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Ukpong, Onoyom Godfrey. "Contemporary southern Nigeria art in comparative perspective reassessment and analysis, 1935-2002 /." Diss., Online access via UMI:, 2006.
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FIGUEIREDO, BERNARDO AMADO BAPTISTA DE. "AFRICAN ART: A STUDY ON THE BELIEFS AND PREFERENCES OF INTERESTED PEOPLE." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2007. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=11354@1.
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PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIROTrata-se de pesquisa qualitativa, realizada por meio de grupos focais e painéis visuais com interessados em objetos de arte africana no Brasil, com o objetivo de levantar crenças e preferências desses indivíduos. O estudo explorou o conceito de arte africana junto a esse público, imagens e emoções associadas a esse conceito, motivos que orientam a preferência por alguns objetos sobre outros e aspectos importantes do valor simbólico e estético dos objetos de arte africana. A pesquisa também trouxe observações sobre a adequação dos objetos de arte africana às propriedades encontradas em objetos de consumo hedônico e sobre alguns aspectos do consumo e posse de objetos de arte africana.
This qualitative research uses focal groups and visual panels to elicit beliefs and preferences of some Brazilians interested in objects of African art. It hás explored the concept of African art, the images and emotions associated with it, the driving motives underlying the preferences for certain art objects over others. This study also discusses some important simbolic and aesthetic aspects of hedonic consumption related to African art.
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Famule, Olawole Francis. "Art and spirituality : the Ijumu northeastern-Yoruba egúngún /." Tucson, Arizona : University of Arizona, 2005. http://etd.library.arizona.edu/etd/GetFileServlet?file=file:///data1/pdf/etd/azu%5Fetd%5F1372%5F1%5Fm.pdf&type=application/pdf.
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Tshiluila, Shaje'a. "A la mémoire des ancêtres: le grand art funéraire Kongo, son contexte social et historique." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/213572.
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Hirst, Manton Myatt. "The healer's art : Cape Nguni diviners in the townships of Grahamstown." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001601.
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This is a study of Cape Nguni diviners practising in the townships of Grahamstown where, during the 1970s, there was a large and active concentration of diviners treating clients from the locality, the rural areas and even the large urban centres further afield. The study situates local diviners in the socio-economic, cultural and religious context of contemporary township Iife during the 1970s (see chapter 1 and section 2.1). The personalities and socio-economic circumstances of diviners (and herbalists) are described as well as their case-loads, the various problems they treat, the relations between them and their clients, the economics of healing and the ethics pertaining to the profession (see chapter 2) . Chapter three focuses on the various problems and afflictions - which are largely of an interpersonal nature - suffered by those who are eventually inducted as diviners and the ritual therapy this necessarily entails. Here we see how the diviner, what Lewis (1971) terms a 'wounded healer', becomes an expert in interpersonal and social relations as a result of suffering problems - largely connected to the family but not necessarily limited to it - in interpersonal relations and that require a ritual, and thus social, prophylaxis. The main theoretical argument is that the diviner, qua healer, functions as a hybrid of Levi-Strauss' s bricoleur and Castaneda's 'man of knowledge' artfully combining the ability of the former to invert, mirror or utilise analogies from linguistics to make everything meaningful and the ability of the latter to creatively bend reality . The diviner's cosmology is described in terms of a 'handy', limited but extensive cultural code/repertoire of signs, symbols and metaphors that is utilised in getting the message across to others and in which animals bear the main symbolic load (see chapter 4). This leads logically to a reappraisal of Hammond-Tooke's (1975b) well-known model of Cape Nguni symbolic structure particularly in so far as it pertains to the way in which diviners classify animals, both wild and domestic (see section 4.6). A striking evocation and confirmation of the view argued here, namely of the diviner as bricoleur/'man of knowledge', is contained in chapter five dealing with an analysis of the diviner's 'river' myth and the context, form and content of the divinatory consultation itself. Finally, the conclusions, arising out of this study of contemporary Cape Nguni diviners in town, are evaluated in the ligrht of Lewis's (1966, 1971, 1986) deprivation hypothesis of spirit possession (see chapter 6)
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Baholo, Keresemose Richard. "A pictorial response to certain witchcraft beliefs within Northern Sotho communities." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21197.
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Bibliography: pages 58-62.This study focuses on stories of witchcraft within the Batlokwa - a sub-group of the Northern Sotho community living in the northern Transvaal. Having grown up in this society where witchcraft beliefs are predominant, my fears, as a child, of witches were very real. In later life I have attempted to ignore these fears. However, I do not think they will ever disappear entirely, as I will never be able to extricate myself from my origins. This experience of the dangerous witch is one of the reasons that compelled me to respond pictorially to some of these perceptions for the purpose of highlighting the concerns of ordinary people and the extent to which they have been affected by belief in witchcraft. My paintings are a translation of real and unreal incidents fused together producing a visual narrative.
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Ndlovu, Ndukuyakhe. "Incorporating indigenous management in rock art sites in KwaZulu -Natal /." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005. http://eprints.ru.ac.za/1380/.
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Clark-Brown, Peter Gabriel. "A graphic interpretation of some social constructions of disability." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17494.
