing samples from a broader geographical range than the primary collection area, the collaboration with spearfishers has promoted the inclusion of this group into the management system. The findings of this study also suggest that FEK data can be more reliable if the concept of recreational specialisation is incorporated into data collection. While the FEK suggested that the population was stable, a stock assessment is necessary to fully understand the population status and implement management strategies. Nevertheless, the key life history characteristics (slow growth and late maturation) observed in this study are characteristic of species that is vulnerable to overexploitation, and thus the precautionary approach should be applied. The reproductive information collected in this study has provided information for the implementation of an appropriate size limit regulation for Oplegnathus conwayi. Here, a minimum size limit of 400 mm TL, which corresponds approximately with the length-at-50% maturity of 330 mm FL, would be appropriate to allow fish to mature and spawn, and reduce the likelihood of recruitment overfishing. Reduction in the bag limit from five to two fish per person per day may also be appropriate as a precautionary measure until a stock assessment has been completed. Finally, the incorporation of stakeholder into biological collection and the use of FEK may be a useful approach for other data deficient species and in countries with limited resources for ecological research. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Foster, Ryan Matthew
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Perciformes South Africa , Osteichthyes South Africa , Fisheries South Africa , Perciformes Growth , Perciformes Age , Perciformes Reproduction , Sampling Citizen participation , Cape knifejaw (Oplegnathus conwayi)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191057 , vital:45054
- Description: The South African spearfishery forms a small component of South Africa’s complex coastal fishery. Although the smallest, this fishery sector has the largest proportion of data deficient species, and as a consequence is poorly managed. Oplegnathus conwayi (Cape knifejaw) is an example of one of these species for which there is very little and outdated biological and ecological data. This species is among the top target species by recreational spearfishers in South Africa. This thesis aimed to improve our socio-ecological knowledge of the South African spearfishery through the collection of biological and Fishers’ Ecological Knowledge (FEK) information on Oplegnathus conwayi, and human dimension information on the South African spearfishery. Monthly biological samples were collected through routine sampling (spearfishing) and augmented by recreational spearfishers. A total of 254 fish were collected from the warm-temperate coastal zone (East London – Cape Agulhas), 28 from the sub-tropical zone (Durban – East London) and 23 from the cool-temperate zone (Cape Agulhas – Cape Point). The results indicated that Oplegnathus conwayi is a slow-growing species, with a maximum recorded age of 27 years. The population sex ratio was skewed, with males dominant in the population (1M:0.6F). The length- and age-frequency distributions were, however, similar for both sexes. No significant differences were observed between male and female growth (LRT, p > 0.05), with the overall population growth curve being best described as L(t) = 697.15(1-e-0.06(t-6.30)). Males matured at a slightly larger size than females, however, no significant differences were observed (LRT, p > 0.05). The length- and age- at-50% maturity was 330 mm (FL) and 5.73 years for the full population, respectively. Histological analyses showed that Oplegnathus conwayi are asynchronous spawners with a gonochoristic reproductive style. Macroscopic staging and gonadosomatic index results indicated a protracted spawning season for Oplegnathus conwayi, with a peak in spring. A survey was designed and disseminated to collect FEK on the biology and population status of Oplegnathus conwayi and human dimension information on South Africa’s spearfishery. A total of 103 survey responses were received, of which 94 were regarded as specialised (spearfishers who had greater experience, skill and avidity, and maintained spearfishing as an important component of their lifestyle) spearfishers. Based on the responses of the specialist spearfishers, the top four main species caught by spearfishers from this survey were Seriola lalandi (13.9%), Pachymetopon grande (11.7%), Oplegnathus conwayi (11.4%) and Sparodon durbanensis (11%), and the majority of respondents indicated that there had been no changes in abundance, size and catches of these species in the years that they had been spearfishing. Respondents indicated that Oplegnathus conwayi are most commonly targeted in the Eastern Cape and are found at depths of up to 40 m. Respondents also indicated that there may be a seasonal onshore (Summer/Winter) and offshore (Summer/Winter) migration with year-round spawning and a peak in November, December and January. The incorporation of spearfishers into the data collection, both through the collection of specimens and their FEK, was beneficial to this study. Besides providing samples from a broader geographical range than the primary collection area, the collaboration with spearfishers has promoted the inclusion of this group into the management system. The findings of this study also suggest that FEK data can be more reliable if the concept of recreational specialisation is incorporated into data collection. While the FEK suggested that the population was stable, a stock assessment is necessary to fully understand the population status and implement management strategies. Nevertheless, the key life history characteristics (slow growth and late maturation) observed in this study are characteristic of species that is vulnerable to overexploitation, and thus the precautionary approach should be applied. The reproductive information collected in this study has provided information for the implementation of an appropriate size limit regulation for Oplegnathus conwayi. Here, a minimum size limit of 400 mm TL, which corresponds approximately with the length-at-50% maturity of 330 mm FL, would be appropriate to allow fish to mature and spawn, and reduce the likelihood of recruitment overfishing. Reduction in the bag limit from five to two fish per person per day may also be appropriate as a precautionary measure until a stock assessment has been completed. Finally, the incorporation of stakeholder into biological collection and the use of FEK may be a useful approach for other data deficient species and in countries with limited resources for ecological research. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
