scholarly journals Archaeology of time – activation of installation space by the spect-actor

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Lewis ◽  
Jan Van Der Merwe

An artistic installation implies theatre in situ, in that a/the space is transformed into a potential experiential encounter through design and scenography. This potential space then only requires the spectator to activate the full experience through embodied engagement with the installation, inciting visceral meaning-making. This embodied activation implies that the spectator then also becomes a performer, as they are simultaneously the ones physically causing the theatrical experience and the ones experiencing the elements designed for (their) interpretation. In this manner a heightened sense of becoming what Boal (1992) coined the ‘spect-actor’ is achieved. By activating the space through physical engagement with/in the installation where all the sensory receptors trigger a visceral response in the spect-actor, meaning-making occurs through phenomenology and implies a knowing body through personal- and socio-cultural interpretation. For this paper, the installations by renowned South African artist Jan van der Merwe are used as examples to argue for the emergence of the spect-actor in the role of activator. As an installation artist, Van der Merwe creates large artworks of intricately recreated tableaux often composed in discarded, rusted found material. Van der Merwe calls the found objects “artefacts of our time”. Thus, they assume an archaeological quality and become relics of a way of life, a civilisation degenerated and fossilised though time and rust. The spect-actor is both then the site and cite of activation where the time and space converge into an ephemeral experience. Ho epolloa ha lintho tsa khale nako: ts'ebetso ea sebaka sa tlhomamiso ke moetsi oa spect-actor Boetsi ba bonono bo ikhethileng ka tshebediso ya ditshwantsho sebakeng ho bontša hore ho na le liketsahalo tsa sethala, ka hore sebaka se fetoha sebopeho se nang le phihlelo ka ho qaptjoa le ho shebahala. Sebaka sena se ka etsahala habonolo feela se hloka hore mmoheli a khone ho etsa boiphihlelo bo feletseng ka ho khomahanya ka ketsahatso, e leng tsela ya ho khothalletsa ho etsa moelelo oa visceral. Tshebetso ena e ncha e fana ka maikutlo a hore motho ea shebellang le ena o fetoha sebapali, kaha ka nako e tšoanang o etsa hore ho be le boiphihlelo ba papali ho ba nang le likarolo tse etselitsoeng tlhaloso ea bona. Ka tsela ena ho ba le kutloisiso e phahameng ea ho ba seo Boal (1992) a ileng a se bitsa hore ke mmohi-sebapali se fihlelloe. Ka ho futhumatsa sebaka ka tsela ya ho sebelisa mmele har’a mosebetsi wa bonono o pampiri ena e baung ka ona, e leng ona o lokollang li-receptor tsohle tse utloahalang hore li hlahise karabo ea visceral ho mmohi-sepali. Ho etsa moelelo o etsahalang ka phenomenology ho bolela mmele o tsebang ka litlhaloso tsa setso. Bakeng sa pampiri ena mesebetsi ea bonono ea moetsahatsi oa Afrika Boroa ea tummeng, Jan van der Merwe, e tla sebelisoa e le mohlala ho pheha khang ka ho hlaha ha mmohi-sebapali karolong ea motho ea futhumatsang le ho etsahatsa mosebetsi wa bonono ka nako eo o etsahalang ka yona. Joalokaha moetsahatsi oa bonono, van der Merwe o etsa litšoantšo tse kholo tsa seka-litšoantšo tse entsoeng ka mokhoa o rarahaneng o atisang ho etsoa ka thepa e lahliloeng, e bolileng. Van der Merwe o bitsa lintho tse a lifumaneng ho etsa mosebetsi oa hae "lintho tsa nako ea rona". Ka hona, ntho tsena linka seemo sa lintho tsa khale tse epollotsoeng ebe lifetoha litšoantšo tsa mokhoa oa bophelo, tsoelo-pele e ileng ea khutlela moraho le ho khitloa nakong. Ha hole joalo, mmohi-sepabali eba sebaka le moetsahatsi wa futhumatso tsebetsong moo nako le sebaka li fetohang phihlelo ea ho iphelisa.

