AA 2003 Volume 35 Issue 1

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/6748

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Open Access
After theory
(University of the Free State, 2003) Peeters, Leopold
English: In French literary studies the reign of “Theory” has come to an end and its demise has left a void. This article proposes that literary studies be founded on anthropological considerations. In order to justify this approach the insufficiencies of theory are first shown to be rooted in dualistic rationalism. Poetry concerns the whole experience of human beings, and three aspects of their irreplaceable individuality and unity are explored: verbal image, rhythm and voice. Since poetry is essentially human it needs to be studied in an interdisciplinary context.
Open Access
Aggressive adolescent behaviour in privileged schools
(University of the Free State, 2003) Olivier, Tilla
English: This article offers a perspective on the topic from educational psychology, with a focus on adolescents, who often air their frustrations at growing up and developing their own unique identity by way of opposition. The literature suggests that aggressive behaviour correlates with the social environment and reaches higher levels in lower socio-economic environments. The purpose of this research was to determine teachers’ experiences of aggressive adolescent behaviour at a privileged school and to provide guidelines for dealing effectively with it. A qualitative research approach was chosen. By means of analyses of the transcribed interviews central themes could be identified, and recommendations made.
Open Access
AIDS in schools: a human rights perspective on parameters for sexuality education
(University of the Free State, 2003) Ngwena, Charles
Englsih: This article is set against the background of a sustained HIV/AIDS epidemic affecting the South African population, including the education sector. It explores the education sector’s responses to the epidemic in the area of sexuality education for learners. It is submitted that lifeskills education — the main medium for imparting sexuality education — is an essential instrument in the armamentarium against HIV/AIDS. However, lifeskills education is not value-free. The values that underpin lifeskills education are libertarian in orientation. They cherish diversity, and do not sit easily with a sectarian view of life. The success of lifeskills education will depend, in part, on striking an acceptable balance between the duty of the school to impart the knowledge and skills essential for development and survival, the evolving capacity of the learner, and parental authority. In the final analysis, the impetus is towards a sexuality education in which the core values of human dignity, liberty and equality are protected and promoted in accordance with the imperatives of the Constitution.
Open Access
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, time perspective and the self
(University of the Free State, 2003) Carstens, Ansie; Mouton, Johann
English: In a study aimed at establishing a greater understanding of the subjective experience of sufferers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), time perspective was identified as one of the most affected dimensions of the self. It was found that the chronic and unpredictable nature of CFS affected both the past and the future of participants. As both of these dimensions reside within the present, the present was marked by a sense of anxiety and uncertainty. Participants showed, however, that they were able to countermand this anxiety by focusing on the extended present. In this dimension they had the power to consciously shape a perspective from which to (re-)interpret events and (re-)appraise the self.
Open Access
Coping styles and quality of life in people with HIV/AIDS: a review
(University of the Free State, 2003) Coetzee, Mignon; Spangenberg, Judora
English: In the midst of the dramatic global escalation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the relative longevity of patients continues to increase. The success with which one manages to cope with the continuous stress attached to HIV/AIDS impacts directly on one’s quality of life. It is therefore of major importance to determine which coping styles correlate positively with quality of life in people with HIV/AIDS. In general, the research literature indicates that problem-focused, active coping styles are superior to emotion-focused, passive coping styles, including avoidance. However, interesting contradictory findings have come to light in South Africa, namely that an avoidant coping style also seems to be beneficial in the African socio-cultural context.
Open Access
Creating knowledge-based organisations by means of knowledge management and organisational learning
(University of the Free State, 2003) Steyn, Trudie
English: Knowledge-creating organisations are successful. They have the ability consistently to produce new knowledge, circulate it through their organisations, and embody it in new products and services. Knowledge is a certain source of competitive advantage and the challenge for organisations, therefore, is to share and manage it. This article distinguishes between information, learning and knowledge and describes various models of knowledge management. These models that focus on social construction share common ground with those on learning organisations. For knowledge management to be successful it is necessary to understand how people in organisations learn, how they implement what they learn and how they share their knowledge. This article concludes by discussing the flow of knowledge in a learning organisation and the various types of learning which take place in such organisations.
Open Access
(De)constructing systems discourses in South Africa’s Education White Paper 6: Special Needs Education
(University of the Free State, 2003) Van Rooyen, Brenda; Newmark, Rona; Le Grange, Lesley
English: White Paper 6, on Special Needs Education, released in July 2001, is a response from the South African government’s Ministry of Education to the inclusion movement. In this article we examine systems discourses in this policy document. We discuss their implications, as we deconstruct them for inclusion or exclusion. We do not construct conclusions, but rather (de)construct the polyphony of voices, truths and realities speaking into and out of White Paper 6. This article thus offers an alternative approach to policy analysis.