A business model framework for mission-driven organisations
- Authors: Thackeray, Sean Robin
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Nonprofit organizations South Africa Makhanda , Business model , Sustainable development South Africa Makhanda , Resource-based view , Social responsibility of business South Africa Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419123 , vital:71618
- Description: Non-profit organisations (NPOs) contribute to our society by addressing needs through value-creation activities which are normally not addressed by normal for-profit organisations. These NPOs generate their income through donations, fundraising and market activities such as the sale of products or services. However, in the pursuit of organisational sustainability, these NPOs need to ensure that their income meets their expenditure needs over the long run, to allow continuous value creation and to pursue their mission. An organisation’s business model can be visualised through a business model framework (BMF), which have been illustrated to be useful tools for organisations to test new business models, plan and coordinate activities, and to communicate how an organisations business model works to stakeholders. The use of BMFs by NPOs may be useful for similar purposes. However, a key challenge for NPOs and their management is adapting for-profit tools to be more applicable to the NPO environment. Whilst there has been some progress within the literature on adapting these for-profit business model tools to NPOs, this area of research is relatively underrepresented in the literature. The single case study method, exploratory in nature, following a deductive approach with a theoretical framework was used to evaluate the NPO Business model framework for NPOs with multiple income streams (Sanderse, 2014) appropriateness for the Centre for Biological Control (CBC), a mission-driven research organisation located within Rhodes University. The study made use of an interpretivist paradigm through the lens of resource-based theory. The contextual environment of the CBC was similar to other NPOs in that their organisational sustainability was at risk due to uncertainty about the availability of long-term funding. The CBC is actively diversifying their income streams by establishing new partnerships, which increase the capacity and resource base of the organisation to improve its flexibility in meeting current and potential funders’ needs. The NPO Business model framework for NPOs with multiple income streams was found to be a suitable BMF to visualise the holistic operations of the CBC. However, the role of governance-related matters being represented in this BMF was found to be lacking. An amended framework including governance as part of the Business model framework for NPOs with multiple income streams was developed. This improved the BMF, by allowing for further contextual insight into the CBCs business model as governance played a major role in the key activities and income-generating strategies they participate in. The role a BMF has in assisting an organisation with resource management activities was also explored. A suitable BMF, which allows for a holistic and explicit display of an organisation’s business model, would assist in determining how resources could be better managed or orchestrated to pursue different potential income-generating strategies or improve the efficiency of how resources are used in the current business model. This study contributed to business model theory by further testing the Business model framework for NPOs with multiple income streams as a tool to visualise an NPOs business model and identifying that once the governance block was added, this BMF became more suitable within the CBCs context. A minor contribution to resource based theory was the exploration of the potential roles BMFs play in resource management, which should be further investigated in line with additional research questions proposed. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
- Authors: Thackeray, Sean Robin
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Nonprofit organizations South Africa Makhanda , Business model , Sustainable development South Africa Makhanda , Resource-based view , Social responsibility of business South Africa Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419123 , vital:71618
- Description: Non-profit organisations (NPOs) contribute to our society by addressing needs through value-creation activities which are normally not addressed by normal for-profit organisations. These NPOs generate their income through donations, fundraising and market activities such as the sale of products or services. However, in the pursuit of organisational sustainability, these NPOs need to ensure that their income meets their expenditure needs over the long run, to allow continuous value creation and to pursue their mission. An organisation’s business model can be visualised through a business model framework (BMF), which have been illustrated to be useful tools for organisations to test new business models, plan and coordinate activities, and to communicate how an organisations business model works to stakeholders. The use of BMFs by NPOs may be useful for similar purposes. However, a key challenge for NPOs and their management is adapting for-profit tools to be more applicable to the NPO environment. Whilst there has been some progress within the literature on adapting these for-profit business model tools to NPOs, this area of research is relatively underrepresented in the literature. The single case study method, exploratory in nature, following a deductive approach with a theoretical framework was used to evaluate the NPO Business model framework for NPOs with multiple income streams (Sanderse, 2014) appropriateness for the Centre for Biological Control (CBC), a mission-driven research organisation located within Rhodes University. The study made use of an interpretivist paradigm through the lens of resource-based theory. The contextual environment of the CBC was similar to other NPOs in that their organisational sustainability was at risk due to uncertainty about the availability of long-term funding. The CBC is actively diversifying their income streams by establishing new partnerships, which increase the capacity and resource base of the organisation to improve its flexibility in meeting current and potential funders’ needs. The NPO Business model framework for NPOs with multiple income streams was found to be a suitable BMF to visualise the holistic operations of the CBC. However, the role of governance-related matters being represented in this