Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37948

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End date: 2009

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    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.
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    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.