DOCSLIB.ORG

Masculinities on Trial Final Version

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Masculinities on Trial Final Version Magisterstudiengang Politikwissenschaft, Philosophie & Ev. Theologie Graduate Program Political Science, Philosophy & Protestant Theology MAGISTERARBEIT / MASTER ’S THESIS Masculinity on Trial in South Africa? – The Zuma Rape Trial, Rape, HIV and AIDS and Masculinities vorgelegt von / submitted by: JOHANNES PHILIPP BACKHAUS Betreuende Gutachterin / Mentoring Examiner: DR. LYDIA POTTS , Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Deutschland / Germany Zweite Gutachterin / Second Examiner: PROF . DR. SHEILA MEINTJES , University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Südafrika / South Africa Oldenburg, den 28. April 2008 / Oldenburg, 28 th of April 2008 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 2. TABLE OF FIGURES 4 3. FOREWORD 6 3.1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7 4. ABSTRACT [IN GERMAN ] 8 5. INTRODUCTION TO THE THESIS 12 5.1. METHODOLOGY 14 6.1. INTRODUCTION 17 6.2. THE ZUMA RAPE TRIAL 18 6.2.1.2. THE COMPLAINANT ’S TESTIMONY 21 6.2.1.3. THE ACCUSED ’S TESTIMONY 26 6.2.3. THE JUDGEMENT 34 6.3. INSIDE THE PUBLIC DISCUSSION 36 6.3.1. POLITICAL CONSPIRACY 37 6.3.2. HIV AND AIDS 41 6.3.3. GENDER VIOLENCE 42 6.3.4. MISCELLANEOUS 46 6.4. LEADING QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT SECTIONS 47 7. SECOND CHAPTER - HIV AND AIDS 50 7.1. INTRODUCTION 50 7.3. CONDOMS 55 7.4. KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HIV, STD S, AND SEXUALITY 60 7.4.1. EXTERNALISATION 66 7.5. GENDER IMPLICATIONS OF RELATIONSHIPS 67 7.5.1. SUGAR DADDIES AND SUGAR MUMMIES 76 7.6. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SECTION ’S LEADING QUESTIONS 77 8. THIRD CHAPTER - GENDER VIOLENCE AND RAPE 79 8.1. INTRODUCTION 79 8.2. CURRENT SITUATION 80 8.3. DEFINITIONS OF RAPE 81 8.4. PERCEPTIONS OF GENDER VIOLENCE AND RAPE 84 2 8.5. REASONS /E XPLANATIONS FOR GENDER VIOLENCE AND RAPE 86 8.6. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LEADING QUESTIONS 92 9. FOURTH CHAPTER - MASCULINITIES 94 9.1. INTRODUCTION 94 9.2. DEFINITION OF MASCULINITY /M ASCULINITIES 95 9.3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS ABOUT MASCULINITIES 99 9.3.1. HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY - R.W. CONNELL 99 9.3.2. MASCULINITY AS HOMOPHOBIA - MICHAEL S. KIMMEL 103 9.3.3. HEGEMONY OF MEN - JEFF HEARN 105 9.4. MASCULINITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA 108 9.4.1. AFRIKAANER MASCULINITY – ROBERT MORRELL 110 9.4.2. ZULU MASCULINITY – MARK HUNTER 111 9.4.3. STRUGGLE MASCULINITY - THOKOZANI XABA 113 9.5. MASCULINITY AND VIOLENCE 116 9.6. GLOBALIZATION AND MASCULINITIES 118 10. DISCUSSION 120 11. CONCLUSION 126 12. APPENDIX 128 12.1. APPENDIX 1: THE POEM “IF ” BY RUDYARD KIPLING 128 13. BIBLIOGRAPHY 130 13.1 BOOKS 130 13.2 ARTICLES 133 13.3 NEWSPAPER ARTICLES – PRINTED & ONLINE 142 13.4 ENCYCLOPEDIA 155 13.5 LEGAL AUTHORITIES 155 13.6 TRANSCRIPTS 155 13.7 ADDITIONAL AND CONTINUATIVE LITERATURE 155 14. DECLARATION 157 3 2. TABLE OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: “15 th of November 2005 / Startling new allegation against Zuma that he raped a woman who was a guest at his home”, in ZAPIRO 2006. 11 FIGURE 2: Map of South Africa by Places.co.za . Retrieved 31 st of March 2008 from www. places.co.za. 15 FIGURE 3: Cover picture of Sowetan , 15 th of February 2006. The very first day of the rape trial. 19 FIGURE 4: “12 th of March 2006 / Zuma’s counsel, Kemp J. Kemp, drags the sexual history of Zuma’s HIV-positive accuser into the courtroom, grilling her on previous rapes”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 76. 24 FIGURE 5: “19 th of February 2006”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 56. 27 FIGURE 6: Images of the demonstrations at the beginning of the trial in front of the High Court, Johannesburg, in Sowetan , 16 th of February 2006, p. 28. 31 FIGURE 7: Images of the demonstrations in front of the High Court, Johannesburg, after the aquittal of Jacob Zuma in Sowetan , 9 th of May 2006, p. 8. 35 FIGURE 8: “11 th of May 2006”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 97. 40 Figure 9: FIGURE 10: “21 st of February 2006 / Dick Cheney accidentally shoots a hunting companion”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 59. 46 FIGURE 11: “9 th of April 2006”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 82. 56 FIGURE 12: “11 th of April 2006 / Weeks ahead of the UN Special Session on Aids, government excludes the Treatment Action Campaign and the Aids Law Project from the national delegation”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 83. 62 FIGURE 13: “5 th of September 2006 / Pronouncing authoritatively: ‘we cannot afford any mixed messages or ambiguity…”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 154. 65 FIGURE 14: “11 th of May 2006 / At a press conference, he denies he said a shower could prevent HIV”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 96. 78 FIGURE 15: “25 th of September 2005 / Annual release of police crime statistics. Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula paints a rosy picture but the rape level has worsened.”