BMF was found to be lacking. An amended framework including governance as part of the Business model framework for NPOs with multiple income streams was developed. This improved the BMF, by allowing for further contextual insight into the CBCs business model as governance played a major role in the key activities and income-generating strategies they participate in. The role a BMF has in assisting an organisation with resource management activities was also explored. A suitable BMF, which allows for a holistic and explicit display of an organisation’s business model, would assist in determining how resources could be better managed or orchestrated to pursue different potential income-generating strategies or improve the efficiency of how resources are used in the current business model. This study contributed to business model theory by further testing the Business model framework for NPOs with multiple income streams as a tool to visualise an NPOs business model and identifying that once the governance block was added, this BMF became more suitable within the CBCs context. A minor contribution to resource based theory was the exploration of the potential roles BMFs play in resource management, which should be further investigated in line with additional research questions proposed. , Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Business School, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
A business process model for blockchain-based South African real estate transactions
- Authors: Tilbury, Jack Laurie
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Blockchains (Databases) , Conveyancing -- Technological innovations , Real estate business -- Data processing , Real estate business -- South Africa -- Technological innovations
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148380 , vital:38734
- Description: The real estate transaction process has been described as inefficient and technologically outdated due to numerous stakeholders and predominantly paper-based operations. Despite the apparent bottlenecks in the current process, the implementation of new technology into the real estate sector has lagged. Several attempts have been made to modernise and digitise the business process but committed integration of assisting technology has lacked attention. This study examined the applicability and potential integration of blockchain technology into the business process of South African real estate transactions. Blockchain’s novelty means that research in this space, especially within South Africa, is limited. Of the research that has been conducted, no models of the business processes for South African or blockchain-based real estate transactions have been constructed. This study provides two business process models, illustrating the two different processes. The main contribution of this paper was an integrated business process model, illustrating how the various processes and stakeholder interactions for South African blockchain-based real estate transactions are conducted on one transaction platform, common to all participating stakeholders. This platform was named the South African Blockchain Land Exchange System (SABLES), which manages and facilitates these transactions in their entirety from start to finish. This model depicts an enhanced business process that provides increased security, transparency, and speed. These benefits will be realised by those who register, adopt, and transact on the platform. Through in-depth interviews, the integrated business process model was assessed. The findings produced a final and combined thematic map, representing the main themes of the analysed interview data, namely blockchain implementation strategies, business process applicability, information technology assimilation, current transaction context, and PropTech 3.0 success factors. The discussion revealed that the current transaction process lacks technological innovation, which increases pressure on the conveyancing role. It was also revealed that there is not only a need within the industry, but a desire, for newer technologies to assist the transaction process. In order to streamline and improve efficiency, business processes should leverage digital records and data, and strive for a solution beyond digitisation, achieving digitalisation. Digitalisation recognises digital documents as official and legal documents as opposed to simply being digital back-ups. This, coupled with the business process models, represent theoretical contributions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Tilbury, Jack Laurie
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Blockchains (Databases) , Conveyancing -- Technological innovations , Real estate business -- Data processing , Real estate business -- South Africa -- Technological innovations
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148380 , vital:38734
- Description: The real estate transaction process has been described as inefficient and technologically outdated due to numerous stakeholders and predominantly paper-based operations. Despite the apparent bottlenecks in the current process, the implementation of new technology into the real estate sector has lagged. Several attempts have been made to modernise and digitise the business process but committed integration of assisting technology has lacked attention. This study examined the applicability and potential integration of blockchain technology into the business process of South African real estate transactions. Blockchain’s novelty means that research in this space, especially within South Africa, is limited. Of the research that has been conducted, no models of the business processes for South African or blockchain-based real estate transactions have been constructed. This study provides two business process models, illustrating the two different processes. The main contribution of this paper was an integrated business process model, illustrating how the various processes and stakeholder interactions for South African blockchain-based real estate transactions are conducted on one transaction platform, common to all participating stakeholders. This platform was named the South African Blockchain Land Exchange System (SABLES), which manages and facilitates these transactions in their entirety from start to finish. This model depicts an enhanced business process that provides increased security, transparency, and speed. These benefits will be realised by those who register, adopt, and transact on the platform. Through in-depth interviews, the integrated business process model was assessed. The findings produced a final and combined thematic map, representing the main themes of the analysed interview data, namely blockchain implementation strategies, business process applicability, information technology assimilation, current transaction context, and PropTech 3.0 success factors. The discussion revealed that the current transaction process lacks technological innovation, which increases pressure on the conveyancing role. It was also revealed that there is not only a need within the industry, but a desire, for newer technologies to assist the transaction process. In order to streamline and improve efficiency, business processes should leverage digital records and data, and strive for a solution beyond digitisation, achieving digitalisation. Digitalisation recognises digital documents as official and legal documents as opposed to simply being digital back-ups. This, coupled with the business process models, represent theoretical contributions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A case study of emergent environmental pedagogical content knowledge in a Fundisa for Change teacher professional development course
