The role of place and identity as core contributing success factors in Jayan Moodley’s Keeping up with the Kandasamys and Kandasamys: The Wedding

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 229-246
Author(s):  
Sogen Moodley ◽  
Arushani Govender
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Place Identity ◽  
Community Members ◽  
African Identity ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Box Office ◽  
Place And Identity

Keeping up with the Kandasamys (Moodley 2017), a family comedy co-written and directed by Jayan Moodley, was the first cinematic feature to be set in the post-apartheid Indian township of Chatsworth, Durban and generated R16.3 million at the box office. The film delves into the matriarchal rivalry of neighbouring families while showcasing the unique Chatsworth subculture. This box office success prompted the release of the sequel Kandasamys: The Wedding (Moodley 2019), which broke its own sales record, earning R18.9 million. As filmmakers who were intimately involved in the production of the sequel, and who engaged with viewers and community members, we provide a critical analysis, reflecting on why the films attracted large audiences and galvanized an outburst of fandom. This article postulates that Indian South African audiences identified with the authentic portrayal of the nuances of every-day life in Chatsworth, resulting in feelings of visibility and nostalgia. In attempting to explain the phenomenal support from these audiences, the authors examine theories of place identity and literature on Indian South African identity, inferring that the intersection of place, and the representation of Indian South Africans in the features, is significant to the films’ success.

scholarly journals Building the Rainbow Nation. A critical analysis of the role of architecture in materializing a post-apartheid South African identity

Afrika Focus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-27
Author(s):  
Kim De Raedt
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Urban Community ◽  
Community Services ◽  
African Identity ◽  
Architectural Practice ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Everyday Reality ◽  
Made In

Soon after apartheid was abolished in 1994, the quest for a new, ‘authentic’ South African identity resulted in the emergence of the “Rainbow Nation” idea, picturing an equal, multicultural and reconciled society. As architecture is considered a crucial element in the promotion of this Rainbow identity, the country witnessed a remarkable “building boom” with its apogee roughly between 1998 and 2010. Huge investments have been made in state-driven projects which place the apartheid memory at the center of the architectural debate – mostly museums and memorials. However, the focus of this paper shall lie on another, less highlighted tendency in current architectural practice. This paper demonstrates that, through the construction of urban community services, South African architects attempt to materialize the Rainbow Nation in a way that might be closer to the everyday reality of society.

scholarly journals Building the Rainbow Nation. A critical analysis of the role of architecture in materializing a post-apartheid South African identity

Afrika Focus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Raedt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Community Services ◽  
African Identity ◽  
Architectural Practice ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Everyday Reality ◽  
Made In

Soon after apartheid was abolished in 1994, the quest for a new, ‘authentic’ South African identity resulted in the emergence of the "Rainbow Nation" idea, picturing an equal, multicultural and reconciled society. As architecture is considered a crucial element in the promotion of this Rainbow identity, the country witnessed a remarkable "building boom" with its apogee roughly between 1998 and 2010. Huge investments have been made in state-driven projects which place the apartheid memory at the center of the architectural debate – mostly museums and memorials. However, the focus of this paper shall lie on another, less highlighted tendency in current architectural practice. This paper demonstrates that, through the construction of urban community services, South African architects attempt to materialize the Rainbow Nation in a way that might be closer to the everyday reality of society. Key words: architecture, post apartheid, Cape Town, South Africa, identity 

South Africa and Scotland in the First World War

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hyslop
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
British Empire ◽  
The South ◽  
Political Identities ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Battle Of The Somme ◽  
First World

This chapter discusses the powerful and long-lasting impact Scottish military symbolism on the formation of military culture in South Africa. Drawing on the work of John MacKenzie and Jonathan Hyslop’s notion of ‘military Scottishness’, this chapter analyses how Scottish identity both interacted with the formation of political identities in South Africa, and ‘looped back’ to connect with changing forms of national identity in Scotland itself. In particular, it addresses how the South Africans’ heroic role at Delville Wood, during the Battle of the Somme, became a putative symbol of this racialised ‘South Africanism’. The South African Brigade included a battalion of so-called ‘South African Scottish’ which reflected the phenomenon of military Scottishness. Overall, the chapter looks at the way in which the representations of the role of the South African troops involved an interplay between British empire loyalism, white South African political identities, and Scottishness.