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Bibliography: pages 37-38.The work undertaken for my Masters degree seeks to address some of the prejudice experienced by disabled people. Society's concept of a normal body prescribes unattainable standards for people with disabilities, thereby isolating and marginalising them. Instead of accommodating these physical differences, society encourages disabled people to withdraw from society or to try to conform to able-bodied ideals and to appear 'as normal as possible'. The very physical presence of disabled people challenges these assumptions of normality. Therefore, attempts are made to cosmetically hide the offending part or exclude the person from society (e.g. a hollow shirt sleeve or 'special' school). When individuals fail to conform to the prescribed standards of normality, they face the stigma of being viewed as pitifully inferior and dependent upon their able-bodied counterparts. In this way disabled people do not 'suffer' so much from their condition, as from the oppression of able-bodied biases. Through different eyes, society could be seen as handicapped as a result of its inability to adapt to, or deal with difference. In reality, however, disabilities are experienced by many people and can range from those which are physically visible and easily identified to those less obvious, but often more debilitating such as abrasive, socially aggressive personalities or learning disabilities. It is possible, therefore, to extend the understanding of the term disability to any physical or emotional impairment that limits a person's functioning within a so-called normal society. Although many people and organisations have searched for less pejorative or negative terms to describe an impairment such as 'Very Special', 'people with abilities' or 'physically challenged', these attempts have failed to reverse prejudice. Instead, these descriptions have only re-described the emphasis on 'otherness' and 'difference'. In addition, these replaced descriptions are again associated with the same stigmas that they were intentionally designed to avoid. In the following discussion I have consciously used the word disabled or disability to refer to individuals with various disabilities which I have nevertheless defined as socially constructed. In doing so I am suggesting no pejorative associations. Through this project I wanted to explore notions of disability within various debates associated with disability and society. I have done this in the context of my own experience of disability, and my own attempts to come to terms with disability. In this sense this project represents a personal journey.
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Williams, Sandy IV. "Nigga Is Historical: This Is Not An Invitation For White People To Say Nigga." VCU Scholars Compass, 2019. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5926.
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Over the past several years I have been on a quest to locate a world beyond the one I’ve been presented. I am interested in the history of atomic particles - like everything that radiates off of a monument (both literally and those things that are metaphorically reified) - invisible things, and the ways in which these things insect beyond our knowledge systems. This inquiry takes many forms. Mine is a conceptually based practice linked to record keeping and time, and the ways in which these concepts find plurality within our culture; or more pointedly, the importance that we attach to “time” and “the record”, as they relate to our “legacies”, “cultures”, or “the canon”; our histories and the ahistorical, the prehistorical, fantasies, the things that never happened but could’ve, imagined futures and parallel universes.
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Nhlangwini, Andrew Pandheni. "The ibali of Nongqawuse: translating the oral tradition into visual expression." Thesis, Port Elizabeth Technikon, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/237.
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The tribal life and the oral traditions of black South Africans have been marginalized. The consequence of the western civilization and the apartheid regime forced people to do away from their traditional heritage and culture; they adopted the western way of life. They buried their oral tradition and only a little has survived. To save the dying culture of the art of the oral tradition we need to go out and record and document the surviving oral tradition as soon as possible. Since the art of the oral tradition is an art form conducted by an artist, it may be possible to tell the ibali likaNongqawuse by means of visual imagery. Visual images can be read and be understood easily by the public because visual forms, sings, images can make up a language for both the literate as well as the illiterate.
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Groenewald, Hermanus Christoffel. "Ndebele verbal art with special reference to praise poetry." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7404.
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D.Litt. et Phil.Approaches to folklore/oral forms have evolved from an interest in things (texts are included here) to an interest in process, of which performance studies is a prime example. A performance orientation seeks to restore an activity (or a text as part of an activity) to its proper place - not as an extracted, reified entity, but as discourse created by performers in particular circumstances. These circumstances, or context, are detail-rich and have influences on a text, and, in turn, a text is a detail that influences other aspects of the total performance. These theoretical issues are dealt with in chapter I. Ndebele praise poetry manifests itself in many situations as it forms part of a larger oral culture, as can be seen in many regular and ad hoc Ndebele ceremonies. The extent of the oral culture is illustrated in chapter 2. Gunner and Gwala (1991: 7) have remarked that praise poetry 'has been and still is extremely open to appropriation by those who had or wished to have access to political power and influence'. This was particularly evident in the way praise poetry was performed during 1988 at political campaigns. This year was part of the period of political unrest in Ndebele history which started in 1985 when central government announced that Moutse would be incorporated into the former Kw'aNdebele and that KwaNdebele would become independent on 11 December 1986. At the 6 political meetings, during which the anti-independent royalists campaigned against independence, praise poetry was utilised extensively. This background is dealt with in chapter 3. At these meetings praise poetry functioned not only to amuse the crowd, but to introduce speakers, underscore their legitimacy and to lend authority to what speakers were saying. Needless to say, while some iimbongo were 'context ready', others were recontextualised to have something to say about the issues prevailing at the time. The praises that grew from contemporary circumstances were those of the `ama-radicals', as they were called, namely, the princes, sons of Mabhoko, the Ndzundza-Ndebele chief (Ingwenyama) at that time. The praises of Mabhoko himself were largely those of Mabhoko I, who lived between 1800 and 1865. But although these iimbongo originated at that time, they were highly relevant to the circumstances prevailing at the time so that the process of recontextualisation was quite natural. Contextual issues such as these are described in chapter 4. The value of the performance approach is that, while a text is seen as part of a process, it is also recognised as language on display, language presented for enjoyment and as a display of communicative competence. Bauman and Briggs (1990) refer to this process as entextualisation. Language as display, or artistic language use, is characterised by numerous devices. In the Ndebele praise poems the metaphor can be seen to be the privileged trope, occurring more frequently than any other device. Contemporary Ndebele praise poets operate at a time when orality is being replaced by literacy. Very often praise poets document their own poetry, thus allowing for others to learn these praises through the medium of the written word. How does this affect creativity? These issues are addressed in chapter 5. Jimbongo as instances of 'master creative discourse' are meant to influence listeners and achieve practical ends in a time when there are so many other contending types of discourse and means of communication. The study concludes by briefly considering the role of this oral art form in contemporary Ndebele society.