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 7. 81 FIGURE 16: “5 th of April 2006 / Was he at risk through unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman? Not really, he says. His full testimony speaks volumes”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 80. 85 4 FIGURE 17: “9 th of August 2006”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 136 93 FIGURE 18: “9 th of March 2006 / Outside court, Zuma supporters burn pictures of his rape accuser, shouting ‘Burn the Bitch’. Zuma stirs it up with his trademark song”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 75. 107 FIGURE 19: “9 th of May 2006 / Acquitted. But chastised by the judge for being unable to control his sexual urges”, in ZAPIRO 2006: 95. 113 5 3. FOREWORD This Thesis has been produced within a cooperation project between the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (Germany) and the University of the Witwaters- rand, Johannesburg (South Africa). The two examiners of this Thesis are: Dr. Lydia Potts, University of Oldenburg, and Prof. Sheila Meintjes, University of the Wit- watersrand, Johannesburg. Due to the international nature of the cooperation pro- ject, the Thesis was written in English. In the time of March - June 2007, the groundwork for this Thesis was done in Jo- hannesburg. During a three-month stay, I worked out the title and objective of this Thesis and analysed most of the relevant literature referred to in this text. These pre- paratory works resulted in a research proposal which outlines the guiding idea of this Thesis. In South Africa it is common to write a proposal before composing the final version of a Master’s Thesis. In the proposal the author outlines the key idea(s), hypotheses, and the literature used. Generally, this proposal is presented to the university com- munity and only after this public presentation has been made, is it then decided, whether or not the topic suggested can be accepted. This procedure, however, was not applied to the present Master’s Thesis. Despite the fact that one of the two ex- aminers is a lecturer at the University in Johannesburg and that I was present in Jo- hannesburg for three months in preparation thereof, this Thesis is subject to the German regulations for a Master’s Thesis. In order to comply with German regula- tions and also to provide German readers with the opportunity to gain an overall impression of the issues discussed in the text without having to read the entire Eng- lish-language Thesis, the Abstract will be comprehensive and written in German. Since I assume that most of the German readers do not have a good knowledge of South African society and/or politics, I considered it important to produce a text which poses no major difficulties for German readers in terms of the issues ad- dressed. To achieve this, I have provided all those explanations in the text for Ger- man readers, who might need to gain an overall impression of the situation in South Africa. During my stay in Johannesburg, I found that South Africa it is a wonderful and beautiful country and I learned that the people in South African are very friendly and helpful. Despite these very positive personal experiences, it must be stated that South Africa is a country, which has not only huge problems but also ambitious goals, so- 6 cially and politically. Some of them will be addressed in this Thesis. Since the country became a democratic state in 1994, South Africa has tried to overcome more than 50 years of racial suppression/segregation and – more recently - has put into effect the most progressive constitution in the world. Another problem to be overcome in South Africa is the fact that there are about thirty different tribes and population groups, which are to be united to become one nation. A metaphor might illustrate this challenge for European readers. If the European Union with currently 27 mem- ber states would try to build one national state, the challenge would be comparable to South Africa. Although all the European countries share to some extent the same cultural background, it would be rather difficult to combine all of them into one state. 3.1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Lydia Potts and Prof. Sheila Meintjes for their support and the opportunity to be able to write such an interesting Master’s Thesis. Both of them were a big help for me in finding the exact topic for this Thesis and in getting to know South Africa. Likewise, I would like to thank the members of the Political Sci- ence Forum at the University of the Witwatersrand with whom I had very interesting discussions and who helped me to find my way around Johannesburg and South Af- rica. The professors and others of the political science department helped me a lot by discussing several issues, by helping me to find books in the libraries of Johannes- burg, and by giving me the feeling of being a part of the department.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • News Covering in the Online Press Media During the ANC Elective Conference of December 2017 Tigere Paidamoyo Muringa 212556107