scholarly journals ‘deep wounds… left… in hearts and minds’: South African Public History

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Julia C. Wells
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public History ◽  
African Identity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
To Come ◽  
Oral History Interview ◽  
Hearts And Minds

Public history practise in South Africa holds out much promise of further things to come. It can close the gulf between history and heritage. This chapter argues that the role of the public historian should not be conflated with the dynamics of the heritage sector, but suggests how trained academics can indeed put their skills to work in a society that is passionately interested in understanding itself and how its pasts created the present. The student movement sharply raised the image of universities in crisis, requiring a whole new, relevant curriculum and rethinking the ways that universities relate to their publics. Public historians can work towards creating invented spaces for co-production of knowledge, moving beyond the traditional oral history interview. The divide between academia and communities is huge and needs to be constantly tackled, providing access to the secluded information of the professional world. I suggest that due to their privileged place in society, many historians have been unable or unwilling to engage with the recovery agenda – the massive need for affirmation of African identity, capacity and culture. A handful of dedicated public historians do not fit this mould and have been exemplary in rolling up their sleeves and boldly engaging with the messy complications of dealing with non-academic communities to produce new forms of historical knowledge, based on inclusiveness.

Maternal HIV and Adolescent Functioning in South Africa: The Role of the Mother-Child Relationship

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-103
Author(s):  
Rebecca Hill LeCroix ◽  
Wing Yi Chan ◽  
Chris Henrich ◽  
Frances Palin ◽  
Jenelle Shanley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
South African ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Psychosocial Effects ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
Mother Child Relationship

Black South Africans are disproportionately affected by HIV compared with White counterparts. In their unique social context, South African families affected by HIV are vulnerable to adverse psychosocial effects. U.S.-based and emerging South African research suggests mothers living with HIV may experience compromised parenting. In the United States, mother-child relationship quality has been associated with internalizing (anxiety, depression) and externalizing (delinquency, acting out) child behaviors. This study adds to South African research with emphasis on the role of the mother-child relationship among HIV-affected South Africans from multiple communities. Structural equation modeling examined relationships between maternal health and child adjustment, operating through mother-child relationship. The best-fitting model suggested maternal health influences youth externalizing behaviors through the mother-child relationship, but that maternal health is directly related to child internalizing problems. Findings support and extend previous results. Further research would benefit from investigating ways the unique South African context influences these variables and their interactions.

40 YEARS ONWARDS: REAPPRAISING QWAQWA AFTER 20 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY IN SOUTH AFRICA

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-103
Author(s):  
Barend Van der Merwe ◽  
Tshitso Challa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Historical Objects ◽  
First World ◽  
Key Questions

Archiving is a process that involves the carefully documented storage of historical objects and documents. History involves events that we choose to remember or forget, nevertheless, the year 2014 is no insignificant year. Not only did South Africans celebrate 20 years of democracy, it was also 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War (1914–1918), the Rebellion of South Africa, as well as the establishment of the National Party of South Africa. It also marked 40 years since the establishment of Qwaqwa, a former “homeland” of South Africa. This article critically reflects on the establishment of Qwaqwa by introducing its records and exploring the key questions: What is the main legacy of the establishment of Qwaqwa for South Africans? How was Qwaqwa managed and who were its influential leaders? Against this backdrop, this article will also discuss the role of the Dikwankwetla Party and the resettlement aspect. It is hoped that the introduction of these records will stimulate further research into the topic of the South African homeland system and cultivate greater insights into the country’s contested history.