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Khosa, Hanyani Aubrey. "An investigation into Ku Thawuza music and dance as an indigenous art form." 2014. http://encore.tut.ac.za/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?sp=1001487.
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M. Tech. DanceKnowledge of cultural dances and songs is one of the key aspects necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the customs of any cultural group. This includes indigenous cultural practice of a particular cultural group, which in themselves have a plethora of different performance practices and categories that are extensive and unique in their own right. The indigenous music and dance of Vatsonga is no exception. It is against this background that this study was undertaken. This study seeks to collect, document, promote and preserve the Xitsonga indigenous art form, namely, Ku Thawuza music and dance, by means of transcribing and investigating it.
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Asare, Lawrence Amoako. "A critical survey of Akan (Ghanaian) collections in the Natal Museum." Thesis, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/5763.
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This thesis surveys the Akan collections in the Natal Museum, Pietennaritzburg.
Chapter one of this thesis gives a historical overview of Akan cultural traditions. The second chapter introduces the main focus of the thesis by surveying two collections of Akan works accessioned into the Natal Museum during the first decade of the twentieth century. Chapter three analyses contextually the Akan collections on the basis of their social and symbolic functions at their African place of origin. The fourth chapter focuses on the Akan goldweights in the Natal Museum and discusses their historical traditions, methods of production, and contextual use.Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.
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Rycroft, Vanessa. "South African history painting : reinterpretation by women artists." Thesis, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/5723.
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The title of this thesis 'South African History Painting : Reinterpretation By Women Artists' indicated that the focus was to be on South African history painting. As the research progressed, however, it became apparent that the initial title did not encompass a broad enough spectrum. Therefore a more suitable title for this dissertation is 'A Visual Reinterpretation Of Aspects Of South African History By Women Artists: Penelope Siopis and Philippa Skotnes'. It is the intention of this dissertation to examine the way in which two contemporary South African women artists namely, Penelope Siopis (1953-) and Philippa Skotnes (1957) visually challenge in their
paintings and prints respectively the conventional depictions of recorded South African history. Poststructuralism, deconstruction, new historicism and Postmodernism are among the theoretical currents upon which this research is based. It is from a Postmodern standpoint that selected works by Siopis and Skotnes will be analysed. The intention of this analysis is to examine their attempts to access the Postcolonial condition in South Africa
through their visual presentations. The work of Siopis and Skotnes
reflectects an interest in Postcoloniality. Furthernore, their visual
imagery addresses questions of culture and power in South African
visual representation. Works such as those created by Siopis and
Skotnes can be seen as uncovering some of the contradictions within the
process of decolonization. Nederveen, Pieterse and Parekh (1995 )
describe decolonization in the following way:
'Decolonization is a process of emancipation through mirroring, a mix of defiance and mimesis. Like colonialism itself, it is deeply preoccupied with boundaries - boundaries of territory and identity, borders of nation and
state. (Nederveen, Pieterse and Parekh 1995: 11)'
The focus in this dissertation is on the works of Siopis and Skotnes
and their use of specific deconstructive methods to undermine
prejudicial historical imagery and question established perceptions
within South African history. In other words, the visual presentation
of these two artists explores the boundaries or margins of established
history. Both Siopis and Skotnes confront in visual terms the prejudicial representations of women and/or ethnic groups who have been
subjugated by what they perceive as white, middle class, patriarchal history. The primary concern of the research is the visual imagery produced by these two artists and the effect of deconstruction on their respective
art works. In the first chapter selected works from Siopis's 'History
Painting' (1980s) series are to be analysed. In the second chapter the focus is on Skotnes's etchings in 'Sound From The Thinking Strings' (1993) exhibition. The investigation then moves to a project entitled 'Miscast' (1996). Skotnes was the curator of the 'Miscast' exhibition. It does not contain original art works by Skotnes. It is however an extension of the ideas which her prints embody and is therefore relevant to this dissertation.Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.
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Todd, Jane. "A documentary film on the Magwaza potters' production of Zulu beer ceramics." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/1569.
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This dissertation consists of two components. Firstly, a documentation of the production of Zulu beer ceramics by the Magwaza potters of Mpabelane, using the medium of documentary film; secondly, a written consideration of issues of representation, in relation to the documentary film, regarding the ceramists and the ceramics. In October 1994 I stayed with the Magwaza family for 5 days. During this time 12 of the Magwaza women produced vessels. They were Khulumeleni Magwaza, Shongaziphi Magwaza, Thandiwe Magwaza, Bonisiwe Magwaza, Esther (also called Buyaphi) Magwaza, Sholoni Magwaza, Buzephi Magwaza, Sindisiwe Magwaza, Mkoso Magwaza, Thuleleni Magwaza, Konzeni Magwaza, Qikiza Magwaza and Mancani Magwaza. The vessels were produced over four days. The potters each individually produced a vessel using the coiling method. On the first day the vessels were formed using the coiling method. Decoration was done on the second day. The vessels were decorated with either scraffito or applied amasumpa (little nodes or warts), or a combination of both methods. On the third day fat (vegetable oil or soap) was applied to the vessels and they were burnished with river stones. At sunrise of the forth day the vessels were fired. Dried aloe was packed below and around the vessels. A small pile of dried grass was packed on top of the aloe kiln. This was lit and the flames spread from the top down, burning for 25 minutes. After this the pots were blackened by various means. This process was filmed and edited. A year after the filming an interview was conducted with Khulumeleni, Shongaziphi and Thandiwe Magwaza to clarify some of the production methods that they used. The paper considers issues of representation prior to filming and editing the documentary, as well as post-production considerations of these same issues. The pre-production consideration section is based on various extracts from texts on representation, particularly of a cultural other. The postproduction analysis reconsiders these notions of representation in the light of what occurred during filming and editing.Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.
