Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37948
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Item Government Funding and its effects on the Private Sponsorship of Dance organizations in South Africa: The Case of Moving into Dance Mophatong and Vuyani Dance Theatre(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Madyibi, Vuyolwethu; Mavhungu, JohannaThis thesis examines the dynamics between government funding and private sponsorship in South African dance non-profit organizations (NPOs), specifically Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT) and Moving into Dance Mophatong (MIDM). Through a mixed-methods research design, it addresses the research question: "Does government funding crowd-out or crowd-in corporate sponsorships to dance NPOs?" evaluating the framework of crowding-out and crowding-in effects. The study integrates quantitative analysis of funding trends with qualitative insights from organizational leaders and stakeholders, providing a comprehensive view of the financial ecosystem that sustains these dance NPOs. The findings reveal a significant reliance on government funding, marked by substantial fluctuations that underline a precarious dependency for both VDT and MIDM. However, strategic management of these funds and efforts towards funding diversification and corporate engagement suggest a multifaceted interplay between government and private support. This challenges the simplistic binary of crowding effects, indicating instead that under certain strategic conditions, government funding can indeed attract additional private sponsorship. By highlighting the importance of strategic alignment, adaptability, and long-term planning, the thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of funding dynamics in the arts sector. It posits that government support, when strategically leveraged alongside diversified funding efforts, can foster a conducive environment for private sector engagement, thereby enhancing the sustainability and growth of dance NPOs.Item The role of Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programmes on developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs): The case of Sappi Southern Africa in the local communities of Umkomaas in the South Coast of KwaZulu Natal(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Ntuli, Zandile Phindile; Dube, NkosiyaziAfrica. The government has called on corporations to help transform the country through Corporate Social Investment (CSI) to accelerate socioeconomic development. This study focused on CSI as part of a broader corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework. South Africa has seen significant growth in CSI, due in part to the implementation of the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Code of Good Practice, which requires businesses to contribute to the country's reconstruction efforts. As a result, many businesses have adopted social development strategies as part of their core business objectives. The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) economy is considered crucial to achieving some of the objectives for post- apartheid reconstruction and development, such as economic restructuring and alleviation of poverty. Given the slow growth of new job opportunities in large corporations, the developmental support of SMEs is viewed as a vital vehicle for generating employment. Using a qualitative approach, the study explored the role of CSI programmes in developing SMEs, with a focus on Sappi Southern Africa’s Saiccor mill in Umkomaas on the South Coast of KwaZulu Natal (KZN). A case study design was adopted to obtain in-depth information from participants concerning Sappi's CSI programmes. A semi-structured interview schedules was used as a research instrument, with one-on-one individual interviews used as a method of data collection. The study consisted of 12 purposively sampled participants. The findings revealed that the local community of Umkomaas benefited from the CSI programmes. The CSI programmes contributed positively to the development of local SMEs. In addition, the unemployed youth gained skills through the various skills development initiatives to become economically active. To tackle poverty, unemployment and inequality in South Africa, a renewed commitment from the various economic sectors is needed, notably the private sector with the influence and resources.Item Uhambo Lwabo: A Narrative Study of Black Dramatherapists’ Perspectives on the South African Drama Therapy Field(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Shabangu, NobantuThe question of visibility as a representation gap in Drama Therapy underpins this research. Official department records show that approximately 80 percent of the total student cohort between 2014 to 2021 were women and of that percentage less than a third comprised of Black female students. According to Jones (2013), the “drama” part involves theatre, embodiment, and shamanistic qualities of performance, dance, ritual, and metaphor form part of the therapy process. As such, metaphor becomes a language for the exploration and expression of traumas, furthermore its power lies in interpretation for the means of psychoanalysis through psychodrama. Additionally, the practice is informed by classical psychology: the empirical scientific study of human cognition and behaviour. Linking back to metaphor, the research argues that despite the foundational underpinnings of the field, Drama Therapy relies on notions of the person that are still conditional to a universalising and standardized notion of the Human that make the practice of the field alienating. Similarly, Tamale (2020) articulates invisibilising as a present and exploitative by-product of colonialism still active in universities which are founded on coloniality and thus render Black bodies and their intellectual products invisible. Therefore, the research examines how dramatherapy is affected through invisibilisation and as such interrogates its complicity. Consequently, the research takes on an Afro-feminist onto-epistemological response. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with Black women dramatherapists. Chapter 1 outlines the background of research as an outsider to the dramatherapy field and learning of the discipline from dialogues outsides of the institution thus forming my rationale. Chapter 2 is the literature review which reveals the trend of invisibilising Black students within psychology, dramatherapy foundations and the post-colonial conditions of becoming a dramatherapist. Chapter 3 summarises the methodology of narrative, the analysis method, and the role of being an insider- researcher and reflexivity. Chapter 4 presents the narratives and themes that signal to invisibilisation. Chapter 5 provides Black women dramatherapists perspectives in response and resistance to being invisibilised. Chapter 6 is the conclusion which surmises the composite implications of this research. The research demonstrated an enduring practice of invisibilising Black dramatherapy students through the low annual student intake. Secondly, that invisibilising takes place within the master’s year through teaching material and the role of clinical supervision. Lastly, the invisibilisation of Black dramatherapists extends into the profession within professional representative bodies as well as through department cultures.Item Hip hop and Narrative Therapy in Drama Therapy: An Exploration of the ways in which Hip hop in Narrative Form can be used to Address issues of Displacement, Foster Cohesion and Conscientize a Sense of Self in Urban Adolescents(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Dlamini, Sanelisiwe; Busika, NonkululekoThis research explored how Hip hop therapy and narrative therapy within the drama therapy frame can be integrated for the purposes of a psychosocial intervention for adolescents in urban Johannesburg. The research was conducted with adolescents from Organisation X, ranging between the ages of 14-18 years. This research addressed issues of displacement, violence, xenophobia, social cohesion and self-awareness in the intervention. The research methodology used a qualitative approach that is practice-based and arts-based. The design included semi- structured interviews with the four care workers at organisation X, questionnaires and creative focus groups with ten selected adolescents. This was an eight-week intervention to investigate the various ways in which Hip hop and narrative therapy can be used in the drama therapy context to address psychosocial issues affecting the adolescents. The findings of the study reflect that self-esteem of more than half the participants increased during the course of the intervention, they grew a friendlier perception towards outsiders and their sense of belonging improved during the intervention.Item 1,001 Arabian Slights: researching the visual representation of Arab Muslim people and themes through Orientalism in Disney’s Aladdin (1992) and then using this research to develop a progressive retelling of the story(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Albertyn, Za’yaanah; Reid, KirstenThis paper aims to shed light onto the shadows cast by the creation of the animated characters and settings in Aladdin (1992), and questions how these depictions may have shaped perceptions and inadvertently perpetuated harmful stereotypes. By shedding light on these aspects, the paper contributes to a critical evaluation of the broader implications of animated content in shaping societal attitudes and reinforcing cultural stereotypes.Item Crafting Spaces: Exploring the Potential for a Queer(ed) Curatorial Practice through Zines(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Baia, TristanThis research report explores the potential of zines in creating and sustaining a decentralised, affective, and queer(ed) curatorial practice; viewed through a theoretical framework of Trans Care and queer communal action that draws on the writing of Hil Malatino, Harry Josephine Giles, and other queer, trans and feminist scholars. This research report is foregrounded by a discussion on the author’s experiences and discomfort with mainstream South African institutions, specifically relating to a perceived lack of care extended towards artists and curators and an overreliance on mainstream spaces. From there, focusing on the history of zines as small-scale, noncommercial, self-published print works, the research explores how zines have been (and continue to be) used to form communal connections, mobilise anti-institutional action, and disseminate subversive material that ordinarily would not be distributed by mainstream platforms. Additionally, the research report also examines archival examples of pre-1994 South African queer print media to examine historical evidence of how queer individuals have relied on print matter to provide communal support, share information relating to queer healthcare, and engage in activism. Finally, these concepts are actualised through a curatorial engagement in the form of a zine jam, where participants gather to produce zines and engage in the communal action of crafting together. By emphasizing the punk, communal nature of zine production and distribution, the research emphasises artistic and curatorial agency and encourages a movement towards more communal ways of working together to avoid an overreliance on institutional platforms and spaces.Item Exploring the efficacy of an audience-centred approach in establishing culturally sensitive art centres in Tshwane(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mahlangu, Thato; Desando, MarcusNewly established art centres based in cities are probed by cultural policy discourses to engage with the surrounding public audiences through curating