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Viewing Zimbabwean literature through an Africana womanist lens: a critical reading of selected texts to investigate Charles Mungoshi’s treatment of African women in Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuwa and Waiting for the Rain
Get PDFThe overarching theme of the critical and creative aspects of this thesis is women’s agency in precolonial and colonial Zimbabwe. The critical component offers a reading of Charles Mungoshi’s two books Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuwa (1975) and Waiting for the Rain (1975), and analyses the characteristics attributed to Mungoshi’s female characters. Africana womanist theory provides a framework which it argues mainstream feminism fails to address the deep meaning of African culture (Hudson-Weems, 1997). In particular, the critical component focuses on Mungoshi’s two novels and the extent to which his female characters exhibit characteristics that afford them agency. Mungoshi’s writing echoes the conditions prevalent in the country at that juncture complicating the reading as it navigates colonial patriarchy. The youngest, adolescent and teenage female characters have the least amount of agency provoking a discussion about the teenage daughter/father power dynamics typical of Black households (Boehmer, 2009), and how the political environment oppresses them further. The discussion is enriched by comparisons of feminist and womanist perceptions of ‘Mother Africa’ tropes prevalent in African male writing. The creative component draws on these findings to produce a novel with an Afrocentric perspective that reveals African women in a colonial context. The female protagonist, Zwi/Mazvitreni, is empowered by some of the eighteen tenets of Africana womanism to navigate her changing environment in response to colonialism and evangelism. Ambrose, a colonial administrator, and Eugene, a Christian missionary are the two antagonists. The novel, Zwi is set in the late nineteenth century after the establishment of small British settlements and their first conflict with the indigenous people. Africana womanist traits are identified in Mungoshi’s female characters despite the fact Africana womanist theory came into existence a decade after his books were published. This research contributes an Afrocentric focus to literary practice in the expanding Africana womanist literature through its use in literary fiction about Black women
Vāstu-śāstra for Christian spiritual well-being in St Thomas ancient church architecture of the Malabar Coast (southwest India)
No full textThis thesis studies the application of the Vedic architectural wisdom of Vāstu-śāstra for spiritual well-being in three pre-colonial churches of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church. It also addresses the need for Christian inculturation in church architecture, raised in the Literature Review. The main question is: to what extent can Vāstu-śāstra provide for spiritual well-being, where inculturation is needed, based on the example of three St Thomas churches on the Malabar Coast?
The research explores the transcendental role of Vāstu-śāstra in these churches, how people perceive their form aesthetics and experience spiritual well-being inside them. It follows the transpersonal research method of intuitive inquiry, followed by a hermeneutical cycle. The primary data is gathered through a triangulation formed by six interviews with local Vāstu experts and priests, architectural analysis of the three churches, participant observation and 482 surveys to laypersons. It combines a qualitative and quantitative approach with a statistical questionnaire, ‘SHALOM SWBQ,’ to assess spiritual well-being.
The findings reveal that Vāstu architecture is compatible with Christianity and facilitates Christian spiritual well-being. It was applied to the selected churches, providing spiritual well-being to a great extent while adopting the vernacular architectural style of South India.
The original contribution to knowledge debates the need for inculturation in church architecture, proposing an intercultural architectural approach instead. It brings a formula that synthesizes the main parameters of Vāstu architecture for spiritual well-being in the Malabar Coast. Applying intuitive inquiry to a thesis in sacred architecture and adapting the statistical tool of SHALOM SWBQ to assess spiritual well-being in architecture also contribute to scholarship
Navigating fluidity: how embodied and creative experiential education sustains Gen Z's identities – an autoethnographic perspective
Get PDFBased on the lived experiences of the researcher who is a Gen Z dance graduate, this autotheoretical and autoethnographic research investigates Gen Z's identities and context to develop a new understanding of their sense of self through ideas of embodiment. It seeks to assess the role of arts education in balancing or enhancing identity formation and persona development for this generation. The study examines the prominent role of Gen Z in digital spaces, particularly on platforms like TikTok, to understand its significance and impact on their sense of fluidity, identity, authenticity and offline engagement. Through this analysis, the research aims to offer a fresh perspective of arts education on current issues affecting their students, with a special focus on dance, movement and embodied practices, to ensure relevance for this new generation of students and early career professionals
Examining small and medium enterprises’ responses to public personnel petty corruption: the case of “The Arab Republic of Egypt”
Get PDFCorruption presents a significant challenge to the operational efficiency and sustainability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly in emerging economies. This study examines how SMEs in Egypt navigate public personnel petty corruption, exploring multi-dimensional causes of corruption and responses to corruption through a qualitative, interpretive approach to answer three research questions: what are the types and forms of corruption faced by SMEs in Egypt? How do SMEs respond to public personnel’s petty corruption? And what are the institutional dimensions shaping SMEs’ responses to corruption? This research draws on institutional theory to develop a multi-level framework to analyse the dimensions of corruption at the micro, meso and macro-levels. Findings revealed that SMEs adopt a spectrum of formal (resistance, escalation, legal action, third party delegation) and informal (bribes, facilitation payments, gifts) responses, with their decision-making influenced by sectoral demands, regulatory constraints, and socio-cultural norms. The study identifies two distinct response patterns: single-action responses and adaptive, multi-action responses combining one or more responses, where SMEs pragmatically shift their approach based on business survival or growth, and cost-benefit considerations. It also highlights the limitations of state-led anti-corruption measures and the role of informal networks in shaping business strategies.
