Hasil untuk "African languages and literature"

Tsebo Ramothwala

Learners whose languages were not fortunate enough to be elevated to official status (those which can be used as languages of learning and teaching [LoLTs]) are compelled to take one of the official languages as a ‘home language.’ In most cases, what is taught as a home language in South African schools is totally different from what learners speak at home. In such a case, learners may be at a disadvantage as they will be taught, assessed as native speakers and expected to demonstrate linguistic abilities of native speakers. This study was envisaged to address this language dilemma in the context of Khelobedu-L1 learners in Bolobedu South. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches, with a case study design. Data were gathered through questionnaires and focus group interviews with 60 learners from the two selected high schools in Bolobedu South. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Contribution: The study found that Sepedi is not a home language to Khelobedu-L1 learners, but imposed. The implications of this imposition are discussed in detail in this research article.

Ntsoaki T. Mokala, Lihotetso G. Matee, Mabohlokoa M.T. Khanyetsi

This study is propelled by the observation that although Basotho accordion music artists have contributed much to the Basotho’s lives through their music, it seems little has been done to focus on individual artists to unpack each and every artist’s music. Our conviction is that artists are individuals who have their own style, diction, themes and prowess. Therefore, this study intends to focus on Puseletso Seema’s selected songs to find out how the Basotho receive and utilise them and how her music impacts on their lives. This study is framed within Africana womanism and indigenous knowledge system to highlight the framework’s attributes through Puseletso Seema’s accordion music. It is a qualitative study and uses secondary data. It analyses four purposely selected songs that merit the notion of interest in this study to reveal specific features of Africana womanism. The study’s findings reveal that Puseletso Seema manages to encourage, motivate and show strategies that can be used to empower Basotho women through her songs. The songs further help to preserve Basotho culture and empower Basotho women to navigate through patriarchal culture and social structures. Contribution: This article confirms that Basotho accordion musicians contribute positively to the Basotho’s lives. Therefore, it is imperative that each artist’s music be recognised as expressions of individual creativity by unpacking it to find out how it contributes to the promotion of a desired society considering that music is one of the important factors that influence the society’s life. The high unemployment rate among the Basotho justifies the need to find more strategies that can be used to encourage citizens to empower themselves.

Sabina Brakoniecka

The paper discusses some elements of the tradition of martyrdom among Muslims in northern Nigeria. It describes the basic frameworks of the concept of martyrdom in Islam with special reference to its contemporary usage. Then it discusses the shape of the idea of martyrdom during the times of Usman ɗan Fodio’s jihad. It further examines the concept of martyrdom as presented in the speeches of Muhammad Yusuf, the ideologue of the Boko Haram organisation, as well as its practical implementation in the times of the current rebellion in northern Nigeria.

Philip van der Merwe

No abstract available.

Bernard de Meyer

The notion of literary posture, developed by Jérôme Meizoz, has recently integrated the field of postcolonial studies, thanks in particular to the edited book by Anthony Mangeon, Postures postcoloniales. Domaines africains et antillais (2012). Based on the concepts of Pierre Bourdieu—field, habitus and especially illusio—posture could be defined, in the domain of literary studies, as a way to “acquire” a position in the field, negotiated and renegotiated in a personal way, in order to inhabit a role, or even a status. The notion of posture would thus allow to better taking hold of the way authors present their positions not only in terms of symbolic capital and notoriety, but also in terms of their worldview. Posture has a rhetoric dimension, which is reflected in the textual, and an “actional” dimension, reflected in the contextual. It is in this framework that this article analyzes the most recent literary production (the textual) of the Franco-Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou, at a time this writer had to reinvent himself, following his huge positive critical acclaim. This production is linked to his activities on the margins of literature (the contextual), mainly his presence on social media and his participation to the Étonnants voyageurs literary festival (and in particular the festival organized in Brazzaville in February 2013). This “child of the postcolony” (Abdourahman Waberi), fervent advocate of the littérature-monde movement, displays in his latest work a certain return to the Africa of his childhood. This posture will be analyzed through his latest works, two novels and two essays, published between 2010 and 2013. The article will conclude on the validity of the notion of posture in postcolonial Francophone studies.

