39 research outputs found
'n Literêr-gerontologiese beskouing van "Die dao van Daan van der Walt" deur Lodewyk G. du Plessis (2018)
No full textThesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2020.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus in literary gerontological research is on literary work wherein the ageing protagonist experiences his own ageing (and in some cases writes about it as well). This induces not only sympathy for the ageing character, but it also creates insight for the reader into the problematic (bodily, sociological and psychological) world of the aged. Although situations in real life may be portrayed in literature, it remains a representation of reality and cannot mirror society. The representation of ageing in literature might be powerful in creating better understanding of ageing, but only when literature is studied as one among many other cultural, sociological or psychological factors. The insight thus created cannot be equalled by gerontologists, psychologists or by the medical profession. It is important, however, that the prime focus is on literature as a form of art and not on gerontology.
The themes that have been selected for study in Die dao van Daan van der Walt by Lodewyk G. du Plessis (pseudonym of Andries Buys) are all associated with ageing: transience, religion, relationships, identity, sexuality and loss. The focus in this research is on the portrayal of the main character’s (Daan) inner conflict in resolving his homosexual identity by acknowledging and realizing it. To find inner peace by confronting the heterosexist society and the dictations of the church, required a complicated and long journey for Daan (seventy years old). The word dao (way/journey) in the title of the novel creates the expectation that the text will be devoted to this journey.
Research on male subjectivity forms an integral part of this investigation in understanding Daan’s struggle, as he was married to Magrieta while not realizing his homosexuality. The church, the Bible and daoism are all major influences in his eventual transformation. The insight he gained into his identity and comprehension and acceptance of other people’s views and cultures, contribute to the hope and wisdom with which he approaches his final years. It is important to notice that a transformed conception of ageing is a powerful basis for the fight against ageism.
The hybrid nature of the novel opens interfaces with a variety of genres, such as the farm novel, metafiction and the Reifungsroman. Since Daan is writing his memoirs, his Historia, the novel acquires a confessional tone. References to mythology, history, the Bible and literature are included in the Historia, thereby opening new perspectives on political and ecclesiastical issues. The novel is a valuable contribution to the genre of the Reifungsroman, as there is (especially in Afrikaans literature) a lack of novels with an ageing male protagonist in the narrative. The portrayals of the coming out of ageing homosexuals are almost non-existent.
This study is concluded with a discussion of the novel as the late work of Andries Buys.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ’n literêr-gerontologiese ondersoek is die fokus op ’n letterkundige werk waarin die protagonis sy oudword beleef en dalk ook daaroor skryf. Só ’n persoonlike belewing kan vir die leser insig gee in die ouderdomsproblematiek wat op verskeie terreine (liggaamlik, sosiologies of psigologies) kan uitspeel. Die meelewing wat so bewerkstellig word, is iets wat nie deur gerontoloë, psigoloë of mediese analise bereik kan word nie. Alhoewel situasies en gebeure in die sosiale wêreld in die letterkunde uitgebeeld kan word, is dit steeds ’n voorstelling en nie ’n spieëlbeeld van die werklikheid nie. In samehang met verskeie ander faktore kan die uitbeelding van veroudering in ’n letterkundige werk baie kragtig wees om beter begrip te kweek oor wat veroudering behels. Die taalkunswerk moet egter in die eerste plek as letterkunde bespreek word en nie soseer as ’n gerontologiese studie nie.
In Die dao van Daan van der Walt deur Lodewyk G. du Plessis (2018), skuilnaam van Andries Buys, word verskeie temas, soos verganklikheid, religie, verhoudings, identiteit, seksualiteit en verlies ondersoek. Dit is egter die uitbeelding van die hoofkarakter, Daan, se innerlike konflik om sy identiteit as homoseksueel te vind, te erken en uit te leef, wat as transformerende veroudering belangrik is en die hooffokus in die tesis is. ’n Sewentigjarige man se pad of reis om die heteroseksistiese samelewing en die kerk se voorskriftelikheid te trotseer ten einde vrede in homself en aanvaarding van sy medemens en ander kulture te vind, is ’n komplekse reis, wat alreeds deur die woord dao (pad) in die titel van die roman in die vooruitsig gestel word.