Author(s):  
Micheal M. Van Wyk

International political, social, economic and religious developments influence how local communities operate. The South African church society is influenced by such developments taking place globally and which clearly influence how local churches function. This article explores the role of the contemporary church as a ‘reformation agency’ in enhancing a socially transformative agenda in South Africa. A qualitative research approach – an interpretative phenomenology design – was employed to negotiate a shared understanding through conversation and intersubjective meaning-making with church ministers, with the primary focus being their subjective experience of the changing role of the church in enhancing a transformative agenda in a South African context. A purposive sampling (n = 6) consisted of local church leaders who participated in the face-to-face and telephonic semi-structured interviews to achieve the purpose of the study. The findings clearly show that deliberate and intentional actions by churches allow them to become a voice for the marginalised, to create spaces for searching for excellence and to increase the quality of servant leadership, all as vehicles for transforming church society. Furthermore, servant leadership is a social phenomenon, a philosophy-in-practice aimed at leading by example to achieve a common goal. To accomplish this, church ministers are required to spearhead the challenge as a prerequisite to creating ‘lived experienced’ opportunities for members as an inward-outward spiritual journey. Finally, church leaders believed that transformation is a secular dimension, but that it can also be aligned towards God’s redemption plan and enhancing a socially just transformation agenda. Ultimately, this study proposed several recommendations to allow the local church to be relevant in practicing and promoting stronger unity and reconciliation amongst all churches nationally and globally.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Elizabeth Stiehler

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore consumer meaning-making and brand co-creation and the role of brand value and the consumption context of luxury goods in the emerging South African market. Design/methodology/approach An extant segmentation approach that classifies luxury brand consumers into four different segments was used to guide the identification of a total of 16 luxury consumers with whom in-depth interviews were conducted. Findings The findings identify differences between four consumer segments’ levels of brand knowledge and indicate how these differing levels produce interesting meanings assigned to luxury brands which in turn co-create the brands. A framework is also proposed that maps each of the four luxury segments according to the value they derive from luxury brands and the context in which luxury consumption holds the most meaning for each segment. Practical implications Managerial recommendations concerning the implications of consumers assigning meaning and value to luxury brands and recommendations pertaining to the managing and positioning of luxury brands to each of the four luxury segments in this market are proposed. Originality/value The study provides interesting insights with regards to how consumers assign meaning and value to luxury brands in the emerging South African market. The proposed framework also uniquely demonstrates underlying behaviours within each of the four luxury segments and contributes to a better understanding of how and why these segments consume luxury brands.


2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdinand P. Kruger ◽  
Barend J. De Klerk

This article presents the authors’ research on the mediating functioning of liturgy and its influence on the change of attributions and attitudes. Within a South African context, voices in connection with decolonisation are becoming more audible. This article is not aimed at an evaluation of the positives or negatives of colonisation or decolonisation. It rather intends to show that liturgy can contribute to this debate by helping people to be conscious of their attributions and attitudes regarding other people. In this regard, liturgy can help people to understand their own identity, an identity that is continuously forming and changing in the light of the attitude in the mind of Christ. People have different attributes on societal issues like, inter alia, decolonisation. Liturgy that is concerned with what is happening in society could contribute towards an attitude or attribute change regarding a liturgy of hospitality towards the other. The main research question for this investigation is: In what way does liturgy as a way of life have the potential to influence people’s attributes and attitudes regarding breaking free from oppressing powers in oneself towards the other in every sphere of life? The research first presents a qualitative literature review to understand this matter. The authors utilise two of Heitink’s phases, namely a hermeneutical understanding of what is happening, and liturgical directives for change. Perspectives from Philippians 2:5–11 are provided to highlight the role of the mind of Christ and of discernment. The article concludes with directives that could possibly influence change regarding attributes and attitudes towards other people.


Author(s):  
Mathabo Mohwaduba

The issue of land reform lies at the heart of African pride and dignity. However, colonisation leads to the systematic deprivation of land among the conquered people, as Ramose calls them. Ramose states that colonisation and racism were a dehumanising product of an unjust system, land deprivation being a sub-product of that system.1 Ramose calls it a double injustice in an unjust war. A system of injustice where the conquered was denied the basic courtesy of humanity by the conqueror. Apartheid and colonisation were the draconian systems that denied an entire people the ability to be regarded as an equal. However, the most tragic legacy left by apartheid and colonisation is the denying of conquered people their unique way of life and culture which is intertwined and dependant on land. The focus of this article is ascertaining what an African perspective to justice is and why it is needed as the primary premise in resolving land reform matters. Most importantly I will be looking at case law to assess whether South African courts are starting to turn to an African perspective to justice when dealing specifically with land wars in post-apartheid South Africa. I will also emphasise the need for our judicial system to re-imagine land and reform outside from what it is ordinarily understood to be in European norms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Kevers ◽  
Peter Rober ◽  
Lucia De Haene

