Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37994
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Item Beneath These Saline Stars(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Wilhelm-Solomon, MatthewA plague of drowning strikes an unnamed lakeside city. Hospitals are flooded with patients – primarily Black youth – who have died on soccer pitches, in their homes, and on the streets. A disgraced and divorced white journalist, now working on the arts pages of his newspaper, named Lüderitz Edward Leveza writes a profile on a performing artist and medical doctor, Isiwa: they are tattooed with black lightning, and walk as if on the point of falling. Isiwa is searching for the childhood song stolen from them when police arrested their mother—an activist against the former dictatorship—as a child. They provide Lüderitz information on deaths at the hospital where they work. Lüderitz’s investigation of the drownings takes him deeper into his past, his documentation of torture during the dictatorship, and his entanglement with Isiwa’s life. Together, Isiwa and Lüderitz see inexplicable visions in the city’s sky: men-of-war pass over his apartment block, a shoal of sardines weaves through the tower blocks, and whales arrive to mourn the dead. Isiwa leads an occupation of the city’s Freedom Square in protest against the deaths, but they are increasingly isolated and then arrested. Lüderitz is removed from his job and is mainly alone, punctured by Isiwa’s absence and left longing for them. During this time, he helps a young journalist called Zé in his investigations into the protests and drownings, which lead to a terrifying outcome. Beneath These Saline Stars is an aesthetic reworking of post-colonial journalistic realism and surrealism. It explores moral complicity with violence, loss and queer desire, rebellion and mourning, and the search for healing in a time of concatenated ecological, public health, and political catastrophes. A reflective essay follows the novel, in the form of crônicas – a Brazilian style of fragmentary essay. These explore diverse themes, both theoretical and personal, related to the context, influences and resonances of the novel: transatlantic literature and music; magical realism; créolité and postcolonial thought; Candomblé and climate change. The juxtaposition of these fragments aims to illuminate the personal, literary and political tides from which Beneath these Saline Stars took form.Item Bridging the Gap: Achieving Professionalization Through Memes(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Greaves, Megan; Parkins-Maliko, Natasha‘Bridging the Gap: Achieving Professionalization through Memes’ focuses on how social media is a useful marketing tool that South African Sign Language interpreters can use to promote the professionalism of interpreting. Up to now, there has been little focus on the ways South African Sign Language interpreters can use social media memes/behaviours to promote and advocate for the mainstream recognition of interpreters. This research bridges that gap by conducting a discourse analysis of the various hashtags South African Sign Language interpreters can employ to promote their personal brands as well as the brands of interpreting agencies. It also looks at the various social media strategies individuals and companies use to reach wider audiences. Although social media is a useful tool to promote professionalism, it does not come without its risks and ethical concerns. These risks are discussed in depth, and it is imperative that interpreters keep these risks in mind when using social media.Item Kwaitoscapes: Reading the historio-graphic narratives in the visual cultures of black youth(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Hlasane, Mphapho Christian; Peterson, BhekizizweThe argument in this thesis is this: The kwaito music video can be an audiovisual disruptor that recasts and sometimes challenges sociopolitical norms. This study examines the optic narratives in kwaito’s visual culture – with a special focus on the music video. The kwaito music video contributes scantly to scholarship about the music video genre on the African continent. As such, in addition to the exploration of kwaito’s aesthetics, this study deepens ‘our’ reading of the kwaito music video’s narration of notions of gender, race and nationalism as they intersect with technological, economic and political imperatives (Emoresele 2022). This study encompasses two interrelated parts: the production two essayistic videos, and a reflective dissertation to advocate and advance what is understood as artistic research from the ‘Global South’. This interdiscursive study is interested in the manner in which kwaito music video grammar is shot through a historio-graphic lens and modality, that requires a reading of kwaito visual culture within a broader constellation of trans-local black cultural practices, visual and otherwise. The kwaito music video reflects and responds to visual motifs found in music videos for South African musical/cultural practices such as ‘bubblegum’, as well as those in Caribbean and North American black music, especially reggae, R & B and hip-hop. Yet, the visual practices within the kwaito music video are not limited to musical genres, but are essential to musicking practices, which are always if not increasingly visual. As such, within a complex set of dynamics in nationalist global popular culture, kwaito visual cultures represent both the positions of black youth, as well as how black youth not only negotiate their place in the so-called global village but also go about claiming their stakes therein (Musila 2022). It is worth thinking about how kwaito visual culture flips the dearth of nationalist grammar as an opportunity to re-map the topographies and visual markers that constitute black cultural work within global popular culture (ibid.: 4). Kwaito visual