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Gers, Wendy A. "South African studio ceramics, c.1950s : the Kalahari Studio, Drostdy Ware and Crescent Potteries." Thesis, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/4370.
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The oeuvre of the Kalahari Studio (Cape Town), Drostdy Ware (a division of
Grahamstown Pottery, Grahamstown) and Crescent Potteries (Krugersdorp) is investigated within the historical context of the 1950s, a watershed period that witnessed crucial developments in South African cultural and political history. This dissertation elucidates the historical development, key personnel, the ceramics, as well as relevant technical information related to the Kalahari Studio, Drostdy Ware and Crescent Potteries. This dissertation analyses the broader socio-political and ideological paradigms that framed South African art-making, as well as the international design trends that influenced the local studio ceramics sector. The establishment and demise
of the South African studio ceramics industry and requests for tariff protection were considered within this context. Significant primary research was conducted into the present status of South African studio ceramics from the 1950s in the collections of our heritage institutions. Wares of all three of the studios reveal a predilection for figurative imagery, especially
images of indigenous African women and iconography derived from reproductions of Southern San parietal art. Imagery of African women is considered within the framework of the native study genre in South African painting, sculpture and photography from 1800-1950 and Africana ceramics from 1910-1950. Images of San parietal art are investigated within their historical context of a growing public and academic interest in the Bushmen and a surge in publications containing reproductions of San parietal art. Some images of African women and San parietal art conform to pejorative and theoretically problematic modernist cannons of the'other', while some
are subversive and undermine the dominant pictorial and ideological artistic
conventions.Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.
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Friedman, Hazel Deborah. "The iconology of Women's paraphernalia among the Ntwane." Thesis, 1992. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24708.
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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
for the Degree of Master of Arts.This dissertation is a study of the iconology of paraphernalia produced by women, among the Ntwane. It represents the culmination of primary field research into the matelial culture of this group, as well as supplementary research conducted at the Africana Museum in Johannesburg, the South African Museum in Cape Town, the National Museumin B1u~!mfontein and the Duggan-Cronin Museumin Kimberley. My investigative methods consisted of unstructured interviews with both married and unmarried members of the Ntwane community at :Kwarrielaagte. Although the focus of my research was primarily on paraphernaIia produced and worn by women, I also interviewed Ntwane men in order to obtain a variety of interpretations and opinions as to the 'meanings' of the objects and traditions under analysis. In addition to the above mentioned field work and gallery research, I consulted a wide range of literature on critical theories, auch as marxism, structuralism end paststructuralism, 141 order to supplement my methodological approach to the iconology of women's art among the Ntwane. It also referred to literature on a number of traditional South. African groups, such as the Pedi and Ndebele. in order to identify the cross-cultural influ8nces between these groups and the Ntwane. The literature on these closely related However, this definition constitutes a gross oversimplification of the concept, for it doe) not allow for a shift in aesthetic criteria from culture to culture. It establishes the concept 'aesthetic' as an absolute, whereas in actuality, it is a value-laden term, whose problems of definition are exacerbated '.men attempting cross cultural research. It is therefore necessary at the outset of this dissertation to formulate a working definition of 'aesthetics' within the context of the Ntwane. It is suggeuted that the aesthetic componsnts of Ntwane objects include style. technique and medium, but extend beyond their formal qualities into activities such as ritual and custom. The socio-cultural activities performed by the Ntwane may be regarded as intrinsically significant to the formal characteristics of their paraphernalia. It may therefore be argued that their objects are the concrete. tangible manifestations of a set of underlying constructs. expressed in adherence to particular conventions of representation; furthermore, that the reduction of the aesthetic component of Ntwane objects to merely an ase ssment; of their formal criteria, would constitute an impoverishment of their levels of meaning. A formalist approach to the art of Ntwane women also fails to consider issues of change in the form and function of their paraphernalia and the effects of broader social transformations on the material culture of the Ntwane. Chapter One of my dissertation will comprise a brief survey of the literature on the Ntwane. In addition to identifying the existing information, methodological gaps in the literature will be mentioned. It is the partial aim of this dissertation to "fill in" some of the gaps by groups helped to shed light on signitficant aspects of Ntwane material culture, which in turn, provided me with greater insight into the iconology of their paraphernalia.
Andrew Chakane 2018
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Buntman, Barbara. "Images of the 'other': the visual representation of African people as an indicator of socio-cultural values in nineteenth century England." Thesis, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/21784.
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Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for
the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand.
