National Identity and Xenophobia in Kopano Matlwa’s Period Pain

Imbizo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Tembo

Sigmund Freud describes hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness. Hatred is a form of animosity, frustration and hostility, often giving rise to a psychological descent into violence. This essay seeks to explore how Kopano Matlwa mediates notions of xenophobia in Period Pain to determine whether the narrative offers ways of reimagining relations between the “locals” and “outsiders” in South Africa. I am specifically interested in how Matlwa engages with the processes of othering in her third novel. I question how Matlwa employs language to “move people against other people.” I use the core concept of psychotraumatology to argue that the textures of hatred inscribed in Matlwa’s text are internalised echoes from apartheid culture and practices, which live out in the present social moment. Finally, I interrogate the extent to which Matlwa’s text might allow us to understand how she rewrites a new South Africa.

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mmajapi E. Chokwe ◽  
Susan C.D. Wright

Caring is the core business of nursing and midwifery, involving a relationship in which the carer is committed to the needs of the one being cared for (Mason-Whitehead, Mcintosh, Bryan & Mason). Caring is the emotion which drives a midwife to care, the motive aimed at assisting someone to grow and self-actualise (Watson). The concern in midwifery is that irrespective of caring being central to the midwifery profession, caring taught in theoretical learning does not always translate into caring behaviour in practice. A qualitative exploratory study examined how midwifery educators impart the skill of caring during theoretical learning and clinical accompaniment, in order to respond to the general complaint made both locally and internationally that midwives are uncaring. The aim was to explore caring during theoretical learning and clinical accompaniment from the perspective of midwifery educators. Participants in the study were midwifery educators teaching midwifery in institutions of learning in Tshwane, South Africa. The naive sketch was used to gather data, wherein one central question was asked and the educators were invited to narrate and respond. Three themes emerged: the meaning of caring; how caring was conveyed during theoretical learning; and how it was conveyed during clinical accompaniment. Although the midwifery educators expressed how they conveyed caring to the learner midwives, it was not evident how caring competencies were assessed in order to ensure caring midwives at the end of training.Omgee is die kernwaarde van ‘n verpleegkundige en vroedvrou. Omgee behels ‘n verhouding waar die person wat omgee verbind is om in die behoeftes van die een wat sorg benodig te voldoen (Mason-Whitehead, Mcintosh, Bryan & Mason). Omgee is die emosie wat die vroedvrou noop om om te gee, om ‘n person te help groei en self-aktualiseer (Watson). Die kwelpunt in verloskunde is dat ongeag van die sentrale belang van omgee vir verloskundiges, die teoretiese onderig oor omgee nie altyd uitgeleef word in die praktyk nie. ’n Kwalitatiewe ondersoekende studie het die wyse ondersoek waarop vroevrou opvoerders die vaardigheid om om te gee, oordra tydens teoretiese en kliniese begeleiding, ten einde te reageer op die plaaslike en internasionale algemene klagte, dat vroedvroue nie omgee nie. Om omgee tydens teoreties en kliniese onderrig vanuit die perspektief van die opvoedkundige verloskundige te ondersoek. Die deelnemers het bestaan uit verloskundige opvoedkundiges wat verloskunde doseer in hoёr onderwys institusies in Tshwane, Suid-Afrika. ‘n Naїewe skets is gebruik om data in te samel met een sentrale vraag. Drie temas het voortgespuit: die betekenis van omgee; hoe die konsep oorgedra is tydens teoretiese onderrig; en hoe die konsep oorgedra is tydens kliniese onderrig. Alhoewel die verloskundige opvoedkundiges kon verduidelik hoe hulle omgee oorgedra het aan die leerling vroedvroue, was daar geen bewyse van hoe omgee vaardighede evalueer is nie ten einde omgee vaardige vroedvroue aan die professie te lewer.


Derrida Today ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Grant Farred

‘The Final “Thank You”’ uses the work of Jacques Derrida and Friedrich Nietzsche to think the occasion of the 1995 rugby World Cup, hosted by the newly democratic South Africa. This paper deploys Nietzsche's Zarathustra to critique how a figure such as Nelson Mandela is understood as a ‘Superman’ or an ‘Overhuman’ in the moment of political transition. The philosophical focus of the paper, however, turns on the ‘thank yous’ exchanged by the white South African rugby captain, François Pienaar, and the black president at the event of the Springbok victory. It is the value, and the proximity and negation, of the ‘thank yous’ – the relation of one to the other – that constitutes the core of the article. 1


Author(s):  
Nasar Meer

The purpose of this chapter is to locate the discussion about Muslims in Scotland in relation to questions of national identity and multicultural citizenship. While the former has certainly been a prominent feature of public and policy debate, the latter has largely been overshadowed by constitutional questions raised by devolution and the referenda on independence. This means that, while we have undoubtedly progressed since MacEwen (1980) characterised the treatment of ‘race-relations’ in Scotland as a matter either of ‘ignorance or apathy’, the issue of where ethnic, racial and religious minorities rest in the contemporary landscape remains unsettled. One of the core arguments of this chapter is that these issues are all interrelated, and that the present and future status of Muslims in Scotland is tied up with wider debates about the ‘national question’. Hitherto, however, study of national identity in Scotland has often (though not always) been discussed in relation to the national identities of England, Wales and Britain as a whole.


Author(s):  
J. F. Bernard

What’s so funny about melancholy? Iconic as Hamlet is, Shakespearean comedy showcases an extraordinary reliance on melancholy that ultimately reminds us of the porous demarcation between laughter and sorrow. This richly contextualized study of Shakespeare’s comic engagement with sadness contends that the playwright rethinks melancholy through comic theatre and, conversely, re-theorizes comedy through melancholy. In fashioning his own comic interpretation of the humour, Shakespeare distils an impressive array of philosophical discourses on the matter, from Aristotle to Robert Burton, and as a result, transforms the theoretical afterlife of both notions. The book suggests that the deceptively potent sorrow at the core of plays such as The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, or The Winter’s Tale influences modern accounts of melancholia elaborated by Sigmund Freud, Judith Butler, and others. What’s so funny about melancholy in Shakespearean comedy? It might just be its reminder that, behind roaring laughter, one inevitably finds the subtle pangs of melancholy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4011
Author(s):  
Dan Wang ◽  
Jindong Zhao ◽  
Chunxiao Mu

In the field of modern bidding, electronic bidding leads a new trend of development, convenience and efficiency and other significant advantages effectively promote the reform and innovation of China’s bidding field. Nowadays, most systems require a strong and trusted third party to guarantee the integrity and security of the system. However, with the development of blockchain technology and the rise of privacy protection, researchers has begun to emphasize the core concept of decentralization. This paper introduces a decentralized electronic bidding system based on blockchain and smart contract. The system uses blockchain to replace the traditional database and uses chaincode to process business logic. In data interaction, encryption techniques such as zero-knowledge proof based on graph isomorphism are used to improve privacy protection, which improves the anonymity of participants, the privacy of data transmission, and the traceability and verifiable of data. Compared with other electronic bidding systems, this system is more secure and efficient, and has the nature of anonymous operation, which fully protects the privacy information in the bidding process.


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