culture continues to redefine its visual vocabulary to contradict, complicate and reconceive of nationalist visual ideas and identities. It does this through what I term historio- graphic kwaitoscapes – a writing of histories that produce interdiscursive plura-literary texts (Quayson 1997). Historio-graphic kwaitoscapes are a cyclic writing – from the ground, to the lyric, to the screen, and back again.Item Indigenous languages, cultural cognition and public interest in post-apartheid South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Motsogi, Mphonyana; Mjiyako, LwaziThe South African Language Policy Act was enacted in response to the apartheid system, which systematically marginalised indigenous languages and reduced them to non- official communication tools. The SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) and ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) have the responsibility of ensuring that all official languages of South Africa, including minority indigenous languages, are equally represented in the broadcasting space. This study examines the extent to which the SABC effectively enforces language quota systems, as mandated by ICASA, to promote and safeguard the development of the Sotho/Tswana language category and other official indigenous languages in the broadcasting space; for instance, Tshivenda. The multilingual program, Motswako is used as a (A case study); the programme was broadcast on SABC 2. The study analysed the South African broadcasting model in conjunction with ICASA's language policy regulation document. The study employed language planning theories and the communication accommodation theory to gain insight into the language context and multilingualism in South Africa. In addition, the study focused on the examination of public interest with the objective to investigate the involvement of the public in policy planning and development. The significance of media practitioners as representatives of the public was understood through the application of the social responsibility theory. This research project employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods, specifically analysing language policy documents from both the SABC and ICASA and other relevant articles on language planning and policy. The quantitative route was taken to quantify within episodes; the number of time hosts code switch/mix to western languages. The data collection process involved the collection of policy documents and articles, and the findings were analysed through thematic analysis. A total of eighteen episodes from the multilingual programme Motswako were selected and evaluated according to the language editorial policy principles of the SABC and the language quota systems established by ICASA. The study revealed that both the SABC and ICASA lack effective mechanisms to monitor and safeguard the development of indigenous languages in locally produced programs.Item Like Water Like Stone, Before I Die: Reflections on Writing, Womanhood, and Personal Power(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Ncube, Noluthando Leonorah; de Villiers, Phillippa YaaItem More or Less Human: An Ecocritical Exploration of the Posthuman in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Soal, Paige; Gaylard, GeraldWe live in a time when science and technology are exerting more pressure than ever before on what it means to be human. As such, it has become necessary to consider the implications and limitations of a shift into the posthuman guided by science and technology. Supported by a close reading of the texts, this dissertation explores the posthuman as portrayed in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy. Critically analysing Atwood’s advocacy of a balanced shift towards a posthuman era, one not solely focused on the possibilities of human enhancement through scientific and technological intervention, but rather one which includes a close consideration of the elemental psyche of human beings, I argue that Atwood’s intervention has substantial merit. Atwood’s choice to foreground affect through observations of the human inclination towards religion, symbolism, and storytelling highlights the necessity of considering the aspects of the human mind which cannot be suppressed nor removed. Furthermore, her exploration of survivalism draws our attention to the unconscious aspects which contribute to our human condition. Atwood’s texts also explore contemporary posthuman theory in relation to the current environmental crisis we face. Exploration of the various approaches to the posthuman in this multivalent way is necessary to ensure that the posthuman does not perpetuate our negative impact on the natural environment.Item Legal interpreting - a qualitative investigation of the effects of directionality on multilingual court interpreters(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Nkasa, Phumzile; Parkins-Maliko, NatashaThe aim of this study was to investigate the effects of directionality in multilingual court interpreters. It sought to investigate whether the quality of interpreting is compromised or not when interpreters interpret into their “B” and “C” languages, which are not their “A” languages. The objective of the study was to also investigate whether the amount of errors occurring as a result of directionality varies significantly between interpreters who have less court interpreting experience and those who have more experience. The study followed an ethnographic methodology, where subjects of the research were observed in their natural environment. Interpreting strategies used by multilingual court interpreters as a result of directionality were also examined by conducting court visits and observing interpreters interpreting during court proceedings. The proceedings were recorded and the interpreting was analysed. Extracts from questionnaires were also transcribed and analysed. In