This research makes the following academic contributions to the literature by refining the conceptualisation of SMEs’ responses to petty corruption within underperforming institutional environments: 1) Identifies forms and types of corruption, and SMEs’ owner-managers’ perceptions to corruption; 2) Conceptualises six types of responses and five strategies that SMEs in Egypt mobilise to survive and/or expand their business with prevalent levels of corruption. Strategies adopt a response or combine more than one response contingent with the aspired outcome for the business and aligned with enterprises’ resources; 3) Examines institutional dimensions shaping SMEs’ responses to corruption on the micro, meso and macro-levels; 4) It delivers actionable policy recommendations to strengthen regulatory framework, enhance institutional support for SMEs, and promote sustainable business practices in corruption-prone markets
The use of metaphors by service users with diverse long-term conditions: a secondary qualitative data analysis
Get PDFLong-term conditions and accompanied co-morbidities now affect about a quarter of the UK population. Enabling patients and caregivers to communicate their experience of illness, in their own words, is vital to developing a shared understanding of the condition and its impact on their life and delivering person-centred care to support them. Studies of patient language show how metaphors provide insight into the physical and emotional world of the patient, but such studies are often limited by their focus on a single illness. The authors undertook a secondary qualitative data analysis of 25 interviews, comparing the metaphors used by patients and parents of patients with five long-term conditions. The analysis shows how similar metaphors can be used in empowering and disempowering ways as patients strive to accept the illness in their daily lives, and how metaphor use depends on the manifestation, diagnosis, and treatment of individual conditions. There are implications for how metaphorical expressions are attended to by healthcare professionals as part of shared care planning
Age differences in priming as a function of processing at encoding
Get PDFIt is unclear whether implicit memory (priming) is affected by aging. Some studies have reported no difference between young and older adults, while others have uncovered reliable reductions. An important factor that may explain these discrepancies is the manner of encoding. Processing requirements (perceptual/conceptual) have varied considerably between studies, yet processing abilities are not equally affected by aging. This study examined whether processing during encoding moderates age effects on priming. Young and older participants studied object-word pairs and made natural/manufactured (conceptual) and left/right rotation (perceptual) judgements in relation to the word or object. Objects served as targets on a subsequent continuous identification with recognition task to assess priming and recognition. Priming and recognition were greater in young than older adults for attended items, with a larger effect size in the conceptual than the perceptual condition. Findings suggest that age differences in priming may be a function of processing at encoding
Compound Poisson approximation
No full textCompound Poisson approximation appears naturally in situations where one deals with a large number of rare events. It has important applications in insurance, extreme value theory, reliability theory, mathematical biology, and more. Compound Poisson Approximation synthesizes the most important recent research in the field in a single volume. With an extensive list of references, open problems, and exercises, it will become the standard reference book on the topic.
Features
• Provides a comprehensive overview of this rapidly expanding field
• Synthesizes the most important research results of recent years
• Presents an array of special topics
• Provides the reader with a set of tools needed for research and education
The book is of interest to researchers and postgraduate students from probability, statistics, and mathematics
Sustainable heritage tourism: quality not quantity
No full textHeritage tourism, once known as special interest tourism or niche tourism, has become a mass phenomenon over the last two decades. As noted, towns and cities whose cultural heritage is important loom large amongst over-visited destinations: from Venice to Chiang Mai, sites and communities suffering from overtourism have struggled and at times failed to manage the risks it poses to their heritage, cultural identity and authenticity. The COVID-19 pandemic presented both challenges and opportunities for tourism, but it inflicted the greatest damage on the destinations that were most tourism-dependent, and showed the critical need to rethink tourism development in more sustainable and holistic ways: to mitigate its adverse effects and ensure the long-term viability of popular destinations. Heritage tourism, if carefully planned and managed, has the potential to enhance destinations and secure sustainable, creative and regenerative futures for tourism
The 'female' dancer: a soma-scientific approach
No full textThe 'Female' Dancer aims to question dancers’ relationships with ‘female’ through the examination and understandings of biological, anatomical, scientific, and self-social identity. The volume gathers voices of dance scientists, dance scholars, somatic practitioners, and dance artist-educators, to discuss some of the complexities of identities, assumptions and perceptions of a female dancing body in an intersectional and practically focused manner.
The book weaves a journey between scientific and somatic approaches to dance and to dancing. Part I: 'Bodily Knowledge' explores body image, hormones and puberty, and discussions around somatic responses to the concept of the gaze. Part II: 'Moving through Change', continues to look at strength, musculature, and female fragility, with chapters interrogating practice around strength training, the dancer as an athlete, the role of fascia, the pelvic floor, pregnancy and post-partum experiences and eco-somatic perceptions of feminine. In 'Taking up Space', Part III, chapters focus on social-cultural and political experiences of females dancing, leadership, and longevity in dance. Part IV: 'Embodied Wisdom' looks at reflections of the Self, physiological, social and cultural perspectives of dancing through life, with life’s seasons from an embodied approach.
Drawing together lived experiences of dancers in relationship with scientific research, this book is ideal for undergraduate students of dance, dance artists, and researchers, as well as providing dancers, dance teachers, healthcare practitioners, company managers and those in dance leadership roles with valuable information on how to support female identifying dancers through training and beyond
Translanguaging decoloniality in a divided island as post-colonial pedagogic praxis: Cyprus and cultural subversions
Get PDFAs a political and pedagogic project, decolonisation involves the deconstruction of dominant Eurocentric forms of knowledge production, and the pluralisation of the knowledge field. But, in the case of a divided Cyprus, such practices and structures take on different meanings, within and beyond different contexts. In this article we link feminisms of resistance to curricular practices as a decolonial pathway to erasure of epistemic and gendered violence. If we are to suggest a collective project of decolonisation of higher education in Cyprus, we initially need to deconstruct conceptual frameworks of social justice through decolonising pedagogic practices. We consider ‘translanguaging decoloniality’ as one such avenue to pedagogic praxis through enabling cultural subversions, storytelling in the curriculum, and re-framing/re-telling narratives of the nation