scholarly journals Crossing spatial and temporal boundaries: Three women in search of a future

Literator ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-36
Author(s):  
M. Wenzel
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
White Women ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Nadine Gordimer ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
The Past ◽  
Family Saga ◽  
South African Literature ◽  
History Of

The past has become a focal point in contemporary South African discourse, in public debate, newspaper articles and various forms of literature. South African literature written during the eighties and nineties, in particular English and Afrikaans novels, effectively portray this climate of confrontation and reconciliation by engaging in dialogue with the past and history. This article traces the evolution of political consciousness in the female protagonists of A Sport of Nature (1987) by Nadine Gordimer, Die reise van Isobelle (1996) by Elsa Joubert and Imaginings of Sand (1997) by André Brink. All three novelists subvert the traditional stereotypes of white women: Gordimer in an ironic quasi-picaresque form, Joubert by staging a family saga that assumes a testimonial quality and Brink in a fictionalised meta-history of women interwoven with strands of magic realism. The novels all engage with history, and in particular the role of women in history, in a constructive manner and attempt to anticipate a positive scenario for the future.

scholarly journals Dispute resolution – an archaeological perspective with case studies from the South African Stone Age and San ethnography

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Morris
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
South African ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Archaeological Perspective

This paper presents an archaeological perspective on dispute resolution. Being a discipline based primarily on tangible material remains, archaeology may be hard put to draw firm conclusions on a phenomenon whose expression is usually intangible. It nevertheless takes up the challenge to consider whether there are traces suggesting the successful avoidance of conflict in the past. Drawing insights from South African Stone Age archaeology and San ethnography, the evidence of unperturbed continuance of a given cultural tradition is considered, as are indications of hxaro-like gift-giving mechanisms known to reduce tension in ethnographic instances of the recent past. Findings based on such indicators may be ambiguous. Evidence of negative outcomes in terms of conflict and homicide would be more obvious and pertinent to dispute resolution, specifically its failure. The role of “othering” in oral literature is referred to for situations where external social distance is emphasised or where regulation of inappropriate behaviour within a group is hinted at. The paper touches on the history of colonial encroachment and genocide in the Karoo, and finally, on the role of heritage itself as it becomes a locus of dispute in the present.

scholarly journals [email protected]. Recorrido en 4 escalas

(an)ecdótica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-60
Author(s):  
Fernando Curiel Defossé
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Book History ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Mexican Literature ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Literature History ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors

Generally speaking, the objective of this article is to present a proposal for the construction of a Mexican literature history of the 20th century. During this period foundations take shape and get established throughout the journey where, among other issues, it reflects around the Humanities, its particularities and disciplines. Regarding those disciplines, it’s important to establish that the focal point rests on literature and history, specifically intellectual history. In that sense, the text borrows the ideas of Dominick LaCapra about the role of the historian and therefore of the historiography set forth in his book: History and its Limits. Subsequently the text reviews both the political, social and cultural factors and the contributions and shortcomings of the critical theory studies responsible for the configuration of a record of our literature from the past century. Lastly, the text proposes the division of the literary Century in four stops, or periods to put this proposal in motion.

scholarly journals Is there any hope for church unity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sipho Mahokoto
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
The Past ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
History Of ◽  
African Context ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Church Split ◽  
The Church

his article gives some perspectives on the causes of the Reformed Churches split since the time of reformation and how these divisions impacts on church unity discussions today. Since reformation, church divisions took place in various forms and discussions about church reunification became a focal point in the reformed world. These splits amongst reformed churches seem to have caused traumatic stress and inflicted deep wounds that are very difficult to heal in full, especially in the context of South Africa. This article briefly looks at some causes of split in the reformed world by paying attention to the work of Lukas Vischer and also by sketching some few causes of church split within the Dutch Reformed family of churches in the South African context. This article does not really pay attention to an in-depth discussion on church unity, rather, it places the interest on issues of church divisions which impact negatively on the true unity of the church. A question can be asked: can we really hope for a genuine unity of the church given the history of these splits? Put it differently: Is there any hope for an authentic church unity amongst reformed churches locally and globally? The article argues that the history of these divisions makes it very hard if not impossible to hope for an authentic church unity, given the currently lived experiences of divisions, the irreconcilability of people and the unhealed wounds inflicted in the past. For an authentic church unity to be achieved and lived positively, the article suggests that injustices of the past needs to be addressed, especially between the Dutch Reformed family of churches.

Receptions of the Past: Commemoration, Racism, Desire

Somatechnics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-303
Author(s):  
Michael Connors Jackman
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
White Privilege ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
The Body ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Lesbian And Gay ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of

This article investigates the ways in which the work of The Body Politic (TBP), the first major lesbian and gay newspaper in Canada, comes to be commemorated in queer publics and how it figures in the memories of those who were involved in producing the paper. In revisiting a critical point in the history of TBP from 1985 when controversy erupted over race and racism within the editorial collective, this discussion considers the role of memory in the reproduction of whiteness and in the rupture of standard narratives about the past. As the controversy continues to haunt contemporary queer activism in Canada, the productive work of memory must be considered an essential aspect of how, when and for what reasons the work of TBP comes to be commemorated. By revisiting the events of 1985 and by sifting through interviews with individuals who contributed to the work of TBP, this article complicates the narrative of TBP as a bluntly racist endeavour whilst questioning the white privilege and racially-charged demands that undergird its commemoration. The work of producing and preserving queer history is a vital means of challenging the intentional and strategic erasure of queer existence, but those who engage in such efforts must remain attentive to the unequal terrain of social relations within which remembering forms its objects.