Open Access
The development of dramatic symbolism and satire in the plays of Zakes Mda on the realities of South Africa’s political situation
(University of the Free State, 2003) Uwah, Chijioke; Muller, Roy
English: This article examines Mda’s artistic development, specifically in his use of symbolism and satire, while considering reasons why he chose to use these devices. The analysis will cover the period from the seventies, when he wrote some of his earlier plays, to the nineties, when some of his unpublished plays were produced. This will be done with a view to establishing the continuity or otherwise of his use of these dramatic devices from his early days to the present.
Open Access
Minimum wages for domestic workers: a comprehensive analysis
(University of the Free State, 2003) Bothma, Louis; Campher, Celeste
English: This article investigates the impact of a minimum wage for domestic workers on employment levels. A comparative analysis of two surveys undertaken in a Bloemfontein suburb challenges the Minister’s statement that the newly announced minimum wages for domestic workers in South Africa are “not only affordable but very realistic”. The analysis indicates that the demand for domestic workers is decreasing and that minimum wages could aggravate the situation. The wages of domestic workers vary not only between areas, but also within areas. Therefore, if job losses occur, rural and full-time domestic workers will be most affected. COSATU’s proposal that minimum wages should be set not according to geographical differentials, but according to work performed, seems meritorious.
Open Access
Moral and medical ‘prescriptions’ in a fifteenth-century Sacrament play
(University of the Free State, 2003) Geldenhuys, Katharine; Raftery, Margaret Mary
English: The purpose of this article is to investigate the manner in which Christ, perceived as present in the eucharistic host, is portrayed as the Suffering Physician in the “quack doctor” scene in the Croxton Play of the Sacrament. The dramatist’s specific linguistic choices in this scene appear to have been made in an attempt to create images of and associations with the Passion and other perceived forms of healing. The many references to medicinal plants, which are particularly significant in relation to the medieval idea of Christ’s role as the spiritual or moral Physician of humanity are considered in detail.
Open Access
Multiculturalism(s)? A critical appraisal
(University of the Free State, 2003) Van der Merwe, Willie
English: Various normative stances or responses in respect of multiculturalism are distinguished and briefly evaluated. The article focuses on what can be called “mosaic multiculturalism” — a multicultural condition (and concomitant responses) in which communities and individuals strive to protect (aspects of) their value systems from contamination or erosion by others and demand public recognition of them. The article examines the justifiability of such a “politics of recognition”. It tries to show that the ultimate ground of “mosaic multiculturalism” is an aporia, which allows for ongoing intercultural critique, and provides a basis for intercultural tolerance.
Open Access
Mythmaking as self-making and nation-building: a reading of Wole Soyinka’s “Idanre”
(University of the Free State, 2003) Ndaba, Sandile
English: This paper investigates how Soyinka uses Yoruba mythology in his poem “Idanre”. It avers that Soyinka uses Ogun as his tutelary deity in an attempt at self-reclamation and nation-building. It shows how Soyinka transposes the nature and symbolism of Ogun in Yoruba mythology to an interpretation of the contemporary postcolonial socio-political situation in Africa. Furthermore, the paper argues that Soyinka borrows mythical symbols from Greek mythology and blends these with those from Yoruba myth in an attempt to forge a new, hybrid African identity.
Open Access
Narrative temporalities in a Bushman rock painting site
(University of the Free State, 2003) Van den Berg, Dirk
Englsih: Proposing narrative readings of Bushman rock painting in terms of historical timeframes and narrative temporalities, this investigation of the consequences of musealisation at the Tandjesberg rock art site examines certain discursive functions of museum metaphors as emplotment schemes in historiography. In particular, the quasi-neutral use of the “panel” category for defining rock paintings in archaeology is critiqued. The final additions to the Tandjesberg rock paintings and possible connections with the politics of millennarian resistance receive special attention. Though the approach is essentially that of the history of art, it would seem that archaeology is subject to related ideologically charged discourses.