Navorsing oor manlike subjektiwiteit vorm ’n belangrike deel van hierdie ondersoek, waarin Daan se karakterontwikkeling in sy soeke na seksuele identiteit uitgebeeld word. Invloede vanuit die kerk, die Bybel en die daoïsme speel ’n groot rol in sy uiteindelike transformasie. Die insig wat hy verwerf, dra daartoe by dat hy die laaste fase van sy lewe hoopvol en met wysheid aanpak. In hierdie ondersoek word voorts aangetoon dat dit juis dié “getransformeerde” ouderdomsbelewing is wat ouderdomsdiskriminasie kan bestry.
Die hibriditeit in die roman leen dit voorts tot aansluiting by verskeie genres, soos die plaasroman, die rypingsroman (Reifungsroman) en die metafiksie, wat deur die skrywer benut word om aspekte van die karakter se ontwikkeling en uiteindelike transformasie uit te lig. Die narratologiese verskeidenheid open ook nuwe perspektiewe op kerklike en politieke vraagstukke. Die roman word as ’n belangrike toevoeging tot die genre rypingsroman beskou, waar daar veral in die Afrikaanse letterkunde ’n gebrek is aan romans met ’n ouer manlike protagonis en feitlik geen uitbeelding van die bejaarde homoseksueel se uitkom nie. Die mate waarin hierdie roman as Andries Buys se laatwerk beskou kan word, word ten slotte bespreek.Master
Die grondwet as gedenkteken en die werkdadigheid van onopvallende, grondwetlike kragte
No full textMemorialising a constitution: the power of unspectacular constitutional forces
Annette Combrink’s appointment as rector of the (new) North- West University’s Potchefstroom Campus is telling of modest beginnings – for both the North-West University as a new institution and for the “principle of CHE” in terms of which the previous Potchefstroom University asserted the right to be a confessional university with a Christian-Reformational (or Calvinistic) profile.
The point of this article is that modest beginnings need not be equated with weakness, inconsequeuntialness or failure: strength is often to be found not (only) in the spectacular, the ostentatious and the triumphant, but (also) in the unspectacular, the unassuming and the restrained. This point is illustrated by the various modes of functioning of South Africa’s constitution in protecting fundamental rights. Such (contrasting) modes of functioning are investigated and assessed in this article
Low frequency variabilty of the Agulhas Current region in a numerical model
No full textThe Agulhas region is known to be of global importance due to its role in the Global Meridional Overturning Circulation (GMOC) and regionally it can influence rainfall patterns and severe weather events. The long-term variability of the Agulhas region was analysed in relation to temperature, sea surface height (SSH) and velocity within the current using output from a regional ocean model. Validation of the model with in situ and satellite observed values for the temperature and SSH showed the modelled SSH results to be only marginally different from the satellite observed, while the temperature validation showed the modelled results to be over-estimating temperature across the region. Relatively weak trends existed in temperature and SSH for some parts of the Agulhas Current, most notably the retroflection region. There were also periods such as the 1960s and 1990s which were anomalously warm whereas the 1950s and 2000s were relatively cool. Analyses of these periods in terms of atmospheric changes throughout the Southern Hemisphere revealed some connections with El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and shifts in the wavenumber 3 or 4 pattern in the mid-latitude atmospher
Reis as tema en metafoor in die egoliteratuur van Elsa Joubert
No full textThesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2023.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Elsa Joubert (1922-2020) het met ʼn reisverhaal haar skrywersloopbaan in 1957 ingelui en sedertdien
wye erkenning verdien as ʼn belangrike reisverhaalskrywer in die Afrikaanse letterkunde. Sy het egter
veral bekendheid verwerf weens haar duidelike standpuntinname oor politieke en sosiale
vraagstukke wat sy vreesloos in haar romans (1963-2002), asook in haar egoliteratuur (2005-2017)
aangepak het. Reis is ʼn deurlopende tema in haar oeuvre, maar vir die doeleinde van hierdie studie
is die ondersoekveld afgebaken tot die outobiografiese drieluik in haar egoliteratuur: ʼn Wonderlike
geweld. Jeugherinneringe (2005); Reisiger: Die Limietberge oor (2009), en Spertyd (2017).
