scholarly journals The Omnipresent Past: Dystopian Trends in Nadine Gordimer’s No Time Like the Present

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. p27
Author(s):  
Emmerencia Beh Sih ◽  
De Noumedem Peter Caleb
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Literary Theory ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Evolution ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Way ◽  
Economic Inequalities

This paper seeks to analyze the dystopian character of Nadine Gordimer’s No Time Like the Present and demonstrate the claustrophobic nature of post-apartheid South Africa. The problem in this paper is to investigate the way in which Gordimer’s novel interprets the perceived socio-political evolution of her country. Our point of departure is that post-apartheid South Africa is not healed of its turbulent past and this past haunts and torments it till date. This article foregrounds the argument that the dystopian nature of Gordimer’s last novel is evident in the fact it captures the crash of dreams for an egalitarian, non-racial society; it portrays the repression and failure of individual efforts to improve society; and it describes poverty, violence and anarchy as society’s unchanging norms. Using postcolonial literary theory, this paper shows how No Time Like the Present narrates the entanglement of South Africans at a time when political morass and socio-economic inequalities abort anti-apartheid expectations. This paper arrives at the conclusion that No Time Like the Present is a dystopian novel in which grim, absurd realities are portrayed to show how remote and unfamiliar the present is when compared with expectations nurtured in the past.

scholarly journals Ideology and intertextuality: Intertextual allusions in Judith 16

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Philip Nolte ◽  
Pierre J. Jordaan
Keyword(s):  
Literary Theory ◽  
Dimensional Space ◽  
Julia Kristeva ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Religious Texts ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Way

This article utilised the theory of intertextuality to investigate the way in which religious texts, specifically Judith 16, generate meaning in the act of the production of texts. The groundbreaking work on intertextuality done by Julia Kristeva served as the theoretical point of departure. Kristeva utilised Mikhail Bakhtin’s literary theory to develop her own views on intertextuality. According to the theory of intertextuality, all texts are intersections of different texts and are therefore polyvalent. The article argued that the ideology (or ideologies) of author(s) of texts underpin the ways in which other texts are used and alluded to. The purpose of the investigation was to illustrate how intertextual allusions in Judith 16 are used to describe ‘God/the Lord’ as a God of war and, thereby, to maintain an already existing ideology of war:We know now that a text is not a line of words releasing a single ‘theological’ meaning (the ‘message’ of the Author-God) but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture. (Barthes, cited in Beal 1992:27)

Talking to ‘real’ South Africans: An Investigation of the Dilemmatic Nature of Nationalism

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Gray ◽  
Aislinn Delany ◽  
Kevin Durrheim
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
National Identity ◽  
South African ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
South Africans ◽  
National Accounting ◽  
Discursive Analysis ◽  
English National Identity ◽  
The Way

This study is a discursive analysis of how a group of South Africans, who are seriously contemplating emigration, talk about South Africa and their place in it. The primary aim was to investigate the discursive construction of national categories, in order to highlight the way in which context informs both the content and nature of nationalist accounting. The talk of emigrating South Africans showed the existence of a fundamental dilemma of nationalism, as evidenced by the existence of coexisting, contradictory themes of nationalism and anti-nationalism across the interviews. Participants attempted to resolve this dilemma by identifying and disidentifying with a ‘South African’ national category at various points. In particular, three rhetorical strategies are discussed that allowed participants to distance themselves from the national category, that is, collective versus personal, splintering the nation and refuting the collective. These findings are compared to those of Billig's (1995) work on banal nationalism and Condor's (2000) study of English national identity in order to draw parallels, or point to differences, in the way that people orient to national categories in different settings. These findings highlight that generalist studies of discourse may not be relevant across all national contexts. Instead, it is argued that an understanding of South African national accounting will very much depend on an understanding of the contexts in which these accounts are realised.

scholarly journals Employment Equity

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-83
Author(s):  
Barend Röges Odendaal
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
The Political ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
The Past

The Employment Equity Act, 1998, Act 55 of 1998 was created in order to bring about a paradigm shift in South Africa’s labour relations, transforming it into a system based on equality. This change in the political life of all South Africans has brought about huge challenges to employers and employees alike. Seen as a threat to some, others view it as a positive beacon. If the Act was correctly implemented, South Africa will be heading towards a better competitive market and the workforce should be equally representative of the population. This paper aims to illustrate whether the Act has achieved its goals over the past 13 years by means of analysis and assessment of reports and statistical reviews. An overview is offered in the form of a literature review of the Act and defining the current legislation thereof in conjunction with management theory. The paper challenges the perceptions of all South Africans and finding possible solutions to areas in which the Act has failed. The paper further proposes action steps for the effective implementation of the legislation and for the process to follow to ensure that is fair in the sense that all employees can compete on equal terms.

scholarly journals Reforming our ‘Barth’?

