Faculty of Humanities (ETDs)

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Translating terms of affection and abuse from German to English with special reference to animal metaphors
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1987) Conze, Ingola; Taylor, Oakshott
Man-The-Shaman is it the Whole Story? A Feminist Perspective on the San Rock Art of Southern Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1995-06) Stevenson, Judith S.
Ethnographic accounts show that both shamanic and gender rituals play a critical role in San culture. Although 30% of the women and 50% of the men become shamans, the literature investigating San rock art frequently defines 'Man-the-Shaman' and minimizes the feasibility of female depictions of this important social role. Prior rock art research has tended to separate shamanic and gender processes to the impoverishment of both. This dissertation investigates the symbolic connections between these two social spheres, and argues that they are inseparable. Through this examination of gender and shamanic roles in San society this dissertation argues that metaphors reflect these two social spheres. It also argues that metaphors are a way of life which are expressed both in reality and non-reality. With these points in mind, it investigates the role of men and women as related to San rock art through social roles.
Barriers to protection: gender-related persecution and asylum in South Africa
(2009-10-12T12:24:42Z) Middleton, Julie
In 1998, South Africa became the first country to explicitly state within its refugee law that gender related persecution is a binding basis for asylum, further distinguishing South Africa as a state with outstanding legal commitments to gender equality. Creating further visibility within the law, however, is only one step in the process. How the law is implemented determines its real worth and effectiveness. This study assesses the manner in which asylum decisions are made, particularly in cases of gendered harm, questioning readily accepted and essentialised notions of women and gender. It looks at how the South African asylum system defines legitimate refugees, and the interplay of fluid interpretations of gender, culture, violence and the political within these constructions. Through interviews with officials and asylum seekers, the study identifies trends in the refugee system, and interrogates the reliance on narrow understandings of the political and personal, as well as the nature of conflict and culture.
Exposure to violent crime, fear of crime, and traumatic stress symptomatology.
(2011-04-13) Engelbrecht, Sarah-Kate
The central aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between exposure to violent crime, traumatic stress symptomatology, and fear of crime. Secondary areas of interest included the effect of the frequency of exposure to violent crime on traumatic stress symptomatology and fear of crime, as well as sex differences in the three main variables of study. In order to explore these aims, a quantitative cross-sectional research design was used. Measures included a self-developed exposure measure, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and a fear of crime measure used in a previous South African study. The sample was comprised of 216 first-year university students at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlations, t-tests, and analysis of variance (one-way and two-way) and post-hoc t-tests. The results of the research indicated high levels of exposure to violent crime (including direct and indirect exposure). Almost half the sample (47%) reported exposure to violent crime in the preceding 12 months. Furthermore, over half the sample (58%) reported direct exposure to non-crime trauma in the preceding 12 months, with only about one-quarter of the sample (20%) reporting no exposure to any kind of trauma in the preceding 12 months. It was thus unsurprising that levels of traumatic stress symptomatology were generally in the moderate range and at least 20% of the total sample reported traumatic stress symptomatology of clinical concern. Fear of crime was found to be rather pervasive in the sample. Findings showed support for the relationships between exposure to violent crime and traumatic stress symptomatology, exposure to violent crime and fear of crime, and fear of crime and traumatic stress symptomatology. Significant differences were found between groups based on level and type of exposure and significant correlations were found between the perceived severity of exposure to violent crime on the one hand, and traumatic stress symptomatology and fear of crime on the other hand. Frequency of exposure to violent crime was found to be significantly related to fear of crime but not to traumatic stress symptomatology. Female subjects reported significantly higher perceived severity of exposure to violent crime, hyperarousal related symptoms and fear of crime. The implications of the findings are explored.
