3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/45
Browse
3 results
Search Results
Item What is the role of publishing industry in supporting and promoting isiZulu fiction?(2014-07-24) Magudulela, Veronica Winile MirriamThe purpose of this research project was to investigate the role of the publishing industry in supporting and promoting isiZulu fiction in South Africa. The research first highlighted the contribution made by the missionaries in the 19th century in publishing literature in indigenous languages in general and in isiZulu fiction in particular. This aspect followed by a discussion of the impact of apartheid’s publishing policies on literature in indigenous African languages. This section then followed by the discussion of the strategies and initiatives that have been introduced in order to preserve and promote this literary tradition in the post-apartheid period. This research assessed OUPSA’s book chain process in order to investigate how the book industry contributes to the post-1994 initiatives of promoting creative writing in indigenous languages. It argued that book publishing is not the end of the book provision process, instead marketing and distribution chain, selection of fiction in schools and libraries, lack of experience of librarians, shortage of African languages fiction and financial resources in libraries as well as inconclusiveness of government policies play a huge role in the distribution process of isiZulu fiction which is pivotal to the sustainable existence of a publishing industry. In this research project, different aspects of the book chain process were investigated, such as: publishing and distribution, schools and public libraries, schools and education and literacy level to find out the link between publishing and libraries and schools. It is hoped that the findings of the investigation identified the significant inhibiting factors which may prevent the provision of isiZulu fiction books to libraries and schools that may have been caused by the methods in which books were commissioned, marketing strategies and implementation of the language policy, especially as to how it affects the promotion and rejuvenation of literatures in African languages.Item A need for foreign-language policies at tourist destinations in South Africa : Case study: 'Cradle of humankind' World Heritage Site.(2008-10-03T09:09:34Z) Turcato, Aurélien RomanThis study examines the availability of translated material into foreign languages, more specifically into French, at tourist destinations in South Africa. The Cradle of Humankind is chosen to carry out a case study and to show the lack of material available in languages other than English and the subsequent need for the development of a foreign-language policy. This study attempts to show the way forward by translating Maropeng’s miniguidebook into French based on a prior analysis of the original English text following Nord’s translation-relevant text analysis model. Furthermore, this study is not an end in itself but a step toward a better representation of official South African languages as an integral part of language policies throughout the country, as suggested by the Constitution.Item Multilingualism and Change on the Kinyarwanda Sound System post-1994(2007-02-26T11:31:57Z) Habyarimana, HilaireThe present study on ‘Multilingualism and change on the Kinyarwanda sound system post-1994’ focuses on sociolinguistic approaches oriented to the effects of language contact to Kinyarwanda sound change. Many studies on various multilingual societies have been conducted, and most of them have focused on multilingualism and language policy, education and social integration in different multilingual societies. In particular, most studies conducted on the new linguistic configuration of Rwanda have focused on language attitudes in a multilingual context, but none of them has tackled the issue of multilingualism and sound change as a result of language contact. The main hypothesis expounded in this research is that Kinyarwanda sound variants that can be heard from current speech arise owing to Kinyarwanda speakers’ language background. In the light of the literature review on multilingualism and sound change, an extensive analysis of the most prominent linguistic variables of sound variation in Kinyarwanda was done, and its evaluation shows that there have been shifts in the sound system of Kinyarwanda post-1994. It has been shown that some sounds were modified or shifted to other sounds which exist in neighbouring languages because of contact. In addition to that, it has been argued that this sound variation has been possible mainly because Kinyarwanda came into contact with other languages which have different sound systems. It is hoped that this research will add a new dimension to studies of multilingualism within Bantu languages and will contribute to yielding a solution to the Rwandan language problem because of suggestions related to how the Kinyarwanda sound system can be standardized.