Die sterk verband tussen Joubert se persoonlike lewe en die breër kulturele en sosiopolitieke
samelewing, haar Afrika-gerigtheid, haar rol as vroueskrywer in die veranderende politieke klimaat
in Suid-Afrika, en haar ouderdomsbelewing, word in haar egoliteratuur gereflekteer. Heersende
konseptuele beskouings van die outobiografie, fiksionaliteit in die egoliteratuur, identiteit, die outoetnografie, die feminisme, en die literêre gerontologie is die teoretiese hoek van waaruit Joubert se
tekste in hierdie studie beskou word.
Haar lewensgeskiedskrywing verloop parallel met reis as ʼn lewenservaring wat haar van jongs af
gefassineer het. Sy is uiteraard op verskillende vlakke getransformeer deur haar reise oor verskeie
kontinente heen. Aspekte van die reisliteratuur wat vir hierdie studie relevant is, is die postkoloniale
diskoers en die rol van die ruimte en die metafoor in die kreatiewe herskepping van die reisgegewe.
In haar egoliteratuur is reis ʼn metafoor vir “binnereise” – reise waarin jy nuwe aspekte van jouself
ontdek. Dié soort reis, deur Joubert beskryf as haar “geleefde ervaring van een mens”, spruit uit die
outobiograaf se perspektief vanuit die hede, waarmee sy haar jonger self se optrede, denke en
aspirasies herbeleef. Dit word in haar nadenke ʼn nuwe reis, met ander betekenisse, en in Spertyd
word dit afgesluit met ʼn spirituele besinning oor die mens se bestaan. In hierdie studie word
ondersoek ingestel na die wyse waarop Afrikanerskap, patriotisme, skrywerskap, identiteit,
spiritualiteit, en veroudering figureer as metaforiese reise.
Reis as ʼn spesifieke tema, asook die metaforiese aard van reis as ʼn selfopenbarende element in ʼn
outobiografie in die algemeen, en in die besonder in Elsa Joubert se egoliteratuur, word in hierdie
studie as skering en inslag van Joubert se tekste beskou. Die fokus op die samehang tussen Joubert
se drie outobiografiese werke, en die rol van Spertyd as eenheidsvormende sluitstuk van die drieluik,
sowel as van haar oeuvre, sluit die navorsing af.ENGLISH SUMMARY : Elsa Joubert (1922-2020) began her writing career with a travelogue in 1957 and has since earned
wide recognition as an important travel writer in Afrikaans literature. However, she gained fame due
to her clear stance on political and social issues, which she fearlessly addressed in her novels (1963–
2002), as well as in her life writing (2005-2017). Travel is a continuous theme in her oeuvre, but for
the purpose of this study, the field of investigation is limited to the autobiographical triptych in her life
writing: ʼn Wonderlike geweld. Jeugherinneringe (2005); Reisiger. Die Limietberge oor (2009), and
Spertyd (2017).
The strong connection between Joubert's personal life and the broader cultural and socio-political
society, her African orientation, her role as a woman writer in the changing political climate in South
Africa, and her experience of aging are reflected in her life writing. Prevailing conceptual views of
autobiography, fictionality in life writing, identity, autoethnography, feminism, and literary gerontology
are the theoretical angles from which Joubert's texts are viewed in this study.
Her autobiography runs parallel to the journey as a life experience that fascinated her from a young
age and led to her travels across several continents, which transformed her life on various levels.
Aspects of travel literature relevant to this study are the postcolonial discourse and the role of space
and metaphor in the creative new history of the travel experiences. In her life writing the journey
becomes a metaphor for "inner journeys" - journeys in which one discovers new aspects of oneself.
This kind of journey, described by Joubert as her "lived experience of one person", stems from the
perspective of the autobiographer from the present, with which she reinvents her younger self's
actions, thoughts, and aspirations. In her mind, it becomes a new journey, with other meanings, and
in Spertyd it is concluded with a spiritual reflection on human existence. This study investigates the
way in which being an Afrikaner, patriotism, authorship, identity, spirituality, and aging figure as
metaphorical journeys.