While collective identifications of diasporic Kurds have attracted considerable scholarly interest, their possible role in familial processes of post-trauma reconstruction has hardly been studied. The aim of this article is therefore to develop an explorative understanding of the deployment and meaning of collective identifications in intimate family contexts by examining the interconnectedness between the transmission of cultural and political belonging and post-trauma meaning-making and coping in Kurdish refugee families. After contextualising diasporic Kurds’ collective identifications through an ethnographic depiction of the Kurdish diasporic community in Belgium, this article reports on findings from a small-scale, exploratory study with five Kurdish refugee families in Belgium. Thematic analysis of family and parent interviews indicates how cultural and political identifications may operate as sources of (1) dealing with cultural bereavement and loss; (2) commemorating trauma; and (3) reversing versus reiterating trauma. Overall, this study’s findings support an explorative understanding of collective identifications as meaningful resources in families’ post-trauma reconstruction.ABSTRACT IN KURMANJIRola nasnameyên komelî di pêvajoyên malbatî yên vesazkirina paş-trawmayê de: Xebateke raveker li ser malbatên kurd ên penaber û civakên wan ên dîasporayêTevî ku nasnameyên komelî yên kurdên dîasporayê ta radeyeke baș bûye mijara lêkolînan, rola wan a muhtemel di pêvajoyên malbatî yên vesazkirina (selihandin) paş-trawmayê qet nehatine vekolîn. Lewma armanca vê gotarê ew e têgihiştineke raveker pêş bixe li ser rol û wateya nasnameyên komelî yên di çarçoveya mehremiya malbatê de, ku vê yekê jî dê bi rêya vekolîna wê têkiliya rijd bike ya di navbera neqlkirina aidiyetên çandî-siyasî û rêyên sazkirina wateyê û serederîkirina li dû trawmayê di nav malbatên kurd ên penaber de. Piştî diyarkirina çarçoveya nasnameya komelî ya Kurdên diasporayê bi rêya teswîreke etnografîk a cemaeta diasporaya Kurd li Belçîkayê, ev gotar encamên ji xebateke biçûk a bi pênc malbatên kurd ên penaber ên li Belçîkayê pêşkêş dike. Tehlîla babetî ya hevpeyvînên ligel malbatan û dayik û bavan nîşan dide ka çawa nasnameyên çandî û siyasî dikarin bibin çavkanî ji bo (1) serederîkirina bi mehrûmiyeta çandî û windahiyên xwe; (2) bibîranîna trawmayê; û (3) kêmrengkirin an, beramber vê yekê, dubarekirina trawmayê. Bi giştî, encamên vê xebatê wê têgihiştineke raveker tesdîq dikin ku nasnameyên kolektîf çavkaniyên kêrhatî ne di vesazkirina paş-trawmayê ya malbatan de. ABSTRACT IN SORANIDewrî nasname bekomellekan le prose binemalleyîyekanî sazkirdinewey paş-trawmayîda: lêkollîneweyekî şirovekarî binemalle penabere kurdekan û civatî ewan le diyasporaLe katêkda nasname bekomellekanî kurdekanî diyaspora le layen şarezakanewe giringîyekî berçawî pê drawe û serincî ewanî bo lay xoyî rakêşawe, bellam sebaret be egerî dewrî prose binemalleyîyekanî sazkirdinewey paş-tirawma be degmen lêkollîneweyek encam drawe. Ke wate, amancî em wutare perepêdan be têgeyîştinêkî şirovekarane lemerr bekarhênan û manay nasname bekomellekan le bestênekanî têkellawîy binemalleyîdaye, ke le rêgey peywendîy nêwan rewtî gwastineweyî grêdraweyî kultûrî û siyasî, sazbûnî mana û herweha rahatin legell kêşekanî qonaẍî paş tirawma le binemalle kurde penaberekanda taqî krawetewe. Dway awirrdanewe le civakî diyasporay kurd le Belcîka, nasname bekomellekanî kurdekanî diyaspora le bestênî xoyda xwêndinewey bo krawe û bem gêreye lem wutareda lêkollîneweyekî şirovekarane bo qebareyekî biçûk le pênc binemalley kurdî penaber le Belcîka dekrê û encamekanî billaw dekrêtewe. Şîkarîyekî babetiyaney wutuwêj legell binemalle û dayk û bawkekan nîşanî dedat ke çon dekrê nasname kultûrî û siyasîyekan wek serçaweyek bo em sê mijare derbikewn: (1) gîrodebûn be ledestçûn û bizirbûnî kultûr; (2) webîrhênanewey tirawma; û (3) pêçewanebûnî tirawma leberamber dûbarebûneweyda. Beşêweyekî giştî, encamekanî em lêkollîneweye piştgîrî le têgeyîştinêkî şirovekarane le nasname bekomellekan dekat ke wekû serçaweyekî giring bo sazkirdinewey binemallekan le dway qonaẍî paş-tirawma seyr dekrêt.


