http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2722 2013-05-20T16:16:04Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/8842 Language attitudes and language choice within the correctional services with reference to Pretoria Central Prison Mabule, Dorah Riah The focus of this study is an investigation of the language policy and language policy implementation in the Department of Correctional Services of South Africa. Language usage is a right of all the citizens of South Africa as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) which is the supreme law of the country. It is imperative that language policy makers in the Department of Correctional Services should adhere to the provisions of the constitution. It also aims at establishing whether the Department of Correctional Services’ policy is aligned to the national language policy framework as well as provincial language policy framework that provide for the use of the eleven (11) official languages in general and in particular. In this research study, background information serves to give an overview of how language policy of South Africa since 1994 has been perceived by various scholars and the historical overview of the language policies during the apartheid era. The African languages were given a low status as the language diversity of South Africa was not acknowledged by the government of that day. The evaluation of the contents of language policies that were used previously and currently in the Department of Correctional Services shed light to the issues of language attitude, language choice and language use in this department. During the apartheid era there were working languages set for prisoners as well as staff regarding communication either verbally or in writing in the Department of Correctional Services. The official languages were English and Afrikaans of which the latter was dominant. The question of whose language, for what purpose and how was it received was also investigated. 2013-04-04T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/6106 Post-independence Shona poetry, the quest and struggle for total liberation Tembo, Charles This study pursues the quest and struggle for total liberation in post-independence Shona poetry. The study also relies on views of key respondents obtained through interviews and questionnaires. Couched and guided by Afrocentricity and Africana womanism, the study elucidates the politico-economic and socio-cultural factors that militate against Africa’s total liberation in general as well as women’s liberation, respectively. Simultaneously, critical judgments are passed on the extent to which poets immerse their art in African existential philosophy. The study is energized by the idea that pursuing the quest for authentic liberation provides a lens through which one can understand threats to Africa’s true liberation. It observes that poets and key informants largely attribute ersartz independence to internal problems. The researcher holds that it is problematic to hold a domesticated vision of the African condition to the extent that poets and other literary workers need to widen their canvas beyond fighting internal oppression and internationalise the struggle. The researcher argues that it is myopic and self-defeating to protest against Africa itself without giving adequate attention to the incapacitating hegemonic world system. Therefore, the poetry is lacking on its critique on domination. The centerpiece of the thesis is that in order to be purposeful and functional, poets need to grapple with both endogenous and exogenous factors that obstruct the march towards genuine liberation. The study also observes that in some instances poets produce cheap literature which is marked by a narrow and moralistic approach and this is attributable to the fact that poets lack a scientific vision in understanding reality. Concerning women’s authentic liberation, the commonly identified obstacles to women’s freedom are the male counterpart, self-depreciation, lack of education and culture. The study observes that women poets in Ngatisimuke (1994) and key respondents seem to approach gender relations from a feminist perspective and hence fail to situate women’s condition in the context of the history and culture that shape African gender relations. Women poets in Ngatisimuke fall short of internationalising their struggle in concert with the male counterpart such that their poetry degenerates into sponsored and misguided activism. 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5932 Interfacing IK with other knowledges in the knowledge economy: A case of blending modern knowledge and ancestral wisdom in the South African 'knowledge society' Phaahla, Pinkie Although indigenous knowledge (IK) is significant to the development of South African indigenous peoples the preservation of its societal memory is fast disappearing. In the emerging global knowledge economy, prominence is given to the 'knowledge society' that promotes universal approaches to knowledge production and understanding. A voluminous body of literature has emerged which asserts that indigenous knowledge cannot be verified by scientific epistemologies nor that science could be adequately assessed according to the tenets of indigenous knowledge systems. This body of literature reports that most of these traditional knowledge systems are not documented. Consequently, the indigenous peoples of South Africa have ab;;~ndoned their traditional ways of doing things or, alternately, are seeking to rediscover ancient wisdoms as foundations for p;;~th;vays to the future. This article explores the South African indigenous peoples' worldview and the beliefs they hold in their attempt to survive in the 21" century. It also provides a perspective on how indigenous knowledge can be preserved and transferred orally and examines its interaction with social capital for the purposes of community development. The argument presented in this article is that indigenous knowledge is often reflected in the belief systems of the community. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5931 The transmission and reproduction of folktales with special reference to Nanana Bosele Ntuli, Cynthia, D. The genre 'folktales' is one of the oldest forms of oral tradition which amongst other things, was used to impart and store knowledge from generation to generation. It is very important and is regarded as the wealth and the treasure chest of the nation. Different types of research have been done on folktales but surprisingly, many scholars seem to have ignored the subject of how they are disseminated. A tale when passed on from one individual to another, from one community to anotller, from one generation to the next, undergoes some form of metamorphosis. As each person repeats the story as s/he imagines or recalls what s/he has heard from the previous narrator, 'it undergoes many successive changes before it, at length, arrives at that relatively fixed form at which it may become current throughout a whole community' Bartlett (1965:247). The aim of this article is to examine three versions of the same story in order to reveal how, over decades, a story can been transmitted, altered, augmented and retold by different performers/authors. The discussion will commence with the most original one, followed by the intermediate and end with the latest version of the story. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z