    News covering in the online press media during the ANC elective conference of December 2017 Tigere Paidamoyo Muringa 212556107 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the academic requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at Centre for Communication, Media and Society in the School of Applied Human Sciences, College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. Supervisor: Professor Donal McCracken 2019 As the candidate's supervisor, I agree with the submission of this thesis. …………………………………………… Professor Donal McCracken i Declaration - plagiarism I, ……………………………………….………………………., declare that 1. The research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, is my original research. 2. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. 3. This thesis does not contain other persons' data, pictures, graphs or other information unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. 4. This thesis does not contain other persons' writing unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. Where other written sources have been quoted, then: a. Their words have been re-written, but the general information attributed to them has been referenced b. Where their exact words have been used, then their writing has been placed in italics and inside quotation marks and referenced. 5. This thesis does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the Internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the thesis and the References sections. Signed ……………………………………………………………………………… ii Acknowledgements I am greatly indebted to the discipline of CCMS at Howard College, UKZN, led by Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli. It was the discipline’s commitment to academic research and academic excellence that attracted me to pursue this degree at CCMS (a choice that I don’t regret).
    [Show full text]
  • Take 286 Starts at 14:05
    UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THURSDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2018 Page: 1 THURSDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2018 ____ PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ____ The House met at 14:02. The House Chairperson Ms M G Boroto took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation. DEBATE ON 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM OF NO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN: #HEARMETOO – A WOMAN OF FORTITUDE The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Hon Chairperson, hon Members of Parliament, representatives of Civil Society and Women’s Movements, ladies and gentlemen, I stand here before you to talk about one of the most and highly emotive issues in South Africa and the world. This scourge knows no colour, knows no religion, knows no race, knows no class and knows no political UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THURSDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2018 Page: 2 affiliations. It ravages communities and families across class and the colour line. It is a societal challenge which requires a societal responses. IsiZulu: Ngicela nje ukuthi namhlanje ngingahlushwa uma ngikhuluma ngento ebuhlungu kakhulu kubantu baseNingizimu Afrika. Ngikhuluma ngento engakhethi ukuthi ungubani, unjani, unemali engakanani nokuthi ungubani emphakathini. English: Let us just for a moment put ourselves in the shoes of those who suffer in the hands of abusers. Let us even if it is for a minute feel their pain and trauma. As we do that, let us call upon for those who believe on our almighty and those who believe on ancestors to get into the hearts and minds of these heartless abusers so that they can understand and feel the suffering and the pain that they caused to their victims.
    [Show full text]
  • African Masculinities Bibliography
    Thematic Bibliography of African Masculinities First edition published in July 2020 This bibliography is created as a comprehensive, free, public resource for work conducted on men and masculinities within the African context. The first edition includes Journal articles published in English between January 1970 and December 2015. This is an evolving work, as such additional references and corrections are encouraged. Relevant references will be accepted, regardless of language or date of publication. Please submit these to [email protected]. The Bibliography of African Masculinities is updated annually. Ratele, K. & Richardson, K. (2020). Bibliography of African Masculinities (Thematic). Cape Town: South African Medical Research Council/University of South Africa Masculinity and Health Research Unit. Thematic Bibliography of African Masculinities 2 List of Themes Abstinence....................... 4 Health: Mental .............. 44 Power ............................ 99 Abuse .............................. 4 Health: Reproductive .... 45 Pregnancy ................... 100 Adolescence ..................... 4 Hegemony ..................... 46 Race ............................ 101 Agency ............................ 6 Heterosexuality ............. 49 Racism ........................ 103 Apartheid ........................ 6 Heteronormativity ........ 51 Refugee ....................... 104 Becoming a Man / HIV/AIDS .................... 52 Romance , Relationships Initiation ......................... 9 History of Men and and Love ....................
