9 research outputs found
“Umzi ka mama Rhodes University PhD research project,” February 23, 2021, produced by Phemelo Hellemann and Thingo Mthombeni, methodology video, 16:51.
No full textThis African feminist study enlists narratives of a sample of seven African female heads of households residing in Fingo Village who are also property owners. Fingo Village is an atypical environment where African people had a rare legal advantage of owning title deeds dating back to 1855.
The first phase of the research involved engaging with the literature about the title deeds history of Fingo Village and conducting oral history interviews that served as data. In the second phase, the interviews were analysed and packaged in a documentary format. The third phase was a playback theatre inspired session in a 10-minute performance based on themes from the participants’ filmed interviews.
Additionally, the performance was a catalyst for forum theatre activities that allowed the participants to interact with the performer and suggest solutions to the dilemma posed by the performer regarding family property use. The participants were decision-makers and family property relations experts within this imagined context. In the fourth phase, the image theatre adaptation and memory work activities were essential tools. The tools aided the visuals and information from an existing Fingo Village exhibition as additional resources that prompted dialogue and discussions. The exhibition encouraged participants to share their personal experiences and memories of the Group Areas Act (GAA) era.
The findings showed that the GAA era saw many families revert to communal tenure practices as a strategy to evade forced sales; as such, this gave rise to undocumented family property transfers. Additionally, the findings revealed that though customary practices are often patriarchal, there are circumstances favouring women as the preferred family property custodian. These are embedded in the social status of women who are traditional healers, firstborn daughters, and those from families with just daughters.
This study contributes to the growing literature that advocates for positive representation of African women’s stories by using active research methodologies that strengthen partnerships and shared authority between the researcher and the public. This methodology could inspire other researchers to explore theatre techniques to create more profound and meaningful engagements with their participants.</p
“Umzi ka mama Rhodes University PhD research project,” February 19, 2021, produced by Phemelo Hellemann and Thingo Mthombeni, video, 27:55,
No full textThe omission of Fingo Village women’s names from official deeds records silenced their voices. African women faced gender and racial discrimination that denied them fundamental human rights and limited their participation in urban life. Title deed records constitute one type of public record where African women’s names were omitted for centuries by the colonial and apartheid governments. Under apartheid, African women occupied the social status of minors; as such, the government denied them urban land rights. This African feminist study enlists narratives of a sample of seven African female heads of households residing in Fingo Village who are also property owners. Fingo Village is an atypical environment where African people had a rare legal advantage of owning title deeds dating back to 1855.
This study employed an interdisciplinary approach by mixing oral history methodology and applied theatre methods to record, interpret and present Fingo Village women’s narratives of family property inheritance and the significance of title deed documentation in the suburb. This multiple technique approach created opportunities for authentic dialogue between the researcher and the participants beyond the inherent limitations of public history oral interviews.
The findings showed that the GAA era saw many families revert to communal tenure practices as a strategy to evade forced sales; as such, this gave rise to undocumented family property transfers. Additionally, the findings revealed that though customary practices are often patriarchal, there are circumstances favouring women as the preferred family property custodian. These are embedded in the social status of women who are traditional healers, firstborn daughters, and those from families with just daughters. This study contributes to the growing literature that advocates for positive representation of African women’s stories by using active research methodologies that strengthen partnerships and shared authority between the researcher and the public. This methodology could inspire other researchers to explore theatre techniques to create more profound and meaningful engagements with their participants.</p
Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries and Extending Participation through Film and Applied Theatre Techniques: Reflecting on the Umzi ka Mama Oral Histories Project
No full textScholarship on African women has progressed from mainly focusing on royal women, political struggle heroines, and activists to include more stories of domestic workers, farmers, mothers, and daughters. Over time, feminist oral historians gradually moved from research with rigid traditional approaches to update their approaches to include creative methodologies that can enhance and extend interlocutor participation. Through a feminist lens, the paper articulates how a creative and alternative methodology extended interlocutor participation in the Umzi ka mama oral history project. The project explored unreported stories of seven African women who have owned family property in Fingo Village, Makhanda since pre-1994. The article explores how a multidisciplinary methodology spanning over three disciplines, history, drama and film, helped gather data using interviews, video, forum, play-back and image theatre inspired techniques. The results revealed how extended participation beyond oral history interviews presented more opportunities for shared authority and negotiations throughout the process. Additionally, the results show how accessible dissemination can be achieved. Although history, film and drama methods pair well together as cross-cutting approaches, there are disciplinary tensions that are embedded in multidisciplinary studies. The paper highlights these tensions to show why negotiation is a necessary part of multidisciplinary research
Teacher-in-role as a problem-posing method for learners in a special needs school in South Africa
No full textPaulo Freire’s problem-posing pedagogy urges for a creative and collaborative educational environment between learners and teachers that encourages critical thinking and engagement. This research explores how special needs pedagogical approaches in South Africa can transform their classroom practices to embrace creative and collaborative teaching methods such as drama. Drama-in-education (D-i-E) is an area where the learner and teacher relationship is characterised by creativity and engagement. This qualitative study considers the uses of drama as a teaching and learning method for learners in the Skills Phase class at Kuyasa Special School, Grahamstown. The research aimed to provide learners with intellectual barriers to learning with access to D-i-E. This was done through a series of practical drama lessons, which broadly aimed to enhance life skills and work environment competencies such as communication, problem-solving and interpersonal relations. The lessons followed a cross- curricular approach that integrated aspects of the Life Orientation (Grade 10-12) curriculum and the Drama (Creative Arts Grade 7-9) curriculum. This practice-led study reflects on how Dorothy Heathcote’s teacher-in-role (t-i-r) drama technique was implemented to teach topics and themes extracted and adapted from the Life Orientation learning area. This drama-based pedagogy employs three elements of Freire’s problem-posing education model, which are learner-centred, problem-posing and liberated pedagogy. The study discusses how these elements manifested in the lessons conducted, and how this approach benefited and improved the learners’ critical thinking skills, self-esteem and confidence. This study therefore provides a broad understanding of the possibilities of a drama-based pedagogy within a South Africa context of learning disability, proposing an alternative pedagogical approach in South African special schools. The findings contribute to the academic literature on D-i-E in South Africa and advocate for the inclusion of learners with learning disabilities within the performing arts education
