KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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Rethinking communication principles to foster internal communities: A South African retirement village case study
Get PDFRethinking internal communication from a community perspective has been advocated, but little is available on the communication principles underpinning internal community-building. This qualitative case study of a South African retirement village, where semi-structured interviews with management, as well as focus groups with residents were used to collect data, enabled the inductive identification of four communication principles that foster internal communities within this non-traditional internal context: participation and collaboration, and shared values (both of which were previously identified in the building of communities), and inclusivity and a sense of belonging, and transparency and ethical communication (of which neither was previously linked to internal community-building). These four principles align with the two-way symmetrical communication worldview and the African philosophy of ubuntu; their identification extends the public relations body of knowledge on community building through internal communication in the South African context
Appropriation of analytics data in public relations practice in South Africa
Get PDFAdvances in technology allow organisations to collect and analyse huge volumes of data from a wide variety of sources. Analytics data (raw data to be analysed) gleaned from internal and external sources is transforming the world of business and also the public relations (PR) profession by informing decision-making. Despite the potential that analytics data holds for PR, few studies have examined how analytics data is being appropriated into PR functions. Premised on the excellence theory of PR, the concept of technological appropriation, and in-depth interviews with purposively selected PR practitioners, this study investigated how PR practitioners in South Africa are harnessing analytics data to enhance decision-making. The findings of the study confirm that PR practitioners are appropriating analytics data to enhance their practice. However, the appropriation of analytics data is still confined to the technical and managerial functions with little evidence suggesting that practitioners are harnessing analytics data to inform the PR strategist function. The findings suggest extending insights gleaned from analytics data to the PR strategist function for the profession to add more value to organisations
Prominent Malawian Machona Progenies in Zimbabwe
Get PDFAs immigrants settle and gradually entrench themselves in foreign spaces, some permeate the socio-economic and political fabric of their host nation and in the process assume unprecedented hegemonic prominence over time. Such has been the case of Malawian Machona (lost ones) descendants in Southern Africa, who as products of the colonial labour migration system, have over the years carved a niche for themselves in their adopted lands. Despite many of them living invisibly on the margins of the state, they have exhibited and showcased their unique ancestral traits and gained prominence across various fields. In Zimbabwe and South Africa, which are territories that immensely benefited from the sweat of colonial regional migrant labour, these immigrants have imprinted their genetic socio-cultural cosmology and left an everlasting influence and legacy across numerous spheres. Therefore, using biographical narratives of people of Malawian ancestry in Southern Africa, this article details how descendants of Malawian labour migrants in the region have become visible and left an indelible mark on the southern African geo-political landscape. The article anchors itself within the concept of visibility and invisibility, to showcase how migrants become prominent or visible in situations where formal bureaucracies and even historiographies tend to conceal, invisibilize or underrepresent such minorities. In the context of Malawian progenies, this prominence or visibility emerges out of an inherent assertiveness that has been historically informed by numerous socio-cultural circumstances in the diaspora
Rethinking contending themes in indigenous and Christian religions in contemporary Africa
Get PDFDespite myriad of studies on the interface between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR), there still is an unexplored lacuna in contending themes. In the vast majority of deficit-prone literature, such themes as symbolism, liturgy, sacrifice, saints, sinners, and ontology, among others, are far from balanced. The extant gap has further increased the befuddling perception of African traditional religion by indigenous Christians as belonging to the “Kingdom of Satan” that needs salvation through the instrumentality of Christianity. But irrespective of the waves of evangelism in the continent, many Africans have remained attached to their indigenous religious practices. There has been continuity in practice because the two religions’ themes are similar in content, context, and teachings. This study intends to provideinsightful knowledge and awareness about some of these themes and their meeting points. This knowledge will bridge the gap between the two religions and highlight Africa’s contributions to human ideas and civilisation
Song of Songs – Current trends in research
Get PDFThis article reviews recent developments in Song of Songs scholarship with a focus on publications within the South African context. The article provides an overview of the interpretation of the Song of Songs and describes the main lines of research. Research on the Song of Songs continues the trends of recent years, with an emphasis on literal interpretation. However, there is renewed interest in patristics, allegorical interpretation as erotic or intertextual allegorisation, and reception history. Interpretation in the context of a myth seemed outdated, but it is also back. Southern African studies have contributed to these fields and to contextual studies
Memory, Jesus, and Mary Magdalene: Whose memory matters?
Get PDFThis article explores how the collective memory of the Christian tradition draws on the characterisation of MaryMagdalene in two sets of writings: the canonical Gospels, and the Gnostic Christian writing, Gospel of Mary. It arguesthat the interpretations of these characterisations are deeply shaped by ideologies concerning gender and femalesexuality. This rings true for past and present contexts and is not limited to more conservative or traditional views on gender, sexuality, and theology. As such, the article attempts to highlight the role of subjectivity and ideology in the acts of remembering in the Christian tradition based on New Testament and Early Christian writings and argues for critical interpretations of both the characterisations in the writings themselves, and the subsequent “lives” of these characterisations in the Christian tradition
Reading Galatians 3:28 from a congregational perspective
Get PDFHow would reading a biblical text (Gal. 3:28) be interpreted from a congregational perspective? First, the article usesa model of African hermeneutics to develop a more contextual reading of a text. Secondly, it discusses the utilisation of congregational hermeneutics in reading a text. This is followed by an empirical reflection to understand the role of reading the biblical text in a congregation. The article identifies themes that may assist in applying the Galatians3:28 text. African hermeneutics, as a hermeneutical model, assists in having a more contextual reading of a text within an African context. The value of congregational hermeneutics involves the congregation and its members reading the text together. In reading Galatians 3:28 as an “open” text, different congregations may discover the meaning and application of this text for their specific context. It challenges congregations to have a more inclusive identity
Ecclesiological implications for the church as intergenerational space focusing on families
Get PDFThe church is God’s primary vehicle to minister in a global landscape dotted with globalisation, social media, wars, environmental issues, global economics, global social developments, and politics. Given the fact that the family is the microcosm where discipling should take place according to Psalm 78:4-7 (also Deut. 6:7-9; Matt. 28:19-20; 1 Cor. 3:4-9), this focus naturally leads to the critical question: Where do families fit in this mandate? Segregation in ministry results in divided age groups, lack of inclusiveness of all members in all of church life, and a low view of children as part of the church (Holmes et al. 2022:1-3). The article revisits a biblical framework of what church should be, in order to refresh insight into how the church could and should respond to an intergenerational understanding of the form and function of the church
Recurrent and current trends in the study of the Book of Psalms
Get PDFIn the past one hundred years, two approaches to the study of the Book of Psalms have tended to dominate, namely form criticism and shape and shaping (canonical criticism). Other studies such as the theology of psalms, the poetics of psalms, the redaction of psalms, as well as psalms and intertextuality have also been done. These approaches to the Psalter will continue to be points of focus for studies – the recurrent trends. In the late 20th nd early 21st centuries, other approaches to the Psalter emerged such as, among others, rhetorical criticism, liberation theology, feminist criticism, the psalms andspirituality, and so forth – the current trends. This article offers a summary of the current state of the form critical and the shape and shaping studies of the Psalter – the recurrent trends – and then moves on to examine a number of the 21st-century approaches to the book of Psalms – the current trends. The article concludes with some tentative thoughts about the future of psalm studies in the 21st century