Vivence Kalitanyi, E. Bbenkele

Purpose This paper aims to determine how cultural values (language and religion) impact on entrepreneurial intentions of students at the University of Cape Town, University of Stellenbosch University of the Western Cape and Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Design/methodology/approach This empirical study was conducted under mixed-methods approach, using survey-correlational strategy. Primary data were collected from a sample of 278 students. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data which were coded and analysed using SPSS version 22. Findings The empirical findings reveal that the cultural variable of language influences entrepreneurial intentions among university students, while the variable of language was not found as such and this is in accordance with the literature reviewed. Research limitations/implications This study only concerned entrepreneurship university students in Cape Town. Though these universities host students from all corners of the country, their views cannot be said to represent the opinions of all other entrepreneurship students in the whole country. Practical implications These findings should encourage the stakeholders (learners, parents and educators) to use and practice the language that present the facilities in understanding more about entrepreneurship, such as the availability of written information. Social implications The study can be a catalyst to some societies which do not encourage their children to speak foreign languages to become aware of the advantages those languages do offer. Originality/value This is a unique study of its kind in Cape Town universities and presents findings that allow to know more than previously known about the topic of entrepreneurial intentions.

Neil van Heerden, Andries Visagie

As one of the most influential Afrikaans poets of the Dertiger movement, N.P. van Wyk Louw’s work was influenced significantly by modernism and the ideas associated with modernity. His highly canonised poems about animals and human-animal hybrids, Raka (1941), and Die swart luiperd (“The black leopard”) published in 1942 in Gestaltes en diere (Figurations and Animals), present compelling perspectives on the position of nonhuman animals in Afrikaans modernist poetry. In Raka Louw follows the resolute but futile attempts of the culturally refined leader Koki to protect his people against the contaminating effects of the insidious ape-man, Raka. Koki becomes the bearer of Louw’s modernist ideals for the maintenance of higher values. Yet, in his representation of Raka, he preserves something of a counter-image to Koki. As a hybrid creature Raka retains the potential to disrupt teleologies and to insert radical otherness in considerations of cultural excellence. Unlike Koki, the speaker in “Die swart luiperd” plunges into the destabilising depths opened by the gaze of the animal. The encounter with the black leopard in the jungle produces a form of insanity comparable to the experience of Kurtz in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. In “Die swart luiperd” Louw dares to break down the boundaries patrolled by Koki in Raka in an apparent rapprochement to the animal as a source of creative revitalisation and extensionof consciousness.

Martin Powell, E. Yörük

Lenelle Foster

Leah Mwambene, Obdiah Mawondza

Child marriages occur when one of the parties is below the age of eighteen. In Malawi, research has shown that most child marriages are a result of cultural practices. To comply with various international and regional instruments, Malawi has enacted different pieces of legislation that can be useful in addressing child marriage. The article, therefore, examines these different pieces of legislation and assesses Malawi’s compliance with international standards in addressing child marriages. The authors highlight two imperative issues. First, these laws show evidence of using international children’s rights standards as a tool in addressing child marriages. Secondly, they prescribe conflicting approaches that one can interpret as to encouraging child marriages linked to cultural practices. As a result, the article suggests possible recommendations on how Malawi can comply with international standards in addressing child marriages. These include amendment of laws, and more importantly, enactment of a specific law, for example, the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act, which, if enacted, should target all laws and cultural practices that lead to child marriages in Malawi.

Ilse De Korte

Heinrich Ohlhoff

Catherine A Hogan, L. Puri, Genevieve C Gore et al.