March 1994.This research examines the way in which the ideology of difference is reflected in visual images of black people in Britain in the nineteenth century, Concepts of tlie 'other' ar~iocated within specific contemporary socie-celnnal and political contexts. Historically, this was an important period in which theories of human difference proliferated, and which in turn informed diverse and often contradictory social practices. The white English behavioUl' towards, and perspective of, black people in England had a direct bearing not only on life in Britain, but in the colonies as well. The images produced in England were critical to the colonial enterprise. They infomlt:al Briti~h attitudes to Africa and the Empire more generally. Implicit in the analysis of the images is an evaluation of the emergflllce of hegemonic ideas, and the manipulation of power by the ruling class. The beliefs and trends of a society are reflected in its visual arts. The methodology employed aims to bring together analyses of the production of visual representations within a broad chronological and thematic framework, so as to assess the social production of meaning in the images. To do this it is necessary to verify the presence of black people as residents in England. Chapter one addresses this issue as well as determines to what extent the notion of blackness was integral to an early formation of a black !~~creotype. Some of the implications of British participation in the slave trade are also censldered, Images of slaves which are the main focus of chapter two, demonstrate seclo-eultural attitudes of early nlneteanth-centurv English people. Chapter three examines the rise of science and systematic knowlaJge which fed to both technical and popular theorising about racial difference. The congruence between scientific and popular understandings led to the emergence of notions of 'types' and hierarchies of people, which were to dominate ideas and attitudes for decades. Concurrent with the rise of science was the growth of a popular image of a stereotyped blar.k 'other', Chapter four evaluates the. processes through which these images were disseminated in a fast growing popular culture. The inequalities ()f power relations within English society, as manifest in the images, are analyzed. Chapter five considers the ways in which the white male producers of images perceived black women. The contradictions and ambiguities of the visual systems in this chapter point to the complexities of cultural practice, and of artists and producers' particular views on blackness and femaleness. The conclusion summarises the lIIIay in which the coneept of an 'other' has been used in this dissertation.
MT2017
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Magwa, Langa P. "A critical evaluation of the use of skin as a form of identity in Zulu culture." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10321/2000.
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Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Fine Art, Durban Insititute of Technology, 2006.The aim of this dissertation is to investigate and critically evaluate the use of skin as a form of identity in Zulu culture. This investigation wil /foc'uu on the historical and contemporary practices of scarification and ear - piercing in Zulu culture. 1 In Chapter One, Section One the candidate will discuss the scarification and tattooing i techniques, and refer to the decline in the practice of scarification in contemporary Africa. 'l The scarification and tattooing techniques have the following elements in common, incisions `made on the body or skin to create scar patterns or shapes. Chapter \xAEne, Section Two the candidate will discuss the different purposes of carification practiced by people in Africa Scarification has traditionally been used for any different purposes, such as rite of passage, tribal/clan identity, civilizing, beauty, sexual atttraction, healing and medicinal. In Chapter Two, Section One the candidate will discuss the concepts of culture and identity and propose a definition of identity and culture for the purposes of this dissertation. In Chapter Two, Section Two the candidate will write a personal history and describe the origins of his identity. Chapter 'two, Section Three will discuss the historical formulation 0. of Zulu identity and culture. Chapter Two, Section ]Foam will investigate how internal and external influences have changed Zulu identity and culture over time.
M
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Storey, Amanda Eileen Maria. "The Didima Rock Art Centre : a critical evaluation of the intersections of tourism, heritage conservation, and visual communication." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/1819.
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This dissertation critically evaluates the intersections of tourism, heritage conservation, and visual communication by exploring the display materials and Museology within the Didima Rock Art Centre, at Cathedral Peak, southern Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal. The text consists of three chapters. The first chapter introduces rock art and current research and conservation concerns in relation to heritage and rock art. The second chapter serves as an introduction to the Didima Rock Art Centre. A discussion raises important issues about visual communication in regard to the representation of the Southern San and rock art as material culture both in this museum context. Chapter three investigates and analyses the museum practices that have been used as a visual communication within the Centre by discussing methods that have been used in the museum and its auditorium. A conclusion follows that summarizes the candidate's findings regarding museum display within the Centre, and its impact on tourism and heritage conservation in relation to the Southern San and rock art.Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.
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Ngcai, Sonwabiso. "Xhosa twins as a theme in conceptually motivated sculptural artworks." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10352/312.
Full textAbstract:
M. Tech. (Fine Art, Department of Visual Arts and Design, Faculty of Human Sciences), Vaal University of Technology|My Masters of Fine Arts degree consists of two components: the dissertation and practical works in the form of sculptures displayed as an exhibition. This body of work explores myth, belief and ritual practices relating to birth, life and death of twins in Xhosa culture. The purpose of the dissertation is to enrich and reflect on both the understanding of Xhosa ritual practices and that of my own work. The study will hopefully add significantly to the body of knowledge about Xhosa Indigenous Knowledge Systems as relating to twins. UNESCO emphasizes that Indigenous Knowledge Systems are part of immaterial cultural heritage such as languages, music and dance, festivities, rituals and traditional craftsmanship, and this cultural heritage is important for the identity of a society (Kaya & Masoga 2008:2). The choice of employing autoethnography in this qualitative study is derived from lived experience. Born as a twin in a rural Xhosa community, I experienced some unusual practices during my upbringing and thus a qualitative research method is used, involving auto-ethnography. This methodological approach aims at exploration of personal experience as a focus of investigation. The study also looks briefly at Yoruba twins as a means of finding similarities and commonalties with those of Xhosa culture.
National Arts Council
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Woolf, Susan Eve. "South African taxi hand signs : documenting the history and significance of taxi hand signs through anthropology and art, including the invention of a tactile shape-language for blind people." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/14982.
Full textAbstract:
This study documents and analyses the first established record of taxi hand signs
and their respective destinations in South Africa. It demonstrates how taxi hand
signification developed into a useful language over time, out of a desperate need
for transport amongst black, multi-cultural and multi-lingual people living in
South Africa. Its central objective is to recognise taxi hand signs as metaphors for
processes of history in pre- and post-apartheid South Africa. This is a study that
crosses disciplinary boundaries and marries fine art, anthropology and philosophy
in exploring new meanings and understandings of taxi hand signs. In this way, it
demonstrates the extent to which art informs other disciplines in extraordinary
ways, adding to the value of inter-disciplinary research.