Code Choice, Place and Identity in Egypt: Evidence from Two Novels

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reem Bassiouney
Keyword(s):  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Place Identity ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
British Occupation ◽  
Code Choice ◽  
Colloquial Arabic ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Place And Identity

This article, written by Reem Bassiouney, examines the relationship between place, identity and language in two Egyptian novels: Qindīl Umm Hāshim (The Saint’s Lamp) by Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī (1944) and Awrāq al-narjis (Leaves of Narcissus) by Sumayyah Ramaḍān (2001). Both novels address questions of identity in Egypt, during and following the British occupation of the country. In the first novel, the protagonist studied in the UK and returned to Egypt during the British occupation, while in the second the protagonist studied in Ireland and returned to Egypt some fifty years after the period of British colonisation ended. Perceptively and convincingly, Bassiouney analyses the role of code choice – between Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic – in the two novels. Corresponding with Suleiman’s extensive work on code-switching in Middle Eastern communities, Bassiouney argues that the authors use code-switching in order to reflect the protagonists’ stance towards the self, towards others and towards place. She highlights that in matter of fact, code-switching in the two novels does not reflect real patterns of language use, rather redefines and reconstructs different stances held by the authors towards their protagonists.

scholarly journals Restructuring the Christian Fatherhood Model: A practical theological investigation into the ‘male problematic’ of father absence

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanita Meyer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Father Absence ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Practical Theological

In South Africa, ideas around fatherhood, parenthood and family life are greatly shifting as people find themselves caught up between traditional and contemporary understandings of fatherhood and motherhood. Even though more than 70% of young South Africans stated in a national survey that parenthood is one of the top four defining features of adulthood, father absence is on the increase. Some in-depth literature study was conducted regarding South African research on fatherhood and father absence, and the role of both Christian churches and secular organisations in addressing some of these challenges brought on by rapidly growing figures of father absence. The article concludes with some suggestions on the development of a new paradigm in understanding fatherhood in South Africa, with special reference to the role of Christian churches in assisting men to construct a narrative around fatherhood, which will lead to satisfying relationships with their children, their partners and especially with God.

O clever ‘He’s streetwise.’ When gestures become quotable

Gesture ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather J. Brookes
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
South African Society ◽  
African Identity ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Core ◽  
Central Characteristic ◽  
Everyday Communication

Among urban black South Africans in the province of Gauteng, quotable gestures are a prominent feature of everyday communication. Most notable is a gesture commonly glossed as clever meaning ‘streetwise’ and ‘city slick.’ An analysis of the clever gesture in everyday communicative situations shows that it conveys a variety of meanings and functions related to the core paradigmatic meaning of ‘seeing’ and the core sociointeractional function of acceptance and inclusion. ‘Seeing’ is an important cultural value in black urban society particularly in relation to being clever. ‘Seeing’ is also the central characteristic of modern urban African identity in contrast to the ‘non-seeing’ rural, tribal, and primitive African. The clever gesture is a focused expression of this key social division within South African society. Consideration of the clever gesture in relation to its social role and the gestural repertoire suggests that key cultural concerns determine both quotable status and semantico-grammatical nature.

scholarly journals The role of refugee-established churches in integrating forced migrants: A case study of Word of Life Assembly in Yeoville, Johannesburg

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vedaste Nzayabino
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Independent Churches ◽  
African Community ◽  
Forced Migrants ◽  
Faith Based Institutions ◽  
Church Affiliation ◽  
Word Of Life

The increasing embeddedness of religious issues within contemporary global phenomena has increased the role religion plays in migrants’ spiritual, social, and economic lives. Drawing on the findings of the study, conducted within one of the Pentecostal migrant churches in Johannesburg, this paper explored ways in which a (migrant) church shapes a refugee’s motivation to integrate and his resultant quest for a transient alternative belonging and inclusion within diasporic communities through church affiliation. Through interviews with members of the Word of Life Assembly (WOLA), one of the independent churches established by forced migrants in Yeoville, the study revealed that refugees tend to integrate themselves within their own churches, while the refugee church itself – labelled a ‘foreign’ entity by South African community members – works to garner approval and acceptance from South Africans and faith-based institutions. Cultural and linguistic problems were identified as major barriers to a refugee’s attempts to integrate into local churches, thereby becoming important issues that need to be considered in the establishment of migrant churches within the South African host community.

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