Travel as a specific theme, as well as the metaphorical nature of travel as a self-revealing feature in
an autobiography in general, and particular in Elsa Joubert's life writing, are considered in this study
as fundamental to Joubert's texts. The focus on the coherence between Joubert's three
autobiographical works, and the role of Spertyd as a unity-forming closing piece of the triptych, as
well as of her oeuvre, conclude the research.Doctora
Outsourcing intelligence: The relationship between the state and Private intelligence in post apartheid South Africa
No full textThe state claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of force. This is not to suggest however that the state cannot and does not outsource the practical exercise of force. On the contrary, the outsourcing of a wide range of military and security roles and functions is, to a greater or lesser extent, a feature of most states. Important, yet least well understood is the outsourcing of intelligence. Explanations of the outsourcing of this sensitive function usually cite the incapacity of the state and the efficiency of the private sector. But is such outsourcing efficient? The evidence suggests not. Rather the outsourcing of intelligence has been characterized by inefficiency, corruption and criminality. This has certainly proved the case in post-apartheid South Africa where the outsourcing of intelligence by the state has been popular. This dissertation examines the relationship between the state and private intelligence in post-apartheid South Africa. It is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is concerned with establishing key concepts; namely the state, intelligence, and public and private intelligence; and with developing an interpretative framework of the relationship between the state and private intelligence. The second chapter provides an overview of intelligence in South Africa between 1949 and 2008. The third chapter considers the relationship between the state and private intelligence in post-apartheid South Africa. This dissertation concludes that the relationship between the state and private intelligence in post-apartheid South Africa can be best described as contradictory. While on the one hand the state has been hostile towards private intelligence, the outsourcing of intelligence has been favoured by the post-apartheid state. For the most part, such outsourcing has proved inefficient, corrupt and criminal; and has undermined what are already weak mechanisms of oversight and accountability
The experiences of parents of children with reading difficulties
No full textThesis (MEdPsych)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.Includes bibliographyENGLISH ABSTRACT: According to the results of the Annual National Assessment (ANA) of 2011 in South African schools, approximately 53% of learners in grade 3 and 70% of learners in grade 6 did not reach a partially achieved level of reading. As a result of the reading difficulties, these learners have varying degrees of learning and behavioural difficulties and also experience psychological and emotional challenges. This figure indicates that a high number of people are parenting a child identified as having reading difficulties. Bronfenbrenner’s theory of the ecology of human development indicated the importance of interconnections between school, home, and community settings in order to foster children’s learning. Parents may be better supported and empowered to assist their child by collaboration among teachers and families. This collaboration may be strengthened by utilising knowledge gained from parents’ lived experiences of parenting a child identified as having reading difficulties. The primary research question guiding this phenomenological study involved understanding the experiences of parents with children identified as having reading difficulties. The study’s research methodology can be described as basic qualitative research which is embedded within an interpretive paradigm. Purposive sampling was used to select three parents as research participants. Three methods of data collection were employed, namely written reflective notes, structured individual interviews and observations. Furthermore, qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. The analysis revealed that four interconnected contexts emerged concerning parents’ lived experiences, namely their relationship with their identified child, their relationships with other family members, their interactions with teachers and the child’s school, and their perception of social support in raising their child. The study found that parents experienced a variety of dismaying emotions regarding their child’s reading difficulties and that parents adopted roles such as caretaker, motivator and advocate in order to obtain the intervention and educational services needed for their child. The findings of this study inform and encourage educators and other support personnel to support parents and promote collaboration with parents of children identified as having reading difficulties, potentially enabling those parents to better support their identified child.