    [Show full text]
  • Texturing Protest Action Against Sexual Violence on the South African Campus and Its Existence Online
    WITS UNIVERSITY Loss, Rage and Laughter: Texturing protest action against sexual violence on the South African campus and its existence online A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in Sociology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand-Johannesburg by: Mbali Mazibuko (709626) Supervisor: Prof. Srila Roy Co-Supervisor: Dr. Franziska Rueedi 1 I hereby declare that this research report, completed in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts in Sociology, is my own work. I have referenced all intellectual property which is not my own. I have not allowed anyone to borrow my work. Sign: Mbali Mazibuko Date: 2018/09/30 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………..4 Abstract………………………………………………………..5 Introduction……………………………………………………6 Background…………………………………………………..12 Methodology………………………………………………....25 Literature Review……………………………………………31 Analytical Chapters: DISRUPT……………………………………………………..40 Ngithi Joina Mzabalazo!…………………………………….62 Towards Resolving Grief: #Remember/ingKwezi………..80 Concluding Remarks Chapter……………………...………95 Reference List……………………………………………….104 Appendix of tweets: Disrupt…………………………………………………………..2 Ngithi Joina Mzabalazo……………………………………….7 #Remember/ingKwezi………………………………………..14 3 Acknowledgments Dear God: Umbhedesho wamaWisile amahle, uthi ‘Siyakudumisa Thixo. Siyakuvuma ukuba unguYehova. Nkosi…Ndithembe Wena. Mandingaze ndidaniswe’. I never would have made it kodwa ithemba lami Nguwe. You know. You know. To my supervisors, Dr. Srila Roy and Dr. Franziska Rueedi: Thank you for being patient. Without your intellectual guidance and kindness, this research would not have been possible. To my internal and external examiners: Thank you for your input of which I have taken into serious consideration as I submit this research project. To the National Research Foundation Programme in the ‘Everyday and Public History funded by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation: Thank you for the financial, intellectual and emotional support.
    [Show full text]
  • We Were Cut Off from the Comprehension of Our Surroundings
    Black Peril, White Fear – Representations of Violence and Race in South Africa’s English Press, 1976-2002, and Their Influence on Public Opinion Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität zu Köln vorgelegt von Christine Ullmann Institut für Völkerkunde Universität zu Köln Köln, Mai 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work presented here is the result of years of research, writing, re-writing and editing. It was a long time in the making, and may not have been completed at all had it not been for the support of a great number of people, all of whom have my deep appreciation. In particular, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Michael Bollig, Prof. Dr. Richard Janney, Dr. Melanie Moll, Professor Keyan Tomaselli, Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, and Prof. Dr. Teun A. van Dijk for their help, encouragement, and constructive criticism. My special thanks to Dr Petr Skalník for his unflinching support and encouraging supervision, and to Mark Loftus for his proof-reading and help with all language issues. I am equally grateful to all who welcomed me to South Africa and dedicated their time, knowledge and effort to helping me. The warmth and support I received was incredible. Special thanks to the Burch family for their help settling in, and my dear friend in George for showing me the nature of determination. Finally, without the unstinting support of my two colleagues, Angelika Kitzmantel and Silke Olig, and the moral and financial backing of my family, I would surely have despaired. Thank you all for being there for me. We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings; we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse.
    [Show full text]
  • Young Women and South Africa's Liberation Struggles After 1976. Rachel E. Johnson
    MAKING HISTORY, GENDERING YOUTH: Young Women and South Africa's Liberation Struggles after 1976. Rachel E. Johnson Thesissubmitted for the degreeof Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) Departmentof History, University of Sheffield April 2010 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................4 6 SUMMARY ............................................................................................. ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................7 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................9 Nationalism I. History and ...................................................................................12 II. Silence 15 ........................................................................................................... How to history CHAPTER ONE: write a of youth? ......................... 19 Youth 20 I. Theorising .............................................................................................. Youth in SouthAfrica II. The Historiographyof ..............................................26 Archive 48 III. A Living .......................................................................................... CHAPTER TWO: The meanings of June 16th and the in South African histories gendering of youth ...................................54 56 I. The Nature of Newspapers .................................................................................. 1977-1986 II. June 16than episode within the struggle
    [Show full text]
  • Is There a Need for Black Feminism in South Africa? an Exploration Into Systematic and Intersectional Exclusion
    COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012). Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017). Is there a need for Black Feminism in South Africa? An exploration into systematic and intersectional exclusion. by Kelebogile Patience Salane 201027652 Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Philosophy (Coursework) in the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg supervised by Prof. H. P. P. Lötter 10 December 2018 3 Acknowledgements To Black women in South Africa and in the diaspora, May we know Victory. 3 4 Abstract Much of mid- to late 20th century (postmodern period) socio-historical narratives, particularly pertaining to the meaning of black womanhood in post-colonial societies