An analysis of coverage of gender-based violence, sourcing patterns and representation of victims in Sowetan, January-March 2008
(2014-10-22) Ndlovu, Sikhonzile
Despite its pervasiveness, gender-based violence is one of the least talked about violations of women’s rights as most of it takes place within the private domain and is never reported (Gender Links 2002). Gender-based violence is mostly common at family and community level and mostly affects women (Omarjee, 2006). Family attitudes and pressures ensure that this remains hidden from the outside world (IPS, 2009). People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA South Africa) estimates that only one in nine gender-based violence incidences are reported. Violence against women continues partly because women do not seem to acknowledge violence perpetrated against them and are unlikely to seek help when it occurs (Rasool, 2002). The Noord taxi rank ‘miniskirt’ incident, as it came to be known, exposed the sad realities of gender-based violence in contemporary South Africa. In February 2008, a 25 year old woman was sexually harassed for wearing a miniskirt at the Noord Taxi Rank. This incident, described by Nyar (2008) as degrading and shocking, is part of the fabric of South African life. The way that media represents gender-based violence has a significant role to play in curbing this social ill. Sadly, media often emphasise the need for women to be extra vigilant when moving around at night. This in essence is saying that women should take responsibility for the fact that they may be attacked at any time (Gqola, 1997). This scrutiny is also reflected in the way that media have also questioned the morals of victims of gender-based violence especially rape (Carter and Weaver, 2003). This study analysed Sowetan’s daily media output for the months of January to March 2008 to establish patterns in coverage of gender-based violence, sourcing and representation of victims. Key words Gender, gender-based violence, victims, feminist theory, patriarchy, power, media, representation, sourcing
Witchcraft management in the early twentieth century Transvaal
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016) Pearson, Joel David; Delius, Peter; Falkof, Nicky
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, colonial governments across Africa, including South Africa, promulgated laws which aimed to prohibit the accusation of witchcraft, methods for the detection of witches and witch trials. However, while administrators saw merely superstition in witchcraft beliefs, “repugnant to the standards of civilisation”, many Africans saw an integral element of the social and spiritual order. The policing of witchcraft beliefs became a thorn in the side of colonial rule. This article brings to light some of the deeper historical complexities in policing witchcraft by looking at the application of witchcraft law in the early twentieth century ‐ a neglected period in witchcraft scholarship. Firstly, it examines some prominent discursive constructions of the concepts of “witchcraft” and the “witch doctor” during the early twentieth century, two terms which feature centrally in colonial witchcraft legislation. It argues that these terms were shrouded in a great deal of misconception and, at times, fear. Secondly, it examines instances in which the Transvaal Witchcraft Ordinance No. 26 of 1904 was applied at the Supreme Court level, demonstrating that it was employed in a wide variety of instances which often shared only a tenuous link to poorly defined notions of “the supernatural”. Nevertheless, diviners seem to have been especially prejudiced in the implementation of the law. Finally, archival correspondence derived from Native Affairs Department files dealing with witchcraft are examined to reveal that the job of policing witchcraft was rather more uncertain and ad hoc at the grassroots level than official “civilising” rhetoric may have suggested. While in principle there was no compromising with beliefs in witchcraft, in practice, such beliefs had to be carefully managed by local officials, who were given (often uncomfortably) wide powers of discretion in deciding when and how to employ the force of the law.
Social Constructions of Criminal Victimisation and Traumatic Stress Responses in Relation to Male Victims and Gender
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017) Gqweta, Ntokozo; Eagle, Gillian
Literature findings suggest that there are differences in male and female trauma exposure patterns (Norris & Slone, 2013). With this background in mind the aim of the study was to analyse the kinds of discursive patterns and themes that are prominent in conversing about male and female victims of crime related trauma and about their responses to being traumatised in this way. This aim was achieved through exploring the contributions of gender related attributions to constructions of victims of crime by university students in response to scenarios presented to them. The element of particular interest in this study was the gendering of victimisation and trauma related responses, focusing especially on male victims. The participants were first year psychology students and data was collected using focus groups in which participants were asked to comment on a vignette describing a fellow student’s victimisation by mugging and their subsequent trauma related responses. Four focus groups were conducted in two of which the victim was portrayed as female and in two of which as male. The discussions from the four groups were transcribed and subject to a thematic analysis and discursive reading of the material focusing particularly on gender related material. Seven core themes emerged which were referred to as: 1) Victim blame, 2) Legitimacy of trauma reactions; 3) Desensitisation, minimising of the nature of the event and related assessment of the responses 4) Victimisation as an identity position, 5) Evaluation of the role of social support and help-seeking, 6) Gender related constructions of victimisation and traumatisation, and 7) Evidence for contestation of gender stereotypes. The participants tended to construct both the male and female victim’s traumatic experience as resulting from irresponsibility, naivety and ignorance. Furthermore, the victim’s traumatic reactions were typed as either normal or abnormal, with intense and more enduring traumatic reactions being considered abnormal and dispositional. The perception of violence and crime as ubiquitous and uncontrollable within the South African context contributed to an underplaying of the significance of the victim’s experiences. There was some indication that perceptions of the victim’s identification with the victim role contributed to an emphasis on the need for self-reliance, control and circumscribed help-seeking in relation to peers. Although there was a degree of difference in response to the gender of the hypothetical victim these differences were less marked than might have been anticipated. While rather critical evaluations of trauma responses were made in respect of both male and female victims, male victims received more censorial responses in general. It was evident that male victims of crime were viewed and constructed somewhat differently from their female counterparts and that reference to patriarchy, gender socialisation, and stereotypic masculinity appeared to play a critical role in the construction of male victims. These findings have implications for the provision of support, care, sympathy and understanding of crime and violence victims generally, and male victims in particular. .
