Hasil untuk "African languages and literature"

Daniel Solymari, Ráhel Czirják

The Post-Development movements have not been able to fully answer the dilemma of how to replace the 'dominance of political power' in international development relations. The question we seek to answer in this article is to what extent the aid system has changed in terms of implementation of development policies on the ground. We first critically examine the anomalies inherent in some of the principles, as well as the theoretical issues that are often only visible from fieldwork, but whose resolution is crucial for a more effective practice of aid. Later, while exploring the current and unresolved dilemmas of development aid, we draw lessons from programs in urban slums in Kenya in the context of external power and power dominance. The special focus of this article is to explore the processes slum policy upgrading—the implementation of the historically largest Kenyan Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP) project. Accessibility Summary: In accordance with Title II regulations this content meets all points of exemption as Archived web content and/or Preexisting conventional electronic documents.

Gilson Lázaro

Minyahil Tadesse Boltena, Ziad El-Khatib, A. Kebede et al.

Malaria and helminthic co-infection during pregnancy causes fetomaternal haemorrhage and foetal growth retardation. This study determined the pooled burden of pregnancy malaria and helminthic co-infection in sub-Saharan Africa. CINAHL, EMBASE, Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were used to retrieve data from the literature, without restricting language and publication year. The Joanna Briggs Institute’s critical appraisal tool for prevalence studies was used for quality assessment. STATA Version 14.0 was used to conduct the meta-analysis. The I2 statistics and Egger’s test were used to test heterogeneity and publication bias. The random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence at a 95% confidence interval (CI). The review protocol has been registered in PROSPERO, with the number CRD42019144812. In total, 24 studies (n = 14,087 participants) were identified in this study. The pooled analysis revealed that 20% of pregnant women were co-infected by malaria and helminths in sub-Saharan Africa. The pooled prevalence of malaria and helminths were 33% and 35%, respectively. The most prevalent helminths were Hookworm (48%), Ascaris lumbricoides (37%), and Trichuris trichiura (15%). Significantly higher malaria and helminthic co-infection during pregnancy were observed. Health systems in sub-Saharan Africa must implement home-grown innovative solutions to underpin context-specific policies for the early initiation of effective intermittent preventive therapy.

Reem B. Atiyat, Khaled Sarayreh, Sameer Rimawi

This article aims at presenting a cross-cultural examination of uncle-niece incest through the theoretical scope of feminist psychoanalysis in literary studies. The paper is thus centered on two novels: Woman at Point Zero (1975) by Nawal El Saadawi and Uncle Vampire (1993) by Cynthia Grant. The main contribution in this article is to highlight the cultural differences found in eastern and western literary studies in relation to escaping or ending incest. The cultural differences are addressed in relation to parental assistance and institutional assistance. The article is thus structured around the exploration of two main research questions: ‘What is the role of parents in helping a victim of uncle-niece incest to end her abusive experience?’ and ‘what is the role of official institutions in assisting a victim of uncle-niece incest to terminate her abusive experience?’. A central concern to the researcher in this article is to voice the victims’ ‘particular’ struggle and efforts to escape the incestuous relationship in which she is trapped.

A. Bedard, L. Mata, C. Dymond et al.

Background Annually, over 1 billion people sustain traumatic injuries, resulting in over 900,000 deaths in Africa and 6 million deaths globally. Timely response, intervention, and transportation in the prehospital setting reduce morbidity and mortality of trauma victims. Our objective was to describe the existing literature evaluating trauma morbidity and mortality outcomes as a function of prehospital care time to identify gaps in literature and inform future investigation. Main body We performed a scoping review of published literature in MEDLINE. Results were limited to English language publications from 2009 to 2020. Included articles reported trauma outcomes and prehospital time. We excluded case reports, reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, comments, editorials, letters, and conference proceedings. In total, 808 articles were identified for title and abstract review. Of those, 96 articles met all inclusion criteria and were fully reviewed. Higher quality studies used data derived from trauma registries. There was a paucity of literature from studies in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), with only 3 (3%) of articles explicitly including African populations. Mortality was an outcome measure in 93% of articles, predominantly defined as “in-hospital mortality” as opposed to mortality within a specified time frame. Prehospital time was most commonly assessed as crude time from EMS dispatch to arrival at a tertiary trauma center. Few studies evaluated physiologic morbidity outcomes such as multi-organ failure. Conclusion The existing literature disproportionately represents high-income settings and most commonly assessed in-hospital mortality as a function of crude prehospital time. Future studies should focus on how specific prehospital intervals impact morbidity outcomes (e.g., organ failure) and mortality at earlier time points (e.g., 3 or 7 days) to better reflect the effect of early prehospital resuscitation and transport. Trauma registries may be a tool to facilitate such research and may promote higher quality investigations in Africa and LMICs.