The research indicates that taxi signs are part of an evolving, well-functioning,
gestural language for sighted commuters. It goes further to probe the question of
how blind commuters might have access to the signs, thereby enhancing their
independence and movement. The study responds to this question through the
design of a new, tactile shape-language of taxi hand signs for blind people.
Qualitative research techniques were employed throughout the three phases of the
research, namely: preliminary research, research design, and social and fine art
responses. The methodologies utilised in the phases were sampling, semistructured
interviews and participant observation. These were each employed at
specific times to meet specific needs of different phases. I, along with some coresearchers,
applied these in taxi ranks, taxi associations and on the streets of
Gauteng. The methods used attest to the fact that when new knowledge was
sought with key informants in the taxi industry, the different methodologies could
be used to verify and corroborate the informants’ information, which in turn
become the keystones of knowledge distribution in the thesis. With limited
documentation on the emergence of taxi hand signs in the industry, the informants
furnished unexplored background information, which I have interpreted in my
artworks, films, books, stamps, maps and the blind shape-language.
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The anthropological research also probed the function of signification through
literary criticism. This involved an investigation of the components of the process
of signification into its constituent parts in order to conceptualise and
contextualise taxi hand signing and its particular relations and narrative content
within the greater field of gestural signification.
The response of art and artists to anthropological, historical and current
approaches was also explored, again to provide context to my art that evolved out
of the research. These involved conceptual and graphic art interpretations probing
movement, time, space and signification, which led to an art exhibition at the Wits
Art Museum (henceforth referred to as WAM) from 12 June to 14 July 2013.
Taxi hand signs are continually evolving as new destinations and narratives arise.
Together with the art responses document, this thesis records and promotes the
established body of the current taxi hand signs, destinations and narratives, for
both sighted and blind people, by providing written, visual and sensory evidence
of a cultural phenomenon that was previously uncharted.
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Xulu, Smangele Clerah Buyisiwe. "Gender, tradition and change : the role of rural women in the commoditization of Zulu culture at selected tourist attractions in Zululand." Thesis, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/451.
Full textAbstract:
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of African Languages at the University of Zululand, 2005.The commoditization of Zulu culture has become commonplace in the tourism industry in South Africa. Zulu culture and cultural products like music; dance, crafts, landscapes and others are often packaged and consumed in the tourism attractions in Zululand and elsewhere. This thesis examines culture and gender issues related to the commoditization process of Zulu culture and cultural products. Focusing on specific case studies in selected tourist attractions in Zululand, the thesis concludes that rural Zulu women play minor roles as dancers, crafters, cooks, and waiters in the tourist attractions in Zululand. Their junior roles make them to play no role in decision making, neither do they own any assets in their work places, and may not, therefore, influence the commoditization and product authentication process of their own culture.
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Groenewald, Liesbeth Hendrika. "Bushman imagery and its impact on the visual constructs of Pippa skotnes." Diss., 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2646.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation explores the impact of Bushman images, and the writings of Lucy Lloyd and Wilhelm Bleek (working with the Breakwater Bushmen) on three art works of Pippa Skotnes. They are The Return III (1988), For //Kunn (1993) and Heaven’s Things (1999). It is argued that Bushman imagery, being the result of shamanic trance activities is characterised by imagery, which mammals universally share. The use of the same imagery by the Surrealists in the twentieth century arises not from an intimate interaction with the spirit realm/dream world but from the European longing for an altered reality. Skotnes appropriates Bushman imagery in her prints, narrating the tragic fate of the Bushman. She laments the loss of the transcendental relationship between Man and the Universe. The exploitation, adoption and marketing of Bushman imagery by the tourist industry marks the distinction between her respectful treatment and the materialism of South Africans.Visual Arts
M.A. (Visual Arts)
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Grand, Nesbeth. "Art and globalisation : the place of intangible heritage in a globalized environment." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/12065.
Full textAbstract:
The thesis has investigated the place of Zimbabwean indigenous intangible heritage in a globalising environment. It used the Shona language and intangible heritage situation as a case study. It argued that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is continually being eroded by the agents of globalisation and that the only way of safeguarding it from extinction is through the preservation of Zimbabwean indigenous languages. The thesis has come to this conclusion after having established that there is an intimate and inseparable bond between language and its intangible values so much that it is not possible to talk of one devoid of the other. The relationship has been seen to be symbiotic. The Shona language has been established to embody, express and to be a carrier of all the intangible heritage of its speakers into the future by re-living them in the people’s daily life while these intangible values have been seen to conserve the language through their continued practice by the people. The research has also established that Zimbabwean intangible heritage marginalisation has roots in colonialism, dating as far back as the early Christian missionary days. The Shona intangible heritage has also been seen to be still of value despite the global threats as evidenced by the people’s continued re-living of it through language. The thesis has also noted that the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture is still using out-dated colonial language policies that still further the ascendancy of English and the intangible values it stands for while indigenous languages and values are marginalised in the education system, in government and in industry thereby worsening their predicament in the global environment. The current socio-economic and political developments in the country and some Shona novelists in Shona and in English are also culprits in this whole process as they continue to demonise and infantilise Zimbabwean intangible heritage. The thesis has therefore asserted that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is most likely to be eroded from the face of the earth if no measures are taken to safeguard it from extinction. It has therefore wound up by arguing that the survival of Zimbabwean intangible heritage lies in the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages through which it continues to be practised and felt by its people. The thesis has therefore recommended that the Zimbabwean government adopt sound language policies that safeguard the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages to enable the indigenous intangible heritage of the people to survive as well as the two are intricately related.African Languages
(D.Litt.et.Phil.(African Languages))
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Glazer, Joanne. "The social and political implications of the Kuba cloths from Zaire." 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/16851.