Minds, objects, and persons – narratives of perpetrators of violent crime
(2017) Dias, Angelo Ridge
Although research on violence has gained momentum over the last 3 decades, very little work on situational factors involved in violent enactments has been undertaken in South Africa. As a means to address this limitation, the aim of this project was to better understand the phenomenology of violence. Embedded in a psychosocial approach, the study subjected data collected through three staggered semi-structured interviews with nineteen incarcerated perpetrators of violent crime to a twostage secondary data analysis using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The first phase, aimed to provide a broad general phenomenological reading of these fifty-seven interviews. Thereafter, a more strategic and theory driven analysis was performed, building on the broader reports of the phenomenology of violence and the perceived situational factors. The evidence suggests that neoliberal policies and ideology may have a significant role in production of violent crime in the South African context, informing not only the behavioural repertoire of its constituency, but, also coming to shape the way in which perpetrators make meaning of their lifeworld and perpetration of violent crime. The analysis also found that impairments in mentalization appeared to play a role as a situational determinant in violent enactments, and interestingly it appeared to be influenced by a number of other relevant situational factors (e.g. the presence and use of illicit substances, peer and social presence and pressure, indicators of a possible threat to their wellbeing, the presence of gangsters, the presence of indicators of conspicuous consumption, as well as, indicators of the presence of moral disengagement). As such, this study provides strong support for further research aimed at understanding the ways in which violence comes to be produced by the structural processes of neoliberalism, it’s influence on the subjectivity of individuals in neoliberalized contexts, and its arguably corrosive effect on marginalized communities by way of its divestment, as well as, its arguably negative sociocultural impact. The project’s overall contribution to psychosocial approaches to violence lies in its demonstration of the value of bridging theories that span work on moral disengagement, conspicuous consumption, neoliberalism, mentalization theory, phenomenology, and violence.
Exploring childhood, criminality and power in South African juvenile murderers' constructions of their offences
(2018) Mostert, Alexa Ellen
In instances of child-perpetrated crime or violence, normative constructions of the child contradict those of the criminal, creating an ambiguous discursive landscape in which juvenile-offenders have to situate themselves. The construct of the child is premised on the assumption of innocence, naivety and purity which are incompatible with aggressive constructions of perpetrators. The aim of this research was thus to explore juvenile-offenders’ use of discourses in producing or resisting the subject-position of a child-offender and in navigating the discursive conflict within this subject-position. Accordingly, this study targeted incarcerated South African juvenile-offenders who have been charged with murder. Participants in this study were aged between 18 and 21, and were all under the age of 19 at the time of the offence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 incarcerated juvenile-offenders across several juvenile correctional facilities in South Africa. Thereafter the transcripts of these interviews were subjected to a Faircloughian (1989-1995) critical discourse analysis to portray how participants drew on conditions of childhood, vulnerability and victimisation to challenge their belonging to the category of ‘criminal’. Specifically, participants in this study utilised gendered discourse and normative constructions of crime, criminality and victimhood to restrict the category of ‘criminal’ being imposed upon them by the material condition of their incarcerations. In this way, the child as violent is made possible, while the child as criminal, particularly the child as a possible murderer, is resisted and marginalised. These findings challenge normative constructions of both childhood and violence, and consequently provide counter-knowledge for how we understand violence and criminality in contemporary theory and practice.