Author(s):  
Mark Sanders

When this book's author began studying Zulu, he was often questioned why he was learning it. This book places the author's endeavors within a wider context to uncover how, in the past 150 years of South African history, Zulu became a battleground for issues of property, possession, and deprivation. The book combines elements of analysis and memoir to explore a complex cultural history. Perceiving that colonial learners of Zulu saw themselves as repairing harm done to Africans by Europeans, the book reveals deeper motives at work in the development of Zulu-language learning—from the emergence of the pidgin Fanagalo among missionaries and traders in the nineteenth century to widespread efforts, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, to teach a correct form of Zulu. The book looks at the white appropriation of Zulu language, music, and dance in South African culture, and at the association of Zulu with a martial masculinity. In exploring how Zulu has come to represent what is most properly and powerfully African, the book examines differences in English- and Zulu-language press coverage of an important trial, as well as the role of linguistic purism in xenophobic violence in South Africa. Through one person's efforts to learn the Zulu language, the book explores how a language's history and politics influence all individuals in a multilingual society.


Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-368
Author(s):  
YEVGENIY ALEKSANDROV

The aim of the article is to recall the fi steps of comprehension by the scientific community of possibilities of a newly born means of the reality reflection. The means was initially oriented for obtaining reliable information and supposing a delayed reaction of the spectator in the process of communication. Recollection and understanding become more important under the distance education condition. Pre-revolutionary Russia lived anticipating changes, and the filmmaking was considered by the society as one of those progressive phenomena evidencing the coming of a new age. The scientists’ activity during the development of scientific fi in pre-revolutionary Russia was long hushed up and wasn’t considered as forming a basis for the future system of educational audio-visual communication. In this process there participated striking, creative personalities, mostly belonged to the community of Imperial Moscow University, which activity was during the age of changes. The significant contribution of pleiad of eminent scientists’ activity to the new direction formation was a reason to unify in one paper both their whole professional life data and information about their time-limited period of scientific fi In the future a more profound study of their achievements are considered to be promising. In the introduction the anterior period of the Russian fi appearance, where the scientific and education community of Russia was exploring the possibilities of a new means of information transfer for education purposes, is considered. Two main units are dedicated to the role of scientists in the development of scientific filmmaking for research and popularization of biomedical and physical problems.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Buttliere

Over the last decade, there have been many suggestions to improve how scientists answer their questions, but far fewer attempt to improve the questions scientists are asking in the first place. The goal of the paper is then to examine and summarize synthesize the evidence on how to ask the best questions possible. First is a brief review of the philosophical and empirical literature on how the best science is done, which implicitly but not explicitly mentions the role of psychology and especially cognitive conflict. Then we more closely focus on the psychology of the scientist, finding that they are humans, engaged in a meaning making process, and that cognitive conflict is a necessary input for any learning or change in the system. The scientific method is, of course, a specialized meaning making process. We present evidence for this central role of cognitive conflict in science by examining the most discussed scientific papers between 2013 and 2017, which are, in general, controversial and about big problems (e.g., whether vaccines cause autism, how often doctors kill us with their mistakes). Toward the end we discuss the role of science in society, suggesting science itself is an uncertainty reducing and problem solving enterprise. From this basis we encourage scientists to take riskier stances on bigger topics, for the good of themselves and society generally.


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