relatable art exhibitions that are socially inclusive. An increasing number of visitors at the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria are finding it difficult to interpret and relate to art exhibitions. This explorative case study explores the efficacy of integrating an audience-centred approach in art centres such as the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria. The study determines whether exhibitions curated by this cultural institution are socially and culturally relatable and how they could potentially foster cultural democracy for visiting audiences. The case study employs a purposive sampling method comprising of Javett-UP representatives, art specialists and Javett-UP visitors involved in focus-group interviews and in-depth semi-structured interviews to determine whether the Javett-UP fosters cultural democracy. The research results prove how the relationship between audience engagement, cultural sensitivity and cultural democracy is premised on social and cultural capital. Additional research findings highlight the importance of these capitals in establishing audience perception. Finally, research findings support a stronger engagement with surrounding communities using a culturally sensitive lens that begins with understanding audience needs to create a mutually beneficial value proposition. This research argues that the use of a culturally sensitive lens when engaging with audiences in art centres informs the curation of relatable and engaging exhibitions that foster cultural democracy for audience living in cities.Item Forum Theatre as a Form of Protest: A Practice-Based Investigation(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Chetty, Teakshania; Bhebhe, SibongileThis study examines Forum Theatre's (FT) impact within the Fees Must Fall (FMF) movement in South Africa, highlighting its role in protest and social change. Findings show FT empowers participants, promotes understanding of systemic injustices, and fosters solidarity and innovative strategies for activism. The research advocates for further investigation into FT's effects, collaboration between FT practitioners and social movements, and increased support for FT initiatives. Ultimately, FT is presented as a vital tool for social activism, enabling mobilization, education, and empowerment.Item Genre and Narrative in Adaptation: Romance in Heartstopper from comic to live-action series(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Odura, Twumwaa; Geyser, Hanli; Randle, OluwarotimiThis dissertation examines the impact of romance genre conventions on a comic narrative through utilising Heartstopper by Alice Oseman as an instrumental bound case study. This will be done by utilising the five-step “Transmedial Analysis Framework”, as set out by Bruhn and Schirrmacher in “Transmediation”. Through analysing how the narrative of the source media object, the webcomic Heartstopper, was transmediated and changed into the version in the target source media object, the Heartstopper Netflix show, we can see how various romance genre conventions have shifted and remained consistent. Due to Oseman's strong presence within both versions of Heartstopper, it is easier to understand her contributions. In the second step, we see how the transmedial shifts were done in a way that increases the presence of the side characters within the narrative by utilising Thomas Leitch's adjustment strategies. By contextualising what changes and similarities between both versions of Heartstopper are present due to medium-specific necessity, the larger presence of side characters in the Netflix show can be understood through the necessity of television storytelling. Even with medium-specific changes, we see how those changes work to take advantage of romance conventions, particular teen romance conventions, when expanding on the narrative. Genres are also understood by an audience through a perceived sense of expectations, meaning the ways in which a media object is marketed plays a large role in how it will be understood. As Heartstopper is a queer romance narrative, it is important to take into account how the teen romance tropes reflect on its existence as a queer story and how the Netflix show increases the presence of other side characters that also have queer identities. 6Item How can screen dance be used as a tool to reframe the black female body in South Africa?(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Setzin, Sasha-LeeScreendance can be used to explore and celebrate the diversity and complexity of the Black female body, highlighting the unique experiences and perspectives of Black women in South Africa. Through experimentation with movement, camera angles, and the manipulation of light and sound, Screendance can be used to create a new visual language that reframes the Black female body in a more nuanced and empowering way. This medium can be used as a tool to reframe the Black female body in South Africa by breaking stereotypes, giving agency to Black female dancers and choreographers, and exploring the diversity and complexity of the Black female experience. Screendance allows for greater creative control and representation of the Black female body, offering a platform for self-expression, experimentation, and the exploration of new perspectives. The research seeks to examine the ability to manipulate and reimagine the image of the Black female body, through digital media which can be a powerful tool in challenging dominant cultural narratives and re-centering the experiences and perspectives of Black women. Additionally, it explores how Screendance can bring attention to the embodied experiences of Black women, and the ways in which their bodies have been subject to historical, cultural, and societal oppression. By making the body visible, Screendance can create a space for resistance, healing, and empowerment for Black women.