The motive of a South African male muti murder offender: a case study
(2018) Thenga, Khalirendwe
Traditional healers in South Africa are easily accessible to individuals who require their services. Traditionally, traditional healers would help their clients either by giving them advice or by giving them muti made from plants and/ or animal body parts. However, some traditional healers have adopted the practice of using human body parts in muti. Traditional healers who practice muti murder believe that different human body parts have different “powers”. The traditional healer who practices muti murder will often appoint someone to carry out the murder thus they are not directly involved in the murder. There are various motives for committing murder and the current study utilised a single case study design to investigate the motives of Black South African males who commit muti murder. Due to the sensitivity of the topic, the researcher was able to recruit one participant. The participant was interviewed by the researcher in Northern Sotho. The researcher recorded and transcribed the interview. The researcher utilised thematic analysis to analyse the data. The current study identified two motives for committing muti murder, “cultural beliefs” and “financial gain”. Future studies should recruit more participants and delve into the motive, financial gain.
Media coverage of South Africa reserve bank monetary policy commitee work: a case study of CNBC Africa 2014-2017
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2019) Segawa, Arnold
This thesis examines how the media, particularly CNBC Africa covers the work of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). The thesis takes a two-pronged approach to explore this with one arm inspecting the sociological and psychological aspects of engaging guests in the CNBC Africa Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) panel discussions and the other, looking at what CNBC Africa holds salient when covering the MPC panel discussions. By examining MPC panel discussion data from 2014 to 2017, the thesis contrasts both quantitative and qualitative methods to arrive at a quantitative dataset that shows what CNBC Africa holds salient during their coverage posing questions on whether this aligns with the SARB mandate. On the other hand, the thesis explores the sociological and psychological aspects of news and debate production, particularly how MPC panelists for the special broadcast are selected. The thesis aims to contribute to the scarce literature on monetary policy communication and media engagement as the adoption of inflation targeting has fast-fostered transparency in central banks in the past three decades. The thesis applies theories of Agenda Setting by McCombs and Shaw (1972) to examine the salient aspects of the CNBC Africa MPC panel discussion. In addition, it explores Tversky and Kahneman’s (1992) revolutionary work on dual process theory to inspect the psychological aspects of inviting panelists. The thesis finds that during the CNBC Africa MPC discussion, ‘interest rates’ as a key word in context dominates the conversation over and above any other topic and a closer examination of the data reveals a strong frequency of interest rates in a ‘global context’ further asserting South Africa’s exposure to global headwinds and external shocks. Furthermore, this shows a deviation between SARB’s mandate and CNBC Africa’s MPC panel discussions in regards to salience. This is because SARB pushes to achieve and maintain price stability in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth in South Africa through achieving price stability by setting an inflation target that serves as a yardstick against which price stability is measured. With this mandate, price stability and, therefore, inflation are the core focus of the SARB with interest rates being a mere tool to achieve price stability. The deviation of CNBC Africa’s and SARB’s frames is further illustrated in the data as ‘interest rates’ dominate the conversation during the CNBC Africa MPC panel discussion at the expense of ‘inflation.’ The thesis submits that in order to merge the SARB’s and CNBC Africa’s frames, the latter need cover the MPC announcement in a three-pronged approach that encloses SARB’s economic outlook with emphasis on the forward-looking stance, path of future policy rates and cover policy decisions in their entirety
‘They stood their ground!’ – Professional Gangsters in South African Indian Society, 1940 - 1970
(2019) Heatlie, Damon; Menon, Dilip; Bloore, Peter; Kros, Cynthia
