School of Literature, Language and Media (ETDs)
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37992
Browse
47 results
Search Results
Item Mogaga: Play, Power and Purgation(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Magogodi, Kgafela Golebane; Law-Viljoen, BronwynIn street parlance, or iscamto, mogaga refers to the face of confrontation. In Sekgatla, a dialect of Setswana, mogaga is a name for a potent plant used in rituals of “social purgation” (De Graft, 2002: 26-27). This study focuses on the element of go gagaola or the act of triggering mogaga through a fusion of poetic incantations,1 song, dance and “spirit embodiment” (Ajumeze, 2014: 78). Go gagaola, the act of activating mogaga, hinges on agit-prop-mechanics that enable the elimination of botheration or the purging of domination. Does ritual drama have the power to alter material conditions? This and other questions about play-making as a scaffold which holds up a combination of spiritual elevation and political rebellion drive this enquiry. How do we expel botheration using the power of play? As it appears, ritual drama and guerilla theatre have the same framework as acts of “spiritual realism” (Mahone, 2002: 270). Guerilla theatre, like ritual drama, is also a system of change. Plotting the adventures of Phokobje and Phiri, I have found great resources in spiritual traditions such as malopo/malombo of Bakgatla/Bapedi and VhaVenda as well abaNgoma of Ba-Nguni. Mapping the journeys of characters in Chilahaebolae led to unexpected forays into astronomy – bolepa dinaledi in Setswana. People’s Experimental Theatre, Malombo Jazz Makers, Dashiki, Mihlothi, Malopoets and others who accentuated the connection between ritual and rebellion. Through this enquiry I make an offering to the decolonial project and the community of scholars, artists, astronomers and iZangoma who have been silenced by the settler-colonial canon through epistemic violence, massacre, and incarceration. These musings about mogaga play-making recasts theatre as the locus of confrontation and a tool for purging botheration. Going beyond “the banal search for exoticism” (Fanon, 1967: 221), I trace the bloodline of resistance theatreItem Challenges faced by court interpreters while interpreting for children in South African courts(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Chikele, Heather Mikateko; Maliko, Natasha Parkins; Dladla, Celimpilo P.The study investigated the challenges faced by court interpreters in South Africa when working with child witnesses within the legal system. The objectives of the study included investigating interpreter challenges, identifying their role in safeguarding children’s well-being and rights, and evaluating the effectiveness of interpreter training. The country’s linguistic diversity, characterized by 12 official languages and distinct cultural distinctions, adds layers of complexity for interpreters (Powell, et al., 2017). The problems encountered during the process includes linguistic barriers, encompassing the clear conveyance of child testimonies, interpretation of child-friendly legal terminology, and ensuring the child’s understanding of legal proceedings. The study recognized the involved interplay of language, culture and age, which highlights the need for interpreters to address the emotional state, comprehension level, and communication capacities of child witnesses. To tackle these challenges, the study highlighted the crucial requirement for specialized training and support for court interpreters handling cases involving children in South African courts (Moeketsi & Wallmach, 2005). This involved cultivating a sophisticated understanding of child psychology, cultural sensitivity, and legal terminology to effectively bridge communication gaps (Jianqing, 2008). By doing so, the study contended that South Africa could strengthen its commitment to safeguarding children’s rights and welfare within the legal system, ultimately ensuring equitable access to justice for all residents. The study utilized a quantitative research methodology, utilising a structured questionnaire distributed through Google Forms. The questionnaire was designed to gather insights from court interpreters about their experiences and challenges. The questions were crafted to elicit detailed responses on topics such as the impact of the child’s age on interpretation, linguistic and cultural challenges, and training and qualifications of court interpreters. The research focused on obtaining valuable information directly from court interpreters through the survey instrument, so as to understand their perspectives in a more streamlined manner (Cheung, 2014).Item An investigation into paywalls in the south african online news space(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Crossley, Gaye Tracey; Daniels, GlendaJournalism should aspire to be a public good, meaning people should ideally have un-excluded and un-rivalrous access to the news. For news to be a public good, it must serve to educate and inform readers and be free from economic and political interference. However, journalism cannot be a public good if it is not financially viable. One way South African news organisations have sought to create financial viability and sustainability is through the implementation of paywalls. However, subscription services like paywalls pose a risk to journalism being a public good. South Africa’s unequal society, along with the digital divide, are major inhibitors to people being able to access news online. Paywalls further exacerbate this issue of access. This research aims to investigate paywalls in the South African online news space, within the context of journalism serving as a public good. In doing so, the research considered the digital divide, digital disruption of the newsroom, sustainability of the newsroom, and the positive and negative contributions of paywalls to South African online news. This qualitative research was conducted through a series of structured interviews with two of South Africa’s media houses, Media24 and Arena Holdings, which had both implemented paywalls for their online news sites. These case studies were then juxtaposed against Daily Maverick, which has kept its news free for all readers, but relies on a number of alternative funding models, including