Background Fluoroquinolones are among the most commonly used antibiotics for the treatment of respiratory infections. Because fluoroquinolones show bactericidal activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, there is concern that their use can delay the diagnosis of tuberculosis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether empiric treatment with fluoroquinolones delays the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in patients with respiratory tract infections. Objectives The primary objective was to assess the delay in days in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, among patients who received quinolones, compared to those who received non-fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Methods We included studies of adult patients treated with fluoroquinolones prior to a confirmed diagnosis of tuberculosis. We performed a literature search of 7 databases (including PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library) with no language restrictions. We calculated an unweighted mean of estimate of difference in delay across all studies. For the studies for which the estimate was available as a mean with standard deviation, a weighted average using a random effects meta-analysis model was estimated. Results A total of 3983 citations were identified from the literature search; of these, 17 articles were selected for full-text review. A total of 10 studies were retained for the synthesis. These included 7 retrospective cohort studies and 3 case-control studies. Only one of these studies was from a high TB burden country, South Africa. The most commonly used fluoroquinolones were levofloxacin, gemifloxacin and moxifloxacin. The unweighted average of difference in delay between the fluoroquinolone group and non-fluoroquinolone group was 12.9 days (95% CI 6.1–19.7). When these differences were pooled using a random effects model, the weighted estimate was 10.9 days (95% CI 4.2–17.6). When stratified by acid-fast smear status, the delay was consistently greater in the smear-negative group. Conclusion Although results are variable, the use of fluoroquinolones in patients with respiratory infections seems to delay the diagnosis of TB by nearly two weeks. Consistent with the International Standards for TB Care, their use should be avoided when tuberculosis is suspected.

Margaret R. Burchinal, J. Roberts, L. Nabors et al.

Maxwell Kadenge, Silvester Ron Simango

G. Brankston, L. Gitterman, Z. Hirji et al.

Xenia S. Meyer, B. Crawford

Due to the growing number of students from populations underrepresented in the sciences, there is an intensified need to consider alternatives to traditional science instruction. Inquiry-based instructional approaches provide promise and possibility for engaging underrepresented students in the activities of science. However, inquiry-based instruction without culturally relevant pedagogy and instructional congruency, may not be sufficient to support non-mainstream students in science learning, and may even serve to challenge students’ cultural ways of knowing. This conceptual paper suggests that aligning reform efforts in science education to the field of multicultural education would buttress efforts to reach underrepresented student groups in science. This includes providing culturally relevant instruction and instruction toward making the assumptions of science explicit, in particular. To this end, this paper draws from literature in multicultural education to propose that deconstructing science through instruction in NOS may support Latino, African American and English language learning students in science learning.

J. Tang, Yuguo Li

Planning for the next influenza pandemic is occurring at many levels throughout the world, spurred on by the recent spread of H5N1 avian influenza in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Central to these planning efforts in the health-care sector are strategies to minimise the transmission of influenza to health-care workers and patients. The infection control precautions necessary to prevent airborne, droplet, and contact transmission are quite different and will need to be decided on and planned before a pandemic occurs. Despite vast clinical experience in human beings, there continues to be much debate about how influenza is transmitted. We have done a systematic review of the English language experimental and epidemiological literature on this subject to better inform infection control planning efforts. We have found that the existing data are limited with respect to the identification of specific modes of transmission in the natural setting. However, we are able to conclude that transmission occurs at close range rather than over long distances, suggesting that airborne transmission, as traditionally defined, is unlikely to be of significance in most clinical settings. Further research is required to better define conditions under which the influenza virus may transmit via the airborne route.

Reinhardt Fourie, Melissa Adendorff

The aim of this article is to explore the power relations portrayed through the bodily spatial interaction of the characters of Milla and Agaat in Marlene van Niekerk’s 2004 novel, Agaat. This interaction is analysed according to the theory of Thirding-asOthering posited by Henri Lefebvre and Edward Soja in terms of the body in space. The body in space is interpreted through agency which is exemplified in the intimacy of the relations of these two bodies through the actions of bathing, giving birth, and the physical aspects of the process of “civilising” the child character of Agaat. Through an analysis of three sets of incidents and scenes which illustrate the physical inhabitation of space through agency, the power relations between Milla and Agaat are exemplified and discussed. The analysis culminates in the conclusion that the relationship between Milla and Agaat is a cyclical power play that does not come to any pure form of dominance or submission because of the inhabitation that they enact through each other. With agency being tantamount to inhabitation and assertion of power, Agaat has the ultimate power on the farm through Milla, as Milla’s body is othered by her illness and finally her death.

Maximilien Guérin