This thesis is one part of a Creative PhD that investigates the emergence of a new breed of South African Indian gangsters in Durban and Johannesburg in the early apartheid period. The second part, existing as a separate creative text, is a screenplay for a feature film loosely based on dynamics and events present in the Durban Indian underworld of the 1950s. In the thesis I argue that while prominent ‘professional’ Indian gangsters were similar to other ‘non-white’ gangsters in certain respects (their self-fashioning in relation to gangster films, for one), these ‘gentlemen gangsters’ were different in terms of their high level of social and economic integration into Indian society. Focusing on the Crimson League in Durban and Sherief Khan’s gang in Johannesburg, this research comprises reconstructions from (and analysis of) interviews and written sources. It shows how these hustlers positioned themselves as protectors of the Indian community, but also cultivated reputations as punishers, capable of brutal violence if opposed. In Chapter 1, I explore the world of changing South African Indian identity in the middle decades of the twentieth century, and the mobilisation of an ‘Indian’ identity by disparate groups to advance collective interests. In Chapter 2, I look at how subjugated Indian masculinity, a sense of vulnerable ‘territory’, and the rise of street gangs intersected in ritualised games of soccer and gang fights. Chapter 3 traces the rise of Durban’s dominant gang in the early apartheid period, the Crimson League, a vigilante outfit that turned to illicit activities and thuggery. Chapter 4 looks at some of the adversaries that the League engaged and ultimately defeated, including the Salots and the Michael John Gang – I dissect the John murder trial to show how the Crimson League seemingly bent the law to their will. In Chapter 5, I move on to a description of Sherief Khan’s rise to power over rival Old Man Kajee in the Indian areas of Johannesburg in the 1940s and early1950s, culminating in an analysis of his gang’s various ‘business’ activities. Chapter 6 finds Khan and company back on the streets in the 1960s - and examines a decisive conflict with contenders, the ‘Malay Mob’, that re- established Khan’s reputation as ‘South African king of the underworld’. In Chapter 7, I look at how mid-century Hollywood gangster films resonated with Indian gangsters, and how a convoluted conversation between Drum magazine, Hollywood films and Indian gangsters developed. Chapter 8 concludes the analysis with considering the thriving South African Indian cinema scene of this period, and how the cinemas functioned as multifaceted fantasy spaces for both gangsters and ordinary Indians.
'Credible' child perpetrators: A critical discourse analysis of South African juvenile murderers
(2019) Masuku, Kwanele
Constructions of violence constrain women and children to victims and men to perpetrators, and imply that children are, at all times pure, innocent and, vulnerable. As such, child perpetrated crimes contradict these normative constructions, thus rendering child perpetrators inconceivable. The aim of this research was thus to identify resistance discourse that oppose these normative constructions of violence. This was achieved by interviewing incarcerated juvenile-offenders from juvenile correctional centres in South Africa. After the interviews were transcribed, the transcripts were subjected to Parker’s (1992, 2004) critical discourse analysis. The findings illustrate how normative constructions of childhood and violence render child perpetrators inconceivable. Additionally, the analysis surfaced resistance discourse which challenge normative constructions of childhood and violence, and provide counter-knowledge on violence and crime within South Africa.
Using mixed-method approaches to provide new insights into media coverage of femicide
(2019) Brodie, Nechama R.
South Africa has a femicide rate that is six times the world average. Over 2,500 women aged 14 years or older are murdered every year, the majority of these women killed by an intimate partner. Despite the prevalence of femicide, less than 20% of these murders are ever reported in South African news media. Studies on news-media coverage of femicide reveal a subjective and obscure process of media selection and exclusion, which contribute to an archive of crime reporting that is not reflective of actual crime rates and which actively distort the nature and frequency of certain types of crime. This influences public perceptions and fear of violent crime, including notions of who is a suspect and who is most at risk. This study uses mixed-method approaches to document and analyse the content and extent of commercial news media coverage of femicides that took place in South Africa during the 2012/2013 crime reporting year, through an original media database listing 408 femicide victims associated with 5,778 press articles. Victim and incident information is compared with epidemiological and statistical data, including mortuary-based studies and police crime statistics. Media data is explored through various media effects models, including a mixedmethods framing analysis, and is also examined by title, and by language. These analyses reveal how media constructs and depicts particular notions of gender, violence, race, and crime in South Africa.