- Authors: Brundrit, Susan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Career development -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of --South Africa , Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Fundisa for Change
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62850 , vital:28301
- Description: This study set out to explore and describe in the form of a qualitative case study, an iteration of a Fundisa for Change teacher professional development programme, in this case the Teaching Life & Living short course presented to seventeen teachers as part of their Advanced Certificate in Teaching (ACT) Senior Phase Natural Sciences, at the University of Cape Town. The focus of the research was on describing how the development of teacher environmental pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was supported and constructed in the course. The Consensus Model of Teacher Professional Knowledge and Skill, an outcome of the 2012 PCK Summit, was used to define the concept of PCK and also contributed the concept of amplifiers and filters as processes that mediate the development of teacher PCK. The study drew on Borko’s (2004) model of a professional development system, using the elements of course, teachers, facilitators and context as an analytical framework. Data generated included a teacher contextual profile questionnaire, audio-recordings of group work, course outputs and reflection and evaluation forms. Data analysis had two phases: the first phase concentrated on the development of analytic memos based on particular data sources whereas the second phase worked across data sources to present the evidence relating to each of the professional development system elements. The study found that teachers were supported in the development of their environmental PCK by the collaborative learning opportunities afforded by the course. Emergent PCK was organised according to five components: assessment knowledge; pedagogical knowledge; content knowledge; knowledge of learners; and, curricular knowledge. Emergent teacher learning ranged in specificity from general, to subject-specific, to domain-specific, and lastly to topic-specific knowledge. Teacher beliefs and orientations, prior knowledge and contexts brought into the professional development system were described as amplifiers and filters to teacher learning of PCK. In particular there were several contextual factors that emerged as themes from the data that had potentially filtering effects. Recommendations included that facilitators create an atmosphere conducive to collaborative learning, that evidence of learner conceptual understanding be examined during the course, that teachers be exposed to in-depth examples of canonical PCK and that more modelling of formative assessment strategies are presented.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Brundrit, Susan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Career development -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of --South Africa , Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Fundisa for Change
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62850 , vital:28301
- Description: This study set out to explore and describe in the form of a qualitative case study, an iteration of a Fundisa for Change teacher professional development programme, in this case the Teaching Life & Living short course presented to seventeen teachers as part of their Advanced Certificate in Teaching (ACT) Senior Phase Natural Sciences, at the University of Cape Town. The focus of the research was on describing how the development of teacher environmental pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was supported and constructed in the course. The Consensus Model of Teacher Professional Knowledge and Skill, an outcome of the 2012 PCK Summit, was used to define the concept of PCK and also contributed the concept of amplifiers and filters as processes that mediate the development of teacher PCK. The study drew on Borko’s (2004) model of a professional development system, using the elements of course, teachers, facilitators and context as an analytical framework. Data generated included a teacher contextual profile questionnaire, audio-recordings of group work, course outputs and reflection and evaluation forms. Data analysis had two phases: the first phase concentrated on the development of analytic memos based on particular data sources whereas the second phase worked across data sources to present the evidence relating to each of the professional development system elements. The study found that teachers were supported in the development of their environmental PCK by the collaborative learning opportunities afforded by the course. Emergent PCK was organised according to five components: assessment knowledge; pedagogical knowledge; content knowledge; knowledge of learners; and, curricular knowledge. Emergent teacher learning ranged in specificity from general, to subject-specific, to domain-specific, and lastly to topic-specific knowledge. Teacher beliefs and orientations, prior knowledge and contexts brought into the professional development system were described as amplifiers and filters to teacher learning of PCK. In particular there were several contextual factors that emerged as themes from the data that had potentially filtering effects. Recommendations included that facilitators create an atmosphere conducive to collaborative learning, that evidence of learner conceptual understanding be examined during the course, that teachers be exposed to in-depth examples of canonical PCK and that more modelling of formative assessment strategies are presented.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018