Umzi ka Mama Family property transfer practices and the historical significance of title deeds to African female heads of household in Fingo Village: a participatory theatre approach
No full textMany everyday stories and experiences of African women remain underrepresented and undocumented. For example, the omission of Fingo Village women’s names from official deeds records silenced their voices. African women faced gender and racial discrimination that denied them fundamental human rights and limited their participation in urban life. Title deed records constitute one type of public record where African women’s names were omitted for centuries by the colonial and apartheid governments. Under apartheid, African women occupied the social status of minors; hence, the government denied them urban land rights. This African feminist study enlists narratives of a sample of seven African female heads of households residing in Fingo Village who are also property owners. Fingo Village is an atypical environment where African people had a rare legal advantage of owning title deeds dating back to 1855. This study employed an interdisciplinary approach by mixing oral history methodology and applied theatre methods to record, interpret and present Fingo Village women’s narratives of family property inheritance and the significance of title deed documentation in the suburb. The multiple technique approach created opportunities for authentic dialogue between the researcher and the participants beyond the inherent limitations of public history oral interviews. The traditional oral history interview and the participatory theatre methods helped uncover unconventional practices in family property relations. Though customary transfers of family homes to custodians were prevalent, title deed registration of family property was also acknowledged as a vital practice that empowered women legally. The researcher used participatory theatre techniques inspired by playback, image and forum theatre to enhance the researcher and participants’ relationship. These methods encouraged the researcher and respondents’ shared authority as they embarked on an extended participatory research project. In this regard, through dialogical and performance-based activities, the participants and the researcher became co-creators of untold Fingo Village stories. Moreover, the theatre techniques became interpretation and analysis tools that ensured that the participants’ untold stories were well represented. The first phase of the research involved engaging with the literature about the title deeds history of Fingo Village and conducting oral history interviews that served as data. In the second phase, the interviews were analysed and packaged in a documentary format. The third phase was a playback theatre inspired session in a 10-minute performance based on themes from the participants’ filmed interviews. Additionally, the performance was a catalyst for forum theatre activities that allowed the participants to interact with the performer and suggest solutions to the dilemma posed by the performer regarding family property use. The participants were decision-makers and family property relations experts within this imagined context. In the fourth phase, the image theatre adaptation and memory work activities were essential tools. The tools aided the visuals and information from an existing Fingo Village exhibition as additional resources that prompted dialogue and discussions. The exhibition encouraged participants to share their personal experiences and memories of the Group Areas Act (GAA) era. The findings showed that the GAA era saw many families revert to communal tenure practices as a strategy to evade forced sales; as such, this gave rise to undocumented family property transfers. Additionally, the findings revealed that though customary practices are often patriarchal, there are circumstances favouring women as the preferred family property custodian. These are embedded in the social status of women who are traditional healers, firstborn daughters, and those from families with just daughters. This study contributes to the growing literature that advocates for positive representation of African women’s stories by using active research methodologies that strengthen partnerships and shared authority between the researcher and the public. This methodology could inspire other researchers to explore theatre techniques to create more profound and meaningful engagements with their participants. The links to the video materials accompanying this thesis are provided on the contents page.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 202
Beyond Reenactment: exploring the Battle at Egazini with grade 10 history learners using applied theatre
No full textThe South African grade 10 history curriculum as outlined in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) requires learners to develop historical thinking skills that promote interpretation, analysis, and critical thinking competencies. One way of developing these skills is through revisiting historical events through reenactments to explore untold stories and develop historical empathy. However, reenactments can become sensational, one-sided events that lack the transformative power to offer varied versions of the events such as the Battle at Egazini and its key historical figures. The paper proposes reenactment for learning as an interdisciplinary methodology that draws on art exhibitions, history literature, and applied theatre techniques. The paper shows how these teaching tools actively and creatively engaged the learner-audiences in the reenactment of the 1819 Battle at Egazini between the amaXhosa and the British in Makhanda, formerly Grahamstown.The facilitators moved learner-audiences from four local schools beyond passive reenactment modes of engagement using games, pantsula dancing, facilitator-in-role, enrolling participants, and reflection exercises in one-hour workshops. The activities helped learners explore the relevance of colonial expansion and conquest themes within the Battle at Egazini context. The art-based interpretation framework also helped address misconceptions and cultivated an interest in wanting to know more about Makhanda, the war hero that the town is now named after. The paper argues for a creative and engaging pedagogy that helps learners make sense of broad topics. It contributes to current literature advocating for creative historical interpretation and teaching approaches in and outside the classroom space
Negotiating Public Participation through Dance and Drama Techniques: A Roundtable Discussion on the Challenges of Public History Work by the Isikhumbuzo Applied History Unit in South Africa
No full textThe Isikhumbuzo Applied History Unit (IAHU) of Rhodes University History Department specializes in innovative methodologies for bringing historical information closer to non-academic audiences. The National Research Foundation of South Africa funds the research work conducted by Isikhumbuzo Applied History Unit.