Balancing the roles of Employee Aad Primary Child Caregiver: Experiences of Single Mothers formally Employed in Otjiwarongo, Namibia
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020) Markus, Julia Ndeyapewa
The number of single mothers entering the workforce is an ever-increasing trend throughout the world, including countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Namibia. Usually, single mothers face many challenges fulfilling the roles of employee and primary caregiver simultaneously. Although the challenges experienced by employed, single mothers have been well researched in developed Western and European countries, there is a gap of knowledge regarding how formally employed, single mothers in sub-Saharan Africa, including Namibia, experience trying to balance the responsibilities of employee and primary caregiver of their children. Occupational social workers can play a meaningful role in supporting employees in the workplace, including employed, single mothers who are facing caregiving challenges that are negatively impacting on their work responsibilities. The main aim of this research was thus to explore how employed single mothers in Namibia experience trying to balance the roles of primary caregiver and employee, so that key role players within the workplace, especially occupational social workers, can gain more insight into how these challenges can best be addressed. To realise this aim, a qualitative research approach was adopted using the phenomenological research design. Fifteen employed mothers in Otjiwarongo, a small town of about 28 000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa region, were purposively selected as the research sample. Data were gathered by conducting individual interviews with the participants. The research tool was pre-tested with an employed single mother who met the sample selection criteria. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse data. The main findings based on data analysis were that fulfilling the role of mother is difficult when facing work pressure and working long hours. Stress experienced in the work environment is often carried over to the home environment, and vice versa. Focus on work activities can also be undermined when experiencing concerns about the well-being of their children, especially if they are young. Women try to balance their simultaneous roles by employing reliable caregivers to take on the responsibility of caregiving when they are at work. Based on research findings, it is recommended that occupational social workers work towards implementing policy and practice within the work environment that facilitates personal contact between mother and child.
Rendering services to people with substance use disorders: perceptions of Social Workers in Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga Province
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020) Singwane, Thembinkosi Peter
Substance use disorders are a global challenge with detrimental effects on health, wealth and security of nations. Historically social workers have been and continue to be among the primary service providers to individuals who experience Substance Use Disorders (hereafter referred as SUDs). Although substance use disorders are a prevailing treatment issue, addiction remains under-identified as a primary practice area for clinical social workers. Since social workers play a crucial role in the identification and treatment of people with substance use disorders, their perceptions of these patients have consequences on the nature and quality of services delivered to them. The researcher’s interest in the study was informed by the ever-escalating increase of people with SUDs in South Africa. Over the past five years, according to statistics as reported by the South Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use, the Ehlanzeni District Municipality in Mpumalanga Province has seen an extensive spread of SUDs. For this reason, this study adopted the qualitative approach by employing the multiple case study design to execute this research. The purpose of the study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. The population consisted of social workers who specialize (or work) on substance/ addiction management from two Non-Governmental Organizations (hereafter referred as NGOs) namely; South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA) Lowveld and National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of offenders (NICRO). The study also included social workers (practicing in the substance/ addiction management) from the Department of Social Development (hereafter referred as DSD) who work with SUDs, 4 (four) social workers in the focus group from DSD. Since Social workers from SANCA (6) and NICRO (7) were numerical minority, they were included in two separate focus group respectively. The study made use of focus group discussions for both NGOs and the DSD after participants (Only from Ehlanzeni district) have been identified through the purposive sampling technique. The researcher used thematic analysis for analyzing data.
Writing history through the hammer: an analysis of knowledge production through the South African auction houses
(2021) Maharaj, Arisha
This research will be examining the South African fine art auction houses, which make up the local secondary art market. There is currently very limited research on the local secondary market and the existing studies are largely done from a quantitative perspective on the economic value of art. This has created a knowledge gap for a qualitative study. The aim of this research is to locate the position of the art historical knowledge produced through the art auctions and motivate the placement of this historical knowledge in the larger landscape, as it comes from the bias perspective of a business. Through secondary research and an in-depth study into the functions and objectives of the local auction houses, the ways in which art historical knowledge is produced will be determined and its placement in the larger historical landscape will be argued. Drawing on the concepts of discourse, representation, cultural capital and power and knowledge from theorists Stuart Hall and Pierre Bourdieu, this will provide the theoretical framework for the research.