Open Access
The necessity of a challenge to western discourses by the African renaissance
(University of the Free State, 2003) Matthews, Sally; Solomon, Hussein
English: One of the goals of the African renaissance and related projects is the transformation of the power relations between the West and Africa. This paper demonstrates the way in which western discourses on Africa perpetuate problematic power relations. The portrayal of Africa as an ailing patient in need of western assistance is scrutinised. These discourses are shown to be part of the complex structures which allow western dominance to continue. The African renaissance’s response is briefly discussed, with special attention to NEPAD. Finally, the paper suggests a new response, emphasising the importance of challenging western discourses as part of the African renaissance.
Open Access
Newspaper coverage of South African tobacco issues, 1997-2001
(University of the Free State, 2003) Phaswana, Gladys; Peltzer, Karl
English: The purpose of this study was to investigate the way in which the tobacco issue has been framed in the mass media in South Africa. 363 South African newspaper articles published from January 1997 to December 2001 were analysed. Of the 224 articles finally selected for analysis, 100 were in line with the tobacco interest group and 124 supported the tobacco control group. The dominant frames used by the tobacco industry included “good product for the economy”, “concern about teenagers and youth”, “government’s role in reducing marketing visibility and destruction of jobs” and “discrimination and segregation”. The dominant frames used by the tobacco control advocates included “death/diseases”, “innocent children”, “smokers in great danger”, “glamourisation of smoking; intentional lie”, “passive smokers’ rights” and “smoking areas”. A major finding is that the frames used by both the tobacco control movement and the tobacco industry have changed over time. The tobacco industry has been steadfast in consistently targeting core human values as its dominant framing tactic. The finding may have implications for developing more effective arguments for tobacco policies.
Open Access
Poverty eradication: the need for good citizenship
(University of the Free State, 2003) Naudé, Wim
English: This paper makes use of game theory to argue that poverty and inequality can be understood as the outcome of a repeated game in which the players are caught in a poverty trap, or “prisoners’ dilemma”. They can escape this dilemma by means of cooperation and co-ordination, requiring appropriately designed “institutions” or “game rules”. However, such institutions or game rules may be only a necessary, not a sufficient condition for this. From the perspectives of evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology a case is made for the indispensability of good citizenship to poverty eradication.
Open Access
Die rol van die Unieverdedigingsmag in die onderdrukking van die nywerheidsonluste aan die Rand, 1922
(University of the Free State, 2003) Fokkens, Andries; Visser, Deon
English: Wage and labour disputes between the Chamber of Mines and white unionised workers on the Rand led to an industrial strike in March 1922. Negotiations failed and militant strikers attacked several police stations on the Rand. The Government proclaimed martial law and mobilised the Union Defence Forces to restore law and order. The Union Defence Forces, assisted by the South African Police, launched a series of military operations against the strike commandos. Although these were mainly infantry operations, artillery and air power also played a vital role in suppressing the unrest quickly and with minimal losses on both sides.
Open Access
Serieuse selfstandige soeker: C M van den Heever (1902-1957)
(University of the Free State, 2004) Kapp, Pieter
English: The Afrikaans poet and author C M van den Heever was the first professor of Afrikaans and Dutch at the University of the Witwatersrand. During the term of his appointment (1933-1957) he played a key role in the development of Afrikaans cultural life in Johannesburg and in interpreting events and developments in the fields of literature and cultural politics. He was a dedicated supporter of close ties between the Dutch, Flemish and Afrikaans cultures. He strongly approved Prime Minister J B M Hertzog’s policy of reconciliation between Afrikaans- and Englishspeaking South Africans and criticised the cultural politics of many leading Afrikaansand English-speaking South Africans of his day. He is generally regarded as the first writer of the Thirties generation, although his work did not develop along the lines that later became typical of the Dertigers. In some ways he was a forerunner of N P van Wyk Louw’s ideas on the role of Afrikaner intellectuals, the importance of critical thought and the need for a liberal Afrikaner nationalism.
Open Access
Two-way symmetrical communication and interactivity on the web: a case study of two South African non-governmental organisations
(University of the Free State, 2003) Naudé, Annelie; Froneman, Johannes; Atwood, Roy
English: Practitioners who use the internet as part of their public relations efforts often still do not apply the interactive features to their fullest potential. This article is based on a study that aimed to address the void in public relations research as far as the application of new communication technology is concerned. The research focused on the interactive nature of the internet by applying the two-way symmetrical model of public relations to the websites of ten South African NGOs. This article deals with two of these NGOs and their use of the World Wide Web. It was confirmed that more than technical knowledge is required to manage a website successfully. Much more important is a sound understanding of the communication function within an organisation, especially with regard to public relations. Understanding and practising the two-way symmetrical model would in the long run be beneficial to the optimum use of an organisational website.

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