Michael A. Coe, O. Gaoue

The cultural keystone species theory predicts plant species that are culturally important, play a role in resource acquisition, fulfil a psycho-socio-cultural function within a given culture, have high use-value, have an associated naming and terminology in a native language, and a high level of species irreplaceability qualify for cultural keystone species designation. This theory was proposed as a framework for understanding relationships between human societies and species that are integral to their culture. A greater understanding of the dynamic roles of cultural keystones in both ecosystem processes and cultural societies is a foundation for facilitating biocultural conservation. Given such important direct conservation implications of the cultural keystone species theory, we reviewed the use of this theoretical framework across the literature to identify new directions for research. Most studies often emphasized the role of cultural keystones species in human societies but failed to provide a robust and reproducible measure of cultural keystone species status or direct test of the predictions of the theory and underemphasized their potential roles in ecosystem processes. To date, no studies that mentioned cultural keystone species tested the predictions of the theory. Only 4.4% provided a measure for cultural keystone status and 47.4% have cited or applied keystone designation to a given species without providing a reproducible measure for cultural keystone species. Studies that provided a measure for cultural keystone species primarily occurred in North America while few of these studies occurred in Australia and Europe with none occurring in Africa. As such, most cultural keystone species have been designated as such qualitatively based on researcher subjectivity while other studies have designated keystone species with quantitative indices of cultural importance, often incorporating researcher biases or measuring a few of the cultural keystone status predictors rather than all of them, indicating a lack of consensus in identifying cultural keystone species. Thus, we pose the need for a paradigm shift toward the development of serious and systematic approaches for keystone designation.

J. Boivin, Judith Carrier, J. Zulu et al.

Background Fear of infertility (FOI) is often reported in studies about reproductive health but this literature not yet mapped. The aim of this rapid scoping review of qualitative studies was to describe the nature of FOI in Africa. Methods Eligibility criteria were qualitative data from Africa reporting views of women and men of any age. MEDLINE and CINAHL databases were searched for English language citations to February 2019 using keywords related to fear, infertility and Africa. Two independent reviewers screened texts for inclusion. Results Of 248 citations identified, 38 qualitative and six review papers were included. FOI was reported in diverse groups (e.g., men, women, fertile, infertile, married, unmarried, teachers, religious leaders). Two types of fears were identified: (1) fear of triggering infertility due to specific reproductive choices and (2) fear of the dire future consequences of infertility. Choices were perceived to affect fertility via internal accumulation and blockage (e.g., of menstrual blood), structural damage (e.g., burnt eggs), internal movement of contraceptive material, deliberate toxicity preventing population growth and behavioral effects impeding sexual activity. Diverse feared consequences of infertility were reported (e.g., polygamy, economic hardships). Fears were reported to affect reproductive behaviour (e.g., stopping contraception), help-seeking and social behaviour. Conclusion FOI is a phenomenon that should be studied in its own right. Fears could originate from genuine threats, incorrect knowledge, distortions of truths, or dissemination of false information. Rigorous studies are needed to better understand FOI and integrate it in health education, client counselling and family planning service provision.

A. Mwaka, C. Abbo, A. Kinengyere

Background Use of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) is very common among patients in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there are limited data on concurrent use of T&CM with conventional cancer therapies. In this scoping review, we sought to describe the (i) prevalence of use, (ii) types of medicine, (iii) reasons for taking T&CM, (iv) current knowledge on safety and risks, (v) characteristics of adult cancer patients who use T&CM, and (vi) perceived treatment outcomes among cancer patients undergoing conventional cancer treatment in SSA. Methods We conducted a systematic literature search for articles published in the English language in three scientific databases (PubMed, Embase and Web of Science). We used a scoping review approach to map relevant literature on T&CM use among cancer patients undergoing conventional cancer treatments. We assessed 96 articles based on titles and abstracts, and 23 articles based on full text. Twelve articles fulfilled preset eligibility criteria. Results More than half of the included articles were from only two countries in SSA: Nigeria and Uganda. Median prevalence of use of T&CM was 60.0% (range: 14.1–79.0%). Median percent disclosure of use of T&CM to attending healthcare professionals was low at 32% (range: 15.3–85.7%). The most common reasons for non-disclosure were: the doctor did not ask, the doctor would rebuke them for using T&CM, and the doctors do not know much about T&CM and so there is no need to share the issue of use with them. T&CM used by cancer patients included herbs, healing prayers and massage. Reported reasons for use of T&CM in 8 of 12 articles included the wish to get rid of cancer symptoms, especially pain, cure cancer, improve physical and psychological well-being, treat toxicity of conventional cancer therapies and improve immunity. There were limited data on safety and risk profiles of T&CM among cancer patients in SSA. Conclusion Use of traditional and complementary medicines is common among cancer patients undergoing conventional cancer treatments. Healthcare professionals caring for cancer patients ought to inquire and communicate effectively regarding the use of T&CM in order to minimize the risks of side effects from concurrent use of T&CM and biomedicines.