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Laubscher
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The Way ◽  
Prophetic Office

Against the backdrop of the Reformation as catalyst for many church and societal reforms, this article wants to reflect upon the transformation of the past 40 years of Barth studies in South Africa. Not only have we consciously read Barth in South Africa, but we also differed in the way we made Barth our own. Therefore, in reforming our ‘Barth’, we will look into particular trajectory of first discerning Willie Jonker’s Barth, followed by that of Dirkie Smit, and lastly proposing another emerging Barth for the way we read him in South Africa today. It is especially the role and significance of the prophetic office in Barth’s theology which will emerge in challenging ways.

scholarly journals Bonhoeffer in South Africa: Role model and prophet

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-165
Author(s):  
PGJ Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Dietrich Bonhoeffer ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Way

Dietrich Bonhoeffer , arguably more than any other European theologian, influenced the way in which South African Christians, clergy and laity alike, have come to see their role in the struggle against apartheid. In his article the author describes the manner in which the German theologian was accepted as a role model by many, and evaluates his influence  in the theological and ethical debates in the country. The aim of the article is to determine whether Bonhoeffer – who was born a hundred years ago, in 1906 – still has a message for us today, in a different time and under different circumstances.  The author’ s conclusion is in the affirmative: Bonhoeffer’ s message is as powerful as ever . The basic principles in his teaching are as important to us today and tomorrow as they have been in the past.  The author refers to five principles: 'Confessing Christ here and now’, ‘Putting a spoke in the wheel’, ‘Learning to see things from below’, ‘Acknowledging our guilt’, and ‘Becoming a church for others beyond privilege’.

scholarly journals Vreemdeling in jou eie land? Teologiese riglyne vanuit 1 Petrus, met ’n juridiese begronding

2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Janse van Rensburg ◽  
Gerrit J. Pienaar
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Present Position ◽  
The South ◽  
South Africans ◽  
1 Peter ◽  
The Past ◽  
South African Constitution ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
As If

Stranger in one’s own country? Theological guidelines from 1 Peter with a juridical foundationSome South Africans, more specifically Afrikaans-speaking citizens, experience their present position as that of being foreigners in their own country. Many of the privileges they had enjoyed in the past do not exist anymore. Moreover, it seems as if Afrikaners continuously lose other privileges too. In this article an attempt is made to apply the motif of alienation in 1 Peter to the mentioned situation as well as to highlight relevant stipulations in the South African constitution. The aim with this point of departure is to equip preachers and pastors with a biblically-valid perspective on the problem experienced. Such a perspective can contribute to a more positive attitude among Afrikaner Christians experiencing this kind of alienation and thus urge them to answer to their calling in a spirit of hopefulness.

Restorative Justice as a Key for Healing Communities

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 53-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christo Thesnaar
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Gain ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Past ◽  
Life Journey

AbstractSouth Africa is indeed a country of many contrasts, of extreme wealth and extreme poverty. All South Africans were deeply affected by apartheid and this had a huge effect on how communities (including both offenders and victims) on all levels took shape: where they lived, the quality of their housing and neighbourhoods, the resources they had or did not have at their disposal, what schools their children attended, what opportunities they had for economic gain and how they were emotionally affected by the policies of apartheid. This article specifically intends to argue that communities should deal in a positive and urgent way with the divide caused by the past so that victims and offenders do not stay victims and offenders but are assisted to move on in their life journey towards healing and wholeness. The author believes that the key for reaching this goal is justice, especially restorative justice. With this qualification in mind the article wants to argue that the Christian church in particular can play a central role in implementing restorative justice in local communities. This will ultimately help to break the destructive cycle of being a victim today and an offender tomorrow, or the other way round.

Land Redistribution/Restitution in South Africa: A Model of Multiple Values, as the Past Meets the Present

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Land Policy ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Land Redistribution ◽  
The Past ◽  
Redistributive Policies ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
Large Survey ◽  
Simple Economic

This article investigates support for redistributive land policy in contemporary South Africa. From a large survey conducted in 2004, the author assesses whether contemporary policy preferences reflected egocentric instrumentalism – direct and immediate profit from redistributive policies – or symbolic justice – non-instrumental concern for contemporary and historical injustices against groups. Analysis of the data decidedly favours the symbolic justice hypothesis. Land redistribution is a symbolic issue for most black South Africans, grounded in values connected to land as a symbol and in concern for the historical injustices of apartheid and colonialism. Because land policy preferences are so strongly associated with concerns for historical injustices against groups, the land issue remains volatile and resistant to ‘simple’ economic solutions. Land is thus an example of historical injustices colliding with demands for contemporary fairness.

scholarly journals COVID-19: Two sides to the story

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanita Mellet ◽  
Michael Pepper
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Infected Person ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Past ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Two Sides

Since the report of the first COVID-19 infected person in South Africa, COVID-19 has moved from being a distant threat to a new reality that resulted in a nationwide lockdown. Though the lockdown was necessary to prepare health facilities for when the country reached its peak, it had a significant negative impact on the economy. In other areas such as the environment, work and education, and the personal lives of South Africans, the consequences have been varied. This article will highlight the positive and negative impact of the past 18 months of lockdown from a South African perspective.

SOUTH AFRICA’S ACCESS TO INFORMATION LEGISLATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS: CIVIL SOCIETY AND MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT AS DRIVERS

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Arko-Cobbah ◽  
Basie Olivier
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
The Other ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Past ◽  
Meaningful Engagement

The inclusion of access to information in the constitution of South Africa and its concomitant legislation, Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) is aimed at promoting transparency, accountability and democratic governance in the hitherto closed, authoritarian and apartheid society. The Constitution goes further to entrench socio-economic rights (SERs) in order to address the injustices of the past of ignorance, fear, and want that impair the dignity of the majority of South Africans. Access to information (ATI) is described as the ‘touchstone’ of all human rights and upon which the other human rights, including SERs are buttressed. SERs are, supposedly, enforced by the courts of law. However, their justiciability has become acrimonious and adversarial because it may include the courts making orders that may have budgetary implications, which usually fall under the purview of the executive-cum-legislation, thus undermining the separation of powers doctrine. The study  suggests the concept of meaningful engagement to break the impasse, arguing that the concept is more ‘user-friendly’ and grounded in the Constitution and other statutory instrument and practices in the governance of South Africa. 

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