A visual-temporal excavation of Schaapplaats rock shelter: unearthing a trace fossil
(2021) Yorke, Naudia
In this research report, I set out to provide information about Schaapplaats rock shelter through a multi-sensory, ekphrastic approach as set out by the artist William Kentridge1 to guide the process of looking. As such this project presents an experience of space and time compressed within a single landscape. The research foregrounds the different ways of looking and different ways of perceiving the elements in the landscape. Schaapplaats is a farm located in the eastern Free State. A rock shelter at Schaapplaats which I examine contains a number of objects and traces that relate to various moments in time. The site is an event-loaded spatial nexus which I unpack, closely examining each object to expose the complex layering of objects and traces of events over time. My aim in examining the site in this way is to interrogate the variety of elements in the rock shelter to understand the complicated nature of time and the reading of it in objects. My methodology involves the slow process of describing and pulling-apart the objects, fieldwork that is primarily comprised of being in the space, and visually constructing and reconstructing the space and the elements within it – with a particular focus on the trace fossil (a dinosaur footprint) present in the space. The result is a reflective paper that considers meanings that could be drawn from a singular item, in conjunction with a number of other items within a space that is complex in its variety of traces and temporally layered.
Analysing the player's involvement in video game character animation
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Ponde, Rugare; Whitcher, Ray
This dissertation investigates the impact of animation on player interest in an existing video game character. There is high demand and expectation regarding character animation quality, yet understanding and achieving this standard is complex and challenging. The quality of a character’s animation is often derived from its direct appeal to the audience and how its representation informs their impression. However, there is a gap in the literature where there is little on how style representation plays a role in character perception and identification in video games. A practice-led approach was used to understand the relationship between player involvement and the player-character's appeal. The process involved the creation of an animation reel to demonstrate how a popular video game character's acceptance can change based on a player's perception of style in the character's animation. I used Link from the video game Super Smash Brothers Ultimate (Nintendo, 2018). The reel was presented to adults between 18 and 35 to review the animations. Using the process of creative exegesis, the theories and concepts about character appeal, animation design, and player involvement were combined to analyse and critique the contributing factors that inform the perception of the creative work. The results from this study indicate that a change in movement style impacted the perception of Link and the participant's demonstrated interest to play him. This study confirms that style representations are an important design consideration to improve a character’s appeal. This topic may benefit the art and technique of character design and how to improve on it.
The social nature and outcome of the interactions in a non-monetary centred sharing economy: from a social exchange theory perspective
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Radaelli, Stephano
The sharing economy is a collective name for emerging platforms that are bringing strangers together and changing the landscape of consumption. Individuals have been using these sharing economy platforms as an alternative to traditional trade to exchange resources. This study refined to the context of a non-monetary form of the sharing economy, namely Couchsurfing, where the reliance on social relationships were expected to be more prevalent. The social relationships between peers during an exchange offered an opportunity to find applicability and relevancy for social exchange theory. This study aimed to clarify the social nature of the interaction in Couchsurfing and determine the outcomes from these Couchsurfing interactions. Using a phenomenological research design, 19 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted together with an immersive experience as an active participant of the chosen sharing economy platform, Couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is a sharing economy platform that enables travellers to stay with other members for free. The positionality of the researcher was from an insider perspective studying other insiders. The data collected was analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Social exchange theory was supported in finding that the social nature of the interaction in Couchsurfing was reciprocal. The reciprocal exchange was clarified as co-created, continuous and dynamic. Individuals revealed that there was a necessity for a reciprocal response directly from the recipient. The findings confirmed that Couchsurfers had unspoken and explicitly stated expectations of a reciprocal relationship which impacted the continuity of the exchange after the Couchsurfing experience. This study also identified different social benefits that individuals gained from their Couchsurfing interactions. Throughout, these 2 research findings espoused and expanded on previous contributions to the theoretical framework. The presence of generosity during the reciprocal exchange has challenged the theoretical premise that individuals wanted to maximise their gains. Further research into generosity during the reciprocal exchange has been recommended.

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