addition, structured and unstructured interviews were conducted. The study found that although working only into an interpreter’s “A” language may be the best practice for interpreters, this is not always possible in real life situations. Most interpreting assignments always require an interpreter to interpret in the retour mode. This is particularly the case in South African court rooms, moreover in Gauteng Province which is a melting pot of different languages and cultures. This is certainly the method of interpreting practiced in legal settings such as courts where the interpreter interprets between two parties involved in communication with each other. The analysis of the questionnaires revealed that in some instances, directionality does have an effect on the competency standard expected from court interpreters. Six out of eight case studies in the current study revealed evidence of incompetency in interpreting skills in terms of errors such as additions and omissions which can be attributed to the impact of directionality. The findings of the study also revealed that when interpreters interpreted into their “A” languages, they tended to have more additions in the interpreted version. It is envisaged that the research conducted in this study will contribute to the current directionality debate, by further shedding some light on the impact of directionality on the quality of interpreting amongst multilingual court interpreters. Additional research will contribute to the refinement, creation or refutation of concepts or theories related to the directionality debate.Item Maluti-a-Phofung: Maluti-a-Phofung: A study of municipal powers, state intervention, and meeting service delivery needs(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Hunter, Qaanitah; Balliah, DineshThe Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality in the Free State province of South Africa is noted as among the worst-performing municipalities in South Africa (Cronje, 2022). The Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) has detailed in annual reports for a decade how the mismanagement of this municipality has led to service delivery failures. Maluti-a-Phofung is the biggest debtor to power utility Eskom, struggles with the provision of water, while all wastewater treatment works in the municipality have collapsed. This research project, in the format of longform narrative, explores how political and governance instability contributed to delivery failures in this municipality of more than 300 000 people which encompasses the towns of Harrismith, QwaQwa, Kestell, and Phuthaditjhaba. The narrative long-form section specifically focuses on the impact of the service delivery failures and the lived experiences of the residents of this area. It gives a broad snapshot of everyday life dealing with the lack of consistent water, persistent electricity cuts, and intermittent refuse collection, among other municipal failures. It delves deep into the efforts of the community to overcome these challenges, which have hampered economic growth in the area. The long-form narrative details the political landscape and how the municipality transitioned from being governed by a single party to a coalition government. It portrays the lived consequences of bad politics and the impact political instability has had on people in the area.Item How the South African media’s engagement with think tanks shaped coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Karrim, Qudsiya; Finlay, AlanResearch on the relationship between media and think tanks points to evidence of an interdependent and mutually beneficial arrangement. Think tanks offer their expertise in return for exposure, but factors such as professional credibility, the resources at their disposal and their adherence to media logics impact the success of this exchange. To explore the think tank-media nexus in South Africa, this study draws on agenda building and source theories to examine the ways in which three South African news sites utilised think tanks in their coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. Through a thematic analysis and purposively selected interviews with media and think tank staff, it details a range of engagements between journalists and experts that occurred on the public record and behind the scenes. Think tanks served as high-value sources, content producers and educational tools for the media. This is not only indicative of their agenda-building influence, but also highlights how experts are playing a compensatory role in under-resourced newsrooms.Item Compassion, Ethics, and AI in Literary Works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Marge Piercy and Ted Chiang(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Silber, Rachel Rose; Titlestad, MichaelThis dissertation considers the literary presentation of empathy and compassion in AI-human relations and the contingent ethical implications. It critically examines how four authors, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Marge Piercy, and Ted Chiang, imagine AI and robots, not as dystopian symbols of technological menace, but as entities capable of empathetic connections with humans. Contrasting traditional narratives that focus on the dangers of AI, this study highlights a shift towards a nuanced representation where AI exhibits characteristics of emotional responsiveness and compassion. Using a posthumanist theoretical framework, the paper explores the ethical implications of these portrayals, challenging the boundaries of moral responsibility towards artificial beings. This approach not only offers a fresh perspective on AI in literature but also provokes a re-evaluation of our societal and ethical norms in the age of advanced technology. This study aims to contribute to a revision of our understanding of humanity and empathy in the context of our evolving relationship with AI.