Learning Zulu

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
South African ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
African History ◽  
African Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Correct Form ◽  
Linguistic Purism

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.

scholarly journals Afrikaans as universiteitstaal: Onlangse ontwikkelinge in historiese en internasionale perspektief

Literator ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Steyn
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Language Community ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Official Status

A study of the history of South African universities from 1918 to 1948 showed that six factors influenced the use of a particular language as a language medium at a university, namely economic and political power, as well as the number of people in the language community (which determines matters such as the official status of the language and the availability of money for universities), lecturers' and students ’ knowledge of the language, its position as scholarly language, language loyalty and attitudes toward other languages and the support enjoyed by language and related ideologies. Whereas these factors were reasonably favourable for Afrikaans universities in the past, they currently pose a threat to the survival of Afrikaans-medium universities. The standpoint is defended that retaining Afrikaans as educational and scholarly language should be an important factor when making decisions on universities. The tension between internationalisation and retention of the own language and culture is also topical in Europe, and steps have been taken to try to protect the retention of Dutch as language medium at Dutch and Flemish universities.

The Role of the Constitutional Court in the Development of the Rule of Law in Kosovo

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-313
Author(s):  
Enver Hasani
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Constitutional History ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Communist Countries

Kosovo’s Constitutional Court has played a role of paramount importance in the country’s recent history. The author uses a comparative analysis to discuss the role of the Court in light of the work and history of other European constitutional courts. This approach sheds light on the Court’s current role by analyzing Kosovo’s constitutional history, which shows that there has been a radical break with the past. This approach reveals the fact that Kosovo’s current Constitution does not reflect the material culture of the society of Kosovo. This radical break with the past is a result of the country’s tragic history, in which case the fight for constitutionalism means a fight for human dignity. In this battle for constitutionalism, the Court has been given very broad jurisdiction and a role to play in paving the way for Kosovo to move toward Euro-Atlantic integration in all spheres of life. Before reaching this conclusion, the author discusses the specificities of Kosovo’s transition, comparing it with other former communist countries. Among the specific features of constitutionalism in Kosovo are the role and position of the international community in the process of constitution-making and the overall design of constitutional justice in Kosovo. Throughout the article, a conclusion emerges that puts Kosovo’s Constitutional Court at the forefront of the fight for the rule of law and constitutionalism of liberal Western provenance.

scholarly journals A Quarter Century of Democracy and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leepo Johannes Modise
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
History Of ◽  
Measuring Tool ◽  
The Church

This paper focuses on the role of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in the South African society during the past 25 years of its services to God, one another and the world. Firstly, the paper provides a brief history of URCSA within 25 years of its existence. Secondly, the societal situation in democratic South Africa is highlighted in light of Article 4 of the Belhar Confession and the Church Order as a measuring tool for the role of the church. Thirdly, the thermometer-thermostat metaphor is applied in evaluating the role of URCSA in democratic South Africa. Furthermore, the 20 years of URCSA and democracy in South Africa are assessed in terms of Gutierrez’s threefold analysis of liberation. In conclusion, the paper proposes how URCSA can rise above the thermometer approach to the thermostat approach within the next 25 years of four general synods.

MEASURING SOLAR DIAMETER WITH 2012 VENUS TRANSITS

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 451-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
COSTANTINO SIGISMONDI
Keyword(s):  
Past History ◽  
Logarithmic Derivative ◽  
Solar Limb ◽  
Absolute Calibration ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Solar Diameter ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Better Than

The role of Venus and Mercury transits is crucial to know the past history of the solar diameter. Through the W parameter, the logarithmic derivative of the radius with respect to the luminosity, the past values of the solar luminosity can be recovered. The black drop phenomenon affects the evaluation of the instants of internal and external contacts between the planetary disk and the solar limb. With these observed instants compared with the ephemerides the value of the solar diameter is recovered. The black drop and seeing effects are overcome with two fitting circles, to Venus and to the Sun, drawn in the undistorted part of the image. The corrections of ephemerides due to the atmospheric refraction will also be taken into account. The forthcoming transit of Venus will allow an accuracy on the diameter of the Sun better than 0.01 arcsec, with good images of the ingress and of the egress taken each second. Chinese solar observatories are in the optimal conditions to obtain valuable data for the measurement of the solar diameter with the Venus transit of 5/6 June 2012 with an unprecedented accuracy, and with absolute calibration given by the ephemerides.

scholarly journals What Are Predictors for Persistence in Childhood Stuttering?

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (04) ◽  
pp. 299-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Usler ◽  
Anna Bostian ◽  
Ranjini Mohan ◽  
Katelyn Gerwin ◽  
Barbara Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Nonword Repetition ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Sensorimotor Processes ◽  
Speech Motor

AbstractOver the past 10 years, we (the Purdue Stuttering Project) have implemented longitudinal studies to examine factors related to persistence and recovery in early childhood stuttering. Stuttering develops essentially as an impairment in speech sensorimotor processes that is strongly influenced by dynamic interactions among motor, language, and emotional domains. Our work has assessed physiological, behavioral, and clinical features of stuttering within the motor, linguistic, and emotional domains. We describe the results of studies in which measures collected when the child was 4 to 5 years old are related to eventual stuttering status. We provide supplemental evidence of the role of known predictive factors (e.g., sex and family history of persistent stuttering). In addition, we present new evidence that early delays in basic speech motor processes (especially in boys), poor performance on a nonword repetition test, stuttering severity at the age of 4 to 5 years, and delayed or atypical functioning in central nervous system language processing networks are predictive of persistent stuttering.

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