Craig MacKenzie

Mariëtte van Graan

No abstract available.

Allyson Kreuiter

Jane Goodwin Austin (1831–1894) published her short story ‘After Three Thousand Years’ in 1868. Austin’s tale is one of the first narratives to deal with a malevolent female mummy and what is known as the mummy’s curse. Her story has received limited critical attention unlike a similar story published by Louisa May Alcott in 1869, ‘Lost in a Pyramid, or The Mummy’s Curse’. This lack of scholarly attention makes Austin’s short story more interesting to the researcher than that of Alcott. In my article, I will perform a close reading of ‘After Three Thousand Years’, examining how the imperialist theme is intertwined with the abject Gothic doubling of the mummy and the female protagonists, which I consider to be central to the plot of Austin’s story.

Ann Devenish

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights provided funding to citizens pursuing human rights cases (218, 239). Written in accessible language, the book goes a long way toward examining the complexities of law and politics since the 1950s. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, the study reveals that the manipulation of law by the ZANU-PF regime was a legacy of the practices of the settler state during the colonial period. However, missing from this book’s review of existing literature are the two substantive texts on law by Johan Frederik Holleman, both published by Oxford University Press. The first, on customary law, was published in 1952, while the second, on the interaction between traditional rulers and the settler state, was published in 1969. Most of the interviews on legal experiences in the rural areas cited in Karekwaivanane’s book were conducted in Zaka District where Jerera Growth Point and Chief Ndanga’s area are located. For such an interesting topic, more interviews from other districts with different ecologies, economic bases and means of livelihood could have further enriched the study. The book has minor editorial errors. For example, on page 192, just before footnote number 27 in the second paragraph, ‘Zimbabw’ should be ‘Zimbabwe’. Page 192, footnote 26, ‘aand’ should be ‘and’. On page 239, ‘Zimbabwe Human Right NGO Forum’ should read ‘Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum’. Throughout the book, the title of one of Diana Jeater’s books is written as Marriage, Power and Perversion instead of Marriage, Perversion and Power. Having stated the above, there is no doubt that this is the most detailed study examining the interface of law and politics in Zimbabwe. Carefully written, this book establishes a strong foundation for understanding why contemporary African regimes are keen to control legal institutions and those who staff them. This magnificent book will be valuable to students and academics interested in African legal history and African studies in general. It is equally important to legal practitioners and human rights activists. This book will stand the test of time.

S. Nasreen, M. Shokoohi, M. Malvankar-Mehta

Background Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Twenty-two high burden countries contributed to the majority of worldwide tuberculosis cases in 2015. Health care workers are at high risk of acquiring tuberculosis through occupational exposure. Objective To estimate the prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among health care workers in high burden countries. Methods Databases including MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), CINAHL (Ovid) and ISI Web of Science (Thompson-Reuters), and grey literature were searched for English language records on relevant medical subject headings (MeSH) terms of LTBI and health care providers. Literature was systematically reviewed using EPPI-Reviewer4 software. Prevalence and incidence of LTBI and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported. Pooled prevalence of LTBI and 95% CI were calculated using random-effects meta-analysis models and heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistics. Sub-group analysis was conducted to assess the cause of heterogeneity. Results A total of 990 records were identified. Of those, 18 studies from only 7 high burden countries representing 10,078 subjects were included. Tuberculin skin test results were available for 9,545 participants. The pooled prevalence of LTBI was 47% (95% CI 34% to 60%, I2 = 99.6%). In subgroup analyses according to the country of the study, the pooled prevalence of LTBI was lowest in Brazil (37%) and highest in South Africa (64%). The pooled prevalence of LTBI among medical and nursing students was 26% (95% CI 6% to 46%, I2 = 99.3%) while the prevalence among all types of health care workers was 57% (95% CI 44% to 70%, I2 = 99.1%). Incidence of LTBI was available for health care workers in four countries. The cumulative incidence ranged from 2.8% in Brazilian medical students to 38% among all types of health care workers in South Africa. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that there is a high burden of LTBI among health care workers in high burden countries. Adequate infection control measures are warranted to prevent and control transmission in health care settings.