Full textAbstract:
Textiles may be used as a vehicle to penetrate and exemplify a society's customs and
traditions. This dissertation concentrates on the Kuba cloths from Zaire and particularly
focuses on the social and political implications associated with these textiles. Part One
explores the economic aspects of the cloths and the values of work, wealth, status and
titleholding among the Kuba. The Kuba's aesthetic preference for pattern and design will
be contemplated in relation to the cloths and as an illustration of this culture's concern
with decoration and display. Part Two of this study examines the occasions for which
these cloths are adorned. It will be observed that these celebrations and rituals, in
conjunction with their ceremonial modes of dress, not only underline the importance of
the nation and its ideologies and customs (as examined in Part One) but serve to
acknowledge ethnic identity, as well as maintain and perpetuate the social and political
order of the Kuba.Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology
M.A. (History of Art)
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Grand, Nesbeth. "Art and globalisation : the place of intangible heritage in a globalising environment." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/12065.
Full textAbstract:
The thesis has investigated the place of Zimbabwean indigenous intangible heritage in a globalising environment. It used the Shona language and intangible heritage situation as a case study. It argued that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is continually being eroded by the agents of globalisation and that the only way of safeguarding it from extinction is through the preservation of Zimbabwean indigenous languages. The thesis has come to this conclusion after having established that there is an intimate and inseparable bond between language and its intangible values so much that it is not possible to talk of one devoid of the other. The relationship has been seen to be symbiotic. The Shona language has been established to embody, express and to be a carrier of all the intangible heritage of its speakers into the future by re-living them in the people’s daily life while these intangible values have been seen to conserve the language through their continued practice by the people. The research has also established that Zimbabwean intangible heritage marginalisation has roots in colonialism, dating as far back as the early Christian missionary days. The Shona intangible heritage has also been seen to be still of value despite the global threats as evidenced by the people’s continued re-living of it through language. The thesis has also noted that the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture is still using out-dated colonial language policies that still further the ascendancy of English and the intangible values it stands for while indigenous languages and values are marginalised in the education system, in government and in industry thereby worsening their predicament in the global environment. The current socio-economic and political developments in the country and some Shona novelists in Shona and in English are also culprits in this whole process as they continue to demonise and infantilise Zimbabwean intangible heritage. The thesis has therefore asserted that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is most likely to be eroded from the face of the earth if no measures are taken to safeguard it from extinction. It has therefore wound up by arguing that the survival of Zimbabwean intangible heritage lies in the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages through which it continues to be practised and felt by its people. The thesis has therefore recommended that the Zimbabwean government adopt sound language policies that safeguard the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages to enable the indigenous intangible heritage of the people to survive as well as the two are intricately related.African Languages
D. Litt. et. Phil.(African Languages)
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Bregin, Elana. "The identity of difference : a critical study of representations of the Bushmen." Thesis, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/2550.
Full textAbstract:
More than any other people, the Bushmen - like the Aborigines on the Australian continent - have epitomized the sub-human other in South African historiography. My primary concern in this study will be to interrogate the representations that gave rise to such entrenched notions of Bushman alterity, and the consequences these have had for Bushman lives. Through an assessment of the writings of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century travellers, missionaries, settlers, colonial officials and scholars, I shall examine understandings of ‘otherness’ and ‘difference’, and the ways in which alterity discourse opened up a space for the ensuing colonial policies of genocide and subjugation against the Bushmen. By allowing the Bushman ‘voices’ to talk back - through an exploration of verbal and visual forms of Bushman creative expression - I hope to present a more balanced sense of Bushman ‘identity’, and expose the fundamental intolerance of difference that lies at the heart of alterity discourse. I shall conclude the thesis with a problematization of contemporary trends of representation, an examination of how these often inadvertently continue the process of othering, and a consideration of their repercussions for present-day Bushman lives. Aside from the obvious relevance of such a study to an understanding of both the destructive events and representations of history, and the current traumatic circumstances of Bushman lives, the questions that this thesis raises can be seen to have more far-reaching implications. In a country such as South Africa, with its long history of segregation and discrimination, issues of otherness and difference take on a particularly compelling resonance. It seems crucial - especially at this point in our national progress - to interrogate our historical attitudes towards otherness, and posit more constructive ways of approaching difference, that allow others their distinct identity, without either demonizing or collapsing such difference; or, to phrase it in Homi Bhabha’s question: “How can the human world live its difference? how [sic] can a human being live Other-wise?” (1994:122).Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.
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Sotewu, Siziwe Sylvia. "A visual narrative reflecting on upbringing of Xhosa girls with special references to 'intonjane"." Diss., 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/22192.
Full textAbstract:
The study unpacked the meaning and the value of intonjane in traditional Xhosa communities. It also provides a critical analysis and interpretation of the intonjane custom and in particular its impact on the upbringing of a Xhosa traditional girl child. It investigates the value of this practice, especially in relation to where it is still being performed, even in our modern times. I researched closely into all aspects of how the girls were brought up, and with what social values. The data collection has been conducted through interviews with the Philakukuzenzela group when they were in Grahamstown Art Festival in July 2011 who come from a place called Centuli, and other people (abaThembu) who practice and have knowledge of the different aspects of the intonjane process and observation during the actual ceremonies in O. R. Thambo district, and in Gemvale near Port St Johns in the Province of the Eastern Cape. Interviews were conducted in Xhosa and translated into English. This Visual Narrative investigates and contributes to the debate regarding the value of traditional African thought and how it can enrich our contemporary belief system. The objective was to investigate the essence and merit of the knowledge imparted by elderly women to young girls during the initiation period of intonjane within Xhosa traditional communities. This study provides a foundation and springboard for my practical artworks which utilized symbols and metaphors to express my understanding of the important events and stages associated with this traditional ceremony. Clay medium was used as the medium of expression, applying different techniques such as throwing, press mold, slab building, coiling, engraving, sewing and inlaying, with press mold being the main technique utilized. My artworks are of three different types, which are symbolic of the three aspects or stages, of liminality, namely: pre-liminal, liminal and post-liminal.Art history, Visual arts and Musicology
M.A. (Visual Arts)
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Green, Dawn. "Engendering the rock art archaeology of the north Eastern Cape, South Africa Ritual specialists, novices, and social conditioning." Diss., 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/26531.