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Na aanleiding van die uitslae van die Jaarlikse Nasionale Assessering (ANA) van 2011 in Suid- Afrikaanse skole, het ongeveer 53% van leerders in graad 3 en 70% van leerders in graad 6 nie ‘n gedeeltelik bereikte vlak van lees behaal nie. As gevolg van die struikelblokke met lees, ervaar hierdie leerders verskeie grade van leer- en gedragsuitdagings, asook sielkundige en emosionele uitdagings. Hierdie syfers dui aan dat ‘n beduidende hoeveelheid mense in die rol staan van die ouer van ‘n kind met leesstruikelblokke. Bronfenbrenner se teorie van die ekologie van menslike ontwikkeling dui op die belangrikheid van interkonneksies tussen die leerder se skool, tuiste en die konteks van sy gemeenskap vir die bevordering van leer. Ouers kan moontlik meer effektief ondersteun en bemagtig word om hul kind meer effektief te ondersteun, indien ‘n medewerking tussen ouers en onderwysers bewerkstellig kan word. Hierdie medewerking kan versterk word deur kennis aan te wend aangaande ouers se ervaringe in hul rol as die ouer van ‘n kind met leesstruikelblokke. Die navorsingsvraag wat hierdie fenomenologiese studie lei, handel oor ’n begrip van die ervaringe van ouers van kinders wat met leesstruikelblokke geïdentifiseer is. Die navorsingsmetodologie wat in hierdie studie gebruik is, kan beskryf word as basiese kwalitatiewe navorsing binne ’n interpretivistiese paradigma. ’n Doelgerigte steekproef is gebruik om drie ouers as deelnemers te identifiseer. Drie metodes van data insameling is gebruik, naamlik geskrewe, reflektiewe notas; gestruktureerde, individuele onderhoude en waarnemings. Verder is kwalitatiewe inhoudsanalise gebruik om die data te analiseer. Die data analise het aan die lig gebring dat vier kontekste wat telkens met mekaar verband hou, na vore gekom het rakende ouers se ervaringe as die ouer van ‘n kind met leesstruikelblokke, naamlik die ouers se verhouding met hul kind, die ouers se verhoudinge met ander lede van die gesin, die ouers se interaksies met die kind se onderwysers en skool asook die ouers se persepsie van die sosiale ondersteuning wat hulle ontvang in hul rol as ouers. Die bevindinge van hierdie studie het aangetoon dat ouers verskeie ontmoedigende emosies ervaar rakende hul kind se leesstruikelblokke en dat ouers in die rol van versorger, motiveerder en advokaat optree om sodoende die nodige intervensie en opvoedkundige dienste wat hul kind benodig, te bekom. Die bevindinge het ten doel om opvoeders en ander ondersteuningspersoneel in te lig en aan te moedig om ouers te ondersteun en medewerking tussen opvoeders en ouers van kinders met
leesstruikelblokke te bevorder. Sodanige medewerking kan ouers in staat stel om hul kinders meer effektief te ondersteun
A trans agent of social change in incarceration: A psychobiographical study of Natasha Keating
No full textIntro: This psychobiography focuses on the advocacy work of Natasha Keating, a trans woman incarcerated in two male prisons in Australia between 2000 and 2007. Incarcerated trans women are a vulnerable group who experience high levels of victimization and discrimination. However, Natasha advocated for her rights while incarcerated and this advocacy contributed to substantial changes in the carceral system. This psychobiography uses psychological understandings of resilience as well as the Transgender Resilience Intervention Model (TRIM) to investigate the factors that enabled this advocacy.
Methods: Data consisted of an archive of letters written by Natasha and interviews with individuals who knew her well. This psychobiography was guided by du Plessis’ (2017) 12-step approach and included the identification of psychological saliencies and the construction of a Multilayered Chronological Chart.
Results: Natasha’s life is presented in four chapters, with each chapter including a discussion of resilience based on the TRIM.
Conclusion: The TRIM suggests that during incarceration Natasha was able to access more group level resilience factors than at any other time in her life. This, combined with individual resilience factors, enabled her advocacy. This finding has implications for advocacy in general as it highlights the importance of both individual and group level factors in enabling individuals to effectively advocate for change in their environments
Legislative control over the military : a critical analysis of the strategic arms package
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 89-100)
Die verbouing van tafeldruiwe en sultanas in die Benede-Oranjeriviergebied
No full textDie rafeldruif- en sulranabedryf is die ekonomiese anker van die BenedeOranjeriviergebied, maar as gevolg van die droee klimaat is besproeiing noodsaaklik. Dit is egter nie nee die beskikbaarheid van water wat deur die klimaat belnvloed word nie, maar die produksie van tafeldruiwe en sultanas word ook deur klimaatsfaktore soos temperacuur en reenval, sowel as grondtipe en grondvog belnvloed. \u27n Blink toekoCls word vir die tafeldruifbedryf in die Benede-Oranjeriviergebied voorsien en die uirstekende groeipotensiaal behoort boere cot grocer produksie aan re moedig. Dir word voorsien dat die gebied uiteindelik sowat 30% van die uitvoertafeldruiwe sal produseer. Dit word ook voorsien dat die area onder tafeldruiwe sal vermeerder van ongeveer 1 600 ha tot sowat 4 100 ha vir die tydperk 1996 cot 2000