Jaap Steyn

Political strategies of activists for the official recognition of Afrikaans. Five language activists followed different political strategies between 1875 and 1925 to ensure Afrikaans became one of the official languages of South Africa. S.J. du Toit tried to promote Afrikaans, but realised that in the nineteenth century Cape Colony, he could only do it by helping the Dutch advocates acquire several rights. Through the apt manoeuvrings at the National Convention in 1908, General J.B.M. Hertzog and President M.T. Steyn secured official status for Dutch and English in the Union of South Africa, as well as the equal treatment of these two languages. Without language equality, official recognition could easily exist only in name. By choosing a language design, they also ensured that the final recognition of Afrikaans was merely a formality. J.H.H. de Waal and C.J. Langenhoven were the only important activists who were outright anti-Dutch. Through their political actions, they established Afrikaans for certain functions, even before official recognition. Langenhoven also accelerated the standardisation of Afrikaans, thus facilitating official recognition.

K. Hergenrather, Diona Emmanuel, Sarah Durant et al.

Marius Vouking, Carine Tadenfok, Jean Marie Edengue Ekani

World Health Organization (WHO) estimated in 2013 that 49,000 deaths all over the world were caused by neonatal tetanus. Only as recently as the year 2000, neonatal tetanus was a public health problem in 59 countries, but since then it has been eliminated in 36 of the countries concerned. The objective of this piece of work, therefore, was to investigate which strategies intended to increase demand for vaccination are effective in increasing anti-tetanus vaccination coverage of women in Sub Saharan Africa. We searched the following electronic databases from January 1989 to July 2016: Medline, EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database), The Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), WHOLIS (World Health Organization Library Database), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences) and contacted experts in the field. There were no restrictions to language or publication status. All study designs that could provide the information we sought were eligible, provided the studies were conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. Critical appraisal of all identified citations was done independently by two authors to establish the possible relevance of the articles for inclusion in the review. Our search strategy yielded 191 records and after assessment for eligibility, 6 papers met the criteria for inclusion. In Ivory Coast, after reorganization, health workers said they were satisfied with the work environment and the care provided in 91% and 96% of cases, respectively. In Kenya, the main factors contributing to having sufficiently immunized part of the population against tetanus are lower birth order, higher household wealth index, women's employment, making joint health-related decisions with a partner, and higher number of antenatal care visits. Particularly in Ethiopia, compared with other member countries, the size of the unimmunized population, reporting quality, fragileness of the health system, resource limitation, and others deserve further concerted attention. In Nigeria, the prevalence of missed opportunities was 66%. The factors responsible for missed opportunities were; poor history taking, lack of knowledge of the current immunization schedule, dependence on physician referral for immunization and inefficient immunization records keeping system. In Nigeria, socio-logistic variables found to be important in Expanded Programme on Immunization implementations included scheduling, health staff attitude, intersectoral collaboration, and health education. Lack of community participation was also found to be a crucial constraining factor. There are many challenges to increase immunization coverage of tetanus vaccine for women. So far very few interventions addressing these challenges have been evaluated scientifically. Community mobilization interventions to change or impact beliefs and attitudes of women are absolutely needed. Additionally, improving accessibility, affordability, availability and accommodation of vaccination service venues will make them more attractive.

Chiji Ak?ma

When Ediru, the elder son of Professor Isidore Okpewho, called to tell me that his father had passed away, I could only sigh in sorrow. The watch was over. His health had taken a sudden turn for the worse a few weeks earlier and we had kept watch as he battled for his life in the ICU. By the time he finally took his last breath on Sunday 4th September 2016, his immediate family and those close to them had been steeling themselves for the moment.

Jessica Murray

This article offers a literary analysis of two neglected Afrikaans texts, namely Klipkus (“Stone Kiss”, 1978) by Marlise Joubert and Requiem op ys (“Requiem on Ice”, 1992) by Emma Huismans in order to explore how stereotypical understandings of lesbian sexuality structure the experiences of lesbian characters. Even as the article exposes common homophobic stereotypes, it emerges that the lesbian characters’ experiences are complex and multi-faceted. The exposure to stereotypes results in a profound sense of alienation, which the characters attempt to overcome by undertaking journeys. As they struggle to deal with pain and alienation, the article demonstrates the joy that they manage to find in their relationships with one another. This joy turns out to be fleeting and compromised by social homophobic pressures. By means of a close reading of the representation of these lesbian relationships, the article both reveals and challenges common stereotypes about lesbian relationships.

Nerina Bosman

Cui, Ying , Zhao, Yanli

This paper aims to elaborate on the notion of ‘presupposition’ from the contextual perspective in consideration of translation studies. Presupposition plays an important role for researchers to understand translation or the process of translating, work out the implications of translated texts, and explain various issues concerning translation. As far as translation is concerned, context can be regarded as the source for presuppositions, as translators usually work according to their own presuppositions regarding the target readers and context. In this study, we have established a framework of presuppositions relevant to translation research, covering such aspects as human needs, communicative rules, and textualisation strategies. A case study is provided to demonstrate how the presuppositions are applied in discussing translation issues.