Full textAbstract:
Abstracts in English, Zulu and XhosaRock art affords unique opportunities for engendered research because it provides emic views of how specific people re-presented themselves. My feminist study investigates under-researched ‘San/Bushman’ gendered identities to understand more about area-specific constructions of personhood through analysing 2852 rock paintings from two adjacent areas of the northern Eastern Cape, South Africa. Using quantitative and qualitative methods and evidence from excavation archaeology, ethnography, ethology, and neurocognitive research, I identify three categories of ritual specialists: experienced and preeminent; ordinary; and novice. These paintings show that wo/men ritual specialists could transcend the identity norms of ordinary people, but men ritual specialists may have had more status and power. I suggest the paintings acted as a controlling mechanism for the potency of women, indoctrination of novices, and present an ideal for the practice of ritual specialists and ordinary people. This research has important implications for identifying different types of identity marking by different groups of southern African San.
Bonono ba majwe bo fana ka menyetla e ikgethang bakeng sa dipatlisiso tse fokolang hobane e fana ka ditjhebo tsa bonnete tsa hore na batho ba itseng ba ne ba itlhahisa jwang. Boithuto ba ka ba tsa bosadi bo fuputsa boitsebiso ba batho ba maSan/Busumane bo so kang bo batlisiswa haholo ele ho utlwisisa haholwanyane ka dikaho tsa dibaka tse ikgethileng tsa botho ka ho manolla metako ya pente e 2852 e tswang dibakeng tse pedi tse bapileng tsa borwa ho Kapa Botjhabela, Afrika Borwa. Ka tshebediso ya mekgwa ya bongata le boleng le bopaki ho tswa ho dipatlisiso tsa excavation archaeology, ethnography, ethology, le tsa neurocognitive, ke hlwaya mekgahlelo e meraro ya ditsebi tsa mekete ya meetlo: ba nang boiphihlello le ba hlahelletseng ka mahetla; ba tlwaelehileng; le bomaithutwana. Metako ena ya pente e bontsha hore ditsebi tsa basadi tsa mekete ya meetlo di ne di kgona ho tlola ditlwaelo tsa boitsebiso tsa batho ba tlwaelehileng, empa ditsebi tsa banna tsa mekete ya meetlo di ka di ne le di na le maemo le matla a fetang. Ke sisinya hore metako e ne e sebetsa jwalo ka mokgwa wa ho laola bakeng sa matla a basadi, thuto ya bomaithutwane, le ho hlahisa se lokelang ho ba sona bakeng sa tshebetso ya ditsebi tsa meetlo le batho ba tlwaelehileng. Patlisiso ena e na le bohlokwa bakeng sa ho hlwaya mefuta e fapaneng ya matshwao ba boitsebiso a dihlopha tse fapaneng tsa maSan a Afrika e borwa.
Imizobo esematyeni inika amathuba akhethekileyo ophando lweemeko ezingqonge isini ngoba le mizobo ibonisa indlela abaziveza ngayo abantu abathile ngokwenkcubeko yabo. Isifundo sam ngobufazi siphanda ngohlanga lwama ‘San/Bushman’ okanye Amaqhakancu/abaThwa nekuphandwe kancinci ngabo, injongo ikukuqonda ubume bobuntu babo kwiindawo ngeendawo. Olu phando lwenziwe ngokuhlalutya imizobo esematyeni engama-2852 ekwiingingqi ezimbini eziseMntla-Mpuma Koloni, eMzantsi Afrika. Ngokusebenzisa uphando olusekelwe kubungqina bamanani nobusekelwe kwiingxoxo nokuzathuza kwanobungqina obuvezwe zizinto ezigronjwe/ezigrunjwe kwiziza zakudaladala, obuvezwe kwiinkcazelo zenkcubeko yabantu abahlukeneyo, obuvezwe kwiinkcazelo zoluntu xa lujongwe ngokwenkalo yendalo (i-itholoji) nobuvezwe kwizifundo zokuqiqa nokusebenza kwengqondo, ndiphawule iindidi ezintathu zeengcali zezithethe: abanamava nolwazi olubalaseleyo; abanolwazi oluqhelekileyo; abangenalwazi kangako. Le mizobo ibonisa ukuba iingcali zezithethe zamadoda nezabafazi zinakho ukubona ngaphaya kwendlela ababona ngayo abantu jikelele, kodwa kusengenzeka ukuba iingcali zezithethe zamadoda zazinewonga negunya elithe chatha. Ndibona ukuba imizobo yayisebenza njengesixhobo sokulawula amandla neziphiwo zabafazi, ukuqweqwedisa iingcinga zabangenalwazi luthe vetshe, nokuvelisa okulindelekileyo kwindlela yokusebenza kweengcali zezithethe nabantu jikelele. Olu phando lubalulekile ekunakaneni iindidi ezahlukeneyo zokuphawula ubuyena bamaqela ahlukeneyo ohlanga lwamaSan/ Amaqhakancu aseAfrika.
M.A. (Archaeology)