This article shares insights from a reflective discussion that took place February 4, 2019 at Rhodes University.
The team reflects on the challenges of doing Public History work in South Africa, particularly drawing attention to the issues surrounding academics and the public when it comes to engaging in research and storytelling
exercises that unearth untold stories.
Experimenting with creative arts such as drama and dance as strategies that can improve public participation
in historical work, the team discusses how they are bridging the gap between the public, artists, and academics.
The views expressed in this roundtable discussion contribute to the reflexive nature of the methodology employed by the Isikhumbuzo Applied History Unit
Is Africa Left behind in the Global Climate Finance Architecture: Redefining Climate Vulnerability and Revamping the Climate Finance Landscape—A Comprehensive Review
No full textAfrican countries contribute less than 4% of global carbon emissions and are susceptible to the repercussions of climate change due to pre-existing challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity. The Paris Agreement underscores the need for climate finance to support resilience and low-carbon investments. However, African nations struggle to access adequate funds, hindering effective adaptation and mitigation. Against this background, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on climate finance literature for the period 2007–2023 in order to explore the publication trends, emerging themes, and future research directions. Merging 91 documents from Web of Science and 94 from Scopus yielded a dataset of 139 records. Web of Science experienced a 10.58% publication growth rate, while Scopus had a higher publication growth rate of 13.18%. The merged dataset’s publication growth rate was 13.88%, reflecting consistent contributions. The surge in publications from 2019 to 2023 points to intensified discussions on climate change and associated policies. International collaboration between authors is evident, with Web of Science at 37.76%, Scopus at 28.7%, and the merged dataset at 26.62%. Temporally, 2007–2023 saw escalating interest, especially post-2012, reflecting the evolution of climate change and renewable energy policies. Authors were ranked based on article count and fractionalized ranks, with Chirambo D being the lead author in the field of climate finance in Africa. Key articles advocated for supplementary fund integration into government budgets. The UK, USA, and Germany topped in citations, reflecting the availability of research funding, expertise, and collaborations. Leading sources included Climate Policy and Climate and Development. Keyword co-occurrence identified five emerging thematic trends, contributing to an in-depth understanding of climate finance literature’s dynamics and future directions
The use of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19: Panacea or enigma?
No full textThe outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has triggered unprecedented social, economic and health challenges. To control and reduce the infection rate, countries employed non-pharmaceutical measures such as social distancing, isolation, quarantine, and the use of masks, hand and surface sanitisation. Since 2021 a global race for COVID-19 vaccination ensued, mainly due to a lack of equitable vaccine production and distribution. To date, no treatments have been demonstrated to cure COVID-19. The scientific World is now considering the potential use of Ivermectin as a prophylactic and treatment for COVID-19. Against this background, the objective of this study is to review the literature to demystify the enigma or panacea in the use of Ivermectin. This paper intends to investigate literature which supports the existence or shows the nonexistence of a causal link between Ivermectin, COVID-19 mortality and recovery. There are inconsistent results on the effectiveness of Ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Some studies have asserted that in a bid to slow down the transmission of COVID-19, ivermectin can be used to inhibit the in vitro replication of SARS-CoV-2. The pre-existing health system burdens can be alleviated as patients treated prophylactically would reduce hospital admissions and stem the spread of COVID-19. On a global scale, Ivermectin is currently used by about 28% of the world's population, and its adoption is presently about 44% of countries. However, the full administration of this drug would require further tests to establish its clinical effectiveness and efficacy
