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WHEN THE LIVING HAUNTS THE DEAD: TRAUMA AND HEALING IN BESSIE HEAD’S REMEMBRANCE OF FANTISI GAOTHOBOGWE
Get PDFThis article is a timely reflection of how five young volunteers who died on the 12th of September 1976 while working on behalf of the Botswana University Campus Appeal affected Bessie Head as a writer and as a person. The deceased were four students of Swaneng Hill and the bus driver of the Serowe cooperative, Fantisi Gaothobogwe. This paper unpacks a letter that Head wrote to Betty Fradkin, who was in New York at the time, a month after the car accident. The letter focuses mostly on the young driver, Fantisi Gaothobogwe. It is through Bessie Head’s recollections of this soul that we learn the power of humanity that is not clothed in racial or ethnic accoutrements. The letter becomes an echo of Bessie Head’s own writings and psychological distress of how society still views individuals on physical attributes rather than aspects of personality. Hopefully, as we celebrate 40-years of teaching and learning at the trendsetting University of Botswana, we may reflect on existentialist lessons of what our purpose on earth is and create some form of immortality for our mortal souls
THE HISTORY OF XHOSA TOPONYMS IN MBEMBESI
Get PDFThis article discusses the history of eight Xhosa toponyms in the Mbembesi area of Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland Province. The main objective of the study is to unravel the history of the Xhosa people by investigating their toponyms, guided by the conviction that they are reservoirs of their history and not just mere tags or labels. The research follows a qualitative methodology employing purposive sampling techniques and snowballing. The study uses the Afrocentric theory, largely the nommoic creativity principle. The theory underscores that African people’s history and culture is of great significance and is about the strategic creation of concepts, thus, it should be studied and told from an emic perspective. The study’s main findings include, among others, the realisation that Xhosa toponyms in Mbembesi are to a large extent descriptive locatives, with some linked to the various clans found among the Xhosa and the geophysical features in the areas, while some have to do with the chiefs of the various clans in the villages. The study, therefore, concludes that Xhosa toponyms are reservoirs of the history of the Xhosa people and are a vital component of their cultural heritage as the bulk of them have been handed down from generation to generation
Anglicism in French: Why are the French Concerned?
Get PDFIn the definition of language as a social tool of communication, one often does not see what else it carries. It is not the superficial function of communication that makes language an object of endearment and passionate reverence – it is the intangible social marks that language puts in the mind and conduct of a community. The social role of language as an identifier is more profound as it is how a community identifies itself and express their belonging to a common enjoyable culture and other complex expressions in their way of life. So, there is no language community that will consciously discard this extraordinary tool of social communication. When a language is invaded, therefore, there is a lot that is at stake and the invasion is construed as a profound attack on the community, its identity, pride and indeed, its culture. Often, such an invasion on a language is felt and seen as a form of colonialism, and speakers feel diminished as the new language becomes an imposition and an agent of de-culturalisation. This essay examines some of the intricacies of language politics manifested in the historical relationship between English and French
LIVED EXPERIENCES OF OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID 19: THE CASE OF BOTSWANA OPEN UNIVERSITY
Get PDFThe emergence of COVID-19 led many institutions and schools to hurriedly seek alternativemodes for teaching and learning other than the traditional face-to-face contact mode. In some,if not most cases, the alternative was open and distance learning (ODL). However, theBotswana Open University (BOU) was not totally caught unawares. Based, among others, onthe need to enhance society’s knowledge of an institutional response to the pandemic, this studyexplored the model of ODL at BOU, teaching and learning at BOU before COVID-19, the impactof the pandemic on the teaching and learning process and the nature of interventions at BOUduring COVID-19. The study also presents observed challenges and mitigation measures. Thequalitative method was used with reliance on lived experiences of the authors, desktopresearch, and examination of institutional documents, policies, and practices of the institution.Although BOU, as the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCODOL) used thecorrespondence model at inception, it has, since the establishment of BOU, developed a robuststrategic framework, a strategic plan, an overarching strategy for technology-enhancedteaching and learning, and an e-tutor model. It has also enhanced its regional centres operationsand student support in its online engagement with its learners. The selection of a LearningManagement System (LMS) is underscored, and the partial use of the SubstitutionAugmentation Modification Redefinition (SAMR) model has helped in teaching and learning.The article recommends full implementation of all policies and guidelines, the provision ofsupport for students with disabilities, and the formal use of the SAMR model in its operations
Fred Morton, When Rustling Became an Art: Pilane’s Kgatla and the Transvaal Frontier 1820-1902
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COLONIALITY OF POWER AND RESISTANCE IN SOME INTERRACIAL TOPONOMASTIC TRANSPHONOLOGIES IN ZIMBABWE
Get PDFThis paper engages the theory of coloniality of power in analysing the implications of trans-phonological toponymic distortions in the context of colonial Zimbabwe. The paper argues that toponyms are part of people’s cultural identity as they form part of a collective cultural memorabilia. Their distortion, therefore, compromises their critical symbolic function. This paper uses a qualitative approach for collection and analysis of the data. A total of 33 transphonologies were collected through interviews, observations, and document reviews. Of these, 15 that deviate significantly from their linguistic etymons are analysed through etymological analysis and historical toponym reconstruction. The paper uses a functional linguistics approach to address issues related to power in toponomastic transphonologies. The analysis establishes that there are coloniality of power matrixes in English transphonologisation of indigenous toponyms aimed at acculturation and de-historicisation. The paper also establishes that the Zimbabwean colonials also used transphonologisation on imposed English toponyms as anti-colonial resistance. The lack of effort by both coloniser and colonials to get the pronunciation of the toponyms correct is either colonial arrogance or decolonial disobedience. The transphonologies achieve onomastic erasure through meaning alterations that are either done through meaningless renditions or a change in meaning towards a different lexeme