a membership model.Item The effects of embracing multilingualism on the academic performance of learners in primary science education in botswana(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-12) Kereeditse, Dumelang Lorato Thomas; Inggs, JudithIn Botswana, primary school learners perform better in Setswana as a subject than in the science subjects. This trend can be observed in the annual Primary School Leaving Examinations results despite the country’s high literacy rate. Since these learners are emergent multilinguals, this study sought to determine the effects of embracing multilingualism on Botswana learners’ academic performance in science as a subject at primary level. Considering that using translation as a pedagogical strategy has never been fully recognised as a useful way of scaffolding in lower levels of education, the translanguaging perspective was employed to determine the effects of translation in multilingual contexts. This was done to enhance comprehension of fourth year primary science texts using bilingual texts because, in the Botswana education system, codeswitching is usually practised as a communication strategy, but textbooks and assessments are printed monolingually in English from Standard 2. The study acknowledged the benefits of both English and Setswana in the education system and on learners’ cognitive development. Therefore, it employed a cognitive theory of communication in translation coupled with the translanguaging theory to develop bilingual science texts that could enhance pedagogic strategies for emergent multilinguals. A quasi-experimental design was used to assess the effects of using bilingual texts on learners’ academic performance. Three participating schools from different language communities in Botswana were selected via non-proportional stratified sampling. The control group received a monolingual science topic with content as usual, whereas the experimental group received the same text translated and presented bilingually in English and Setswana. Both groups attempted a written comprehension exercise after reading the same topic. Data were analysed statistically using SPSS Statistics and qualitatively using moment analysis to determine the significance of differences between 2 the control and the experimental groups. Learners in the minority language speaking school showed a considerable improvement as well as a significant difference in the performance of learners who used monolingual texts compared to those who used bilingual texts. Other schools showed an insignificant difference between the performance of the experimental group and the control group. These results show the potential of bilingual texts in the creation of translanguaging space in the classroom. They support the ostensive multilingualism pedagogy which brings together translanguaging pedagogy and relevance theory in translation to open translanguaging spaces in science education.Item (Re)composing: A study of the musical documentary in reimagining the historical archive through song(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Roberts, Daniel Ronald Newland; Kaplan, KennethThis thesis investigates conventional documentary reenactments and proposes a different approach by examining the role of purpose-composed songs as a medium for historical reenactment in the music documentary. It scrutinizes this approach as an alternative to traditional notions of reenactment often associated with Hollywood-style documentaries where the convention is to restage historical events. Instead, the argument made is for the transformative and imaginative of poetic verse and musical expression to embody historical texts. The research explores the profound connection between the performer and the historical subjects through ancestral bonds, examining how this relationship enhances the performance's potency. In addition, it delves into the collaborative process between musicians and documentarians in creating purpose-composed songs, especially when performances are situated within locations deeply connected to the historical context, assessing how this impacts audience engagement. Reflecting on the evolution of the music documentary genre since the 1960s, the thesis critically examines Bill Nichols’s enduring analysis of documentary modes. It investigates the continued reliance on the vérité style in music documentaries while using selected case studies to map more diverse documentary forms extending beyond Nichols's purely observational mode. The artistic component of this research is an essay film, which offers a contemplative view of the symbiotic relationship between cinematographer and musician. It probes into the nuances of creating poignant artistic expressions that address historical traumas while simultaneously managing the complex interplay of the subjectivities inherent in filmmaker and musician. This dual-focused inquiry seeks to illuminate the capacity of music documentaries to convey historical narratives in a manner that resonates with contemporary audiences, marrying historical accuracy with emotional depth.Item The role of the fictional biographer in “The Aspern Papers” by Henry James, Summertime(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-06) Sandnes, Charmaine Henriette; Van Wyk, KarlThis thesis is a literary, critical investigation of the role of the fictional biographer in selected writings by Henry James, J.M. Coetzee, Patrick Flanery, and A.S. Byatt. The central focus of the work is the establishment of the possible reason for the inclusion of fictional – rather than real or nonfictional – biographers in “The Aspern Papers” by Henry James, Summertime by J.M. Coetzee, Absolution by Patrick Flanery, and The Biographer’s Tale and Possession by A.S. Byatt. My argument focuses on the essence of the quest for truth, albeit literary truth, and how this determines our appreciation of a work of fiction. This quest becomes evident in the interesting collocation of the five primary texts across historiological, sociological, cultural and philosophical divides. I introduce my work tentatively by defining the concept of the orthodox or real biographer, and ultimately how truth itself is manifested in the biographer’s quest to establish that her subject’s life story is a genuine reflection of her reality. In opposition to the former, I go on to proffer a definition of the fictional biographer. In the first chapter, I explore the philosophy of life-writing with reference to the theories of Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Virginia Woolf and Philippe Lejeune. I also note how modernism and post-modernism are reflected in the five primary texts. In the second chapter, I make specific observations regarding Henry James’ use of the anonymous fictional biographer in his novella, “The Aspern Papers”, and further examine his deliberate metafictional interests in four short stories from his collection, Stories of Artists and Writers. In the third chapter on Summertime, I add to the autobiography-biography dichotomy, and in the fourth chapter I explore Byatt’s playful and erudite metafictional toying with fact and fiction through multiple fictional biographers exploring fictional and real subjects. The fifth chapter focuses on fictional biographers writing outside of their nationality, and explores their aim to determine’ socio-political truths through an engagement with confessional writing in the South African context. Finally, in chapter six I offer a comparative perspective of the uses of the fictional biographers in all five texts.Item An analysis of domain-specific terminology for pedagogical lexicographic resources: towards a comprehensive english isizulu life sciences dictionary(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-02) Dladla, Celimpilo Piety; Zungu, E.B.This thesis examined the structure of published dictionaries as a foundation for creating guidelines for developing a domain-specific lexicographic resource in an African language. The resource developed in the study is directed at Grade 10 to 12 learners as a remedy for the absence of domain-specific lexicographic resources for senior phase learners whose mother tongue was previously marginalised. Subjects are taught in a second language despite the language policy of the Department of Basic Education stating that learners and their guardians are at liberty to choose their language of education (Diko, 2018). The unavailability of these resources deprives potential users of the opportunity of having a choice to use reference material in their home language to understand crucial educational material. This limits their ability to achieve the results they would have had if they had the opportunity of learning in their mother tongue (Osborne & Collins, 2001; Mji & Makgato, 2006). Dictionaries have been identified as assistive resources in increasing learners’ understanding of educational concepts (Ranalli & Nurmukhamedov, 2014; Charamba, 2017). Subsequently, this thesis employed the theory of lexicographic functions to develop guidelines for the development of a bilingualised Life Sciences dictionary in isiZulu with English serving as the source language, as users need the information in English in class and in their examinations. This qualitative study garnered data by means of content analysis of existing English-Zulu bilingual dictionaries by examining their structure and function, as a foundation for developing guidelines for the new resource and the ultimate compilation of the resource. Further, the study interrogated the Life Sciences glossary from prescribed Grade 10 to 12 Life Sciences books from the Department of Basic Education and extracted terminology from these resources. Terminology was then translated into isiZulu employing translation strategies applicable in lexicography as this was not a translation exercise but a lexicographic exercise. Nkomo (2019) asserts that most lexicographic practices had been mistaken for a translation exercise because lexicographic theories are often not employed. For this reason, the study employed the theory of lexicographic functions – studying the needs of users, the user situation and the function of a dictionary (Tarp, 2004; 2008; 2012) to create a dictionary development guideline and additionally, produce a digital dictionary to be made available in a freely downloadable form for use and availability to all users. The dictionary developed was analysed according to guidelines set by Ball and Bothma (2018) for analysing digital dictionaries.Item Social media as a sphere of violent discourse in times of civil unrest: A case study of the 2021 looting in South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-03-15) Malaka, Chaboke Prince; Govenden, PrinolaSocial media has been used by activists in contemporary civil upheavals.The content created by these activists is believed to predict offline protest behaviour. There was previously no corelation drawn between social media usage and real-world behaviour, however, recently protesters’worldwide use of social media platforms provide an unparalleled opportunity to witness how social media usage can have real-world behavioural ties (Mina, 2019). This study's main objective was to investigate the extent to which social media, specifically X (formerly Twitter), was used as a forum for violent discourse during times of civil unrest. In particular, it examines the looting that occurred in South Africa in 2021 July under the hashtags,#LootingSA and #FreeZuma, that started in KwaZulu-Natal province on 8 July 2021 and spread to the Gauteng province. It is well recognised that social media sites enable users to communicate, share knowledge, and produce digital content. Social media has also served as an activist platorm during times of civil disturbance (Lim, 2012). This study adds to the current literature by elucidating howpeople’s engagement in X (formerly Twitter) as a social media platform was used to createa discourses of violence during the 2021 looting. Protest Participation Theory (PPT) and Galtung’s Theory of Violence (GTV) media theories have been used to drive this study and has further supported the findings from a theorectical standpoint. . The study used a qualitative approach and employed a thematic analysis technique to analyse data. The units of analysis, violent tweets, revealed a substantial presence of aggressive language, calls for violence, threats, and incitements to harm during the civil unrest period. Interestingly, a significant portion of these tweets did not explicitly endorse violence but circulated content related to violent acts e.g Tweets containing voilent content. In contrast, non-violent tweets predominantly centered around the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma with sentiments expressing disapproval, critique, or support for the arrest of the former president. The study acknowledged instances where X (formerly Twitter) was used for personal agendas and entertainment indicating a diverse range of discussions on social media related to violence. The non-violent tweets highlighted both opposition and support for Jacob Zuma's arrest with a smaller percentage categorised as "not related" and not taking a clear stance on the overarching topic. The research primarily focused on measuring the prevalence of looting activities rather than delving into the detailed aspects of the "how" question.Item In Search of Utopia: Sylvia Pankhurst, Ethel Mannin, Nancy Cunard, and International Socialist Woman Authors in Interwar Britain(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Timlin, Carrie; Kostelac, Sofia; Gordon, ColetteA revival of anti-communist discourse in scholarship and politics has reignited decades-long debates between those who associate communism with the atrocities of totalitarian systems, and those who seek to emphasise the work of Socialists who genuinely sought to create a world free from gender, class and racial discrimination. In literary studies this has manifested as renewed interested in the lives and work of utopian Socialist authors like Nancy Cunard, Ethel Mannin and Sylvia Pankhurst, which suggests a shift in scholarship towards those outside the literary canon. Pankhurst and Mannin drew on literary forms that spoke to the culture, history, and experiences of their readers: women and the working classes. An exploration of the complexity of Cunard’s journey from attempts to infiltrate elitist literary circles, to a poet whose work captured the hardships of racial inequality and war, challenges ideas about the politics of modernist experimentation, and the value placed on high art. Taken together, their fiction and non-fiction unsettles the boundaries between art and activism, high, middle and lowbrow art, and preconceived ideas about the canon in the study of literature. Bringing their fiction and non-fiction into conversation with their socio-political contexts, readerships, and the philosophies and utopian socialist doctrine that shaped them as author-activists opens new avenues of exploration into the interplay of politics and aesthetics. Blurring the line between public politics, fiction and non-fiction, Pankhurst, Mannin, and Cunard’s work was a crucial and effective part of their internationalism, socialist activism, and resistance to totalitarianism. In the tradition of the utopianism of the late 19th Century they adapted literary forms as vehicles for socialist philosophy and doctrine. In addition to their creative work, they used literary techniques to shape non-fiction like newspaper articles, pamphlets and other political texts. The diversity of experience that Pankhurst, Mannin and Cunard recorded in their fiction and non-fiction amounts to an archive of work that complicates reductionist post-Cold War debates about the theory and practice of communism.Item Adoption and use of internet of things and the implications for adaptive regulation(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-03) Jarvis, Boipelo; Ntlatlapa, NtsibaneInternet of Things (IoT) is evolving, developing and finding use in many industries where it is mainly used for automating, controlling, tracking and monitoring of different assets and processes, and also to digitalise and optimise business processes. One of IoT’s main characteristics is the interconnection of physical and virtual objects, the involvement of various stakeholders and the vast amount of data that is collected, communicated, stored and analysed in its ecosystem. IoT is projected to continue on its tremendous growth path for years to come, and to also permeate many more industries. However, IoT has inherent challenges of security and privacy due to its characteristics and therefore requires relevant regulation so as to address the challenges related to it and enable its continued growth, adoption and use. The study explored the adoption and use of IoT in South Africa, looked into security and privacy challenges for IoT and ways to address them, ways in which current regulatory approaches are affecting IoT and how regulation that is relevant to IoT can be developed. The researcher followed a qualitative research approach, collected data from participants through in-depth interviews and employed thematic analysis to discover themes from data that was collected. The study’s findings are categorised according to three themes that emerged from the literature review namely: adoption and use of IoT, security and privacy challenges for IoT and ways to develop adaptive regulation for IoT. The Socio Technical Systems (STS) framework was a theoretical lens that was used to analyse data by mapping the study’s findings against STS components to explore the social and technical aspects of IoT. To define and understand the relationship between the social and technical subsystems of STS, an interaction between the elements of these two subsystems namely technology, tasks, structure and people was done. Under the technical subsystem, the findings brought to light the challenge that interoperability, security and privacy has on the adoption and use of IoT and the activities that enable the adoption and use of IoT. The findings under the social subsystem highlighted regulatory measures that are required to enable the adoption and use of IoT, regulatory ways to address the challenges of security and privacy as well as the need for IoT stakeholders to work collaboratively to encourage the growth, adoption and use of IoT and to address challenges related to it. The interaction of the STS elements identified collaborations and collaborative mechanisms as ways to address the challenges of IoT and develop regulation that is adaptive to its development. Based on the researcher’s analysis IoT requires a collaborative approach to address the challenges that its development, adoption and use are confronted with and to also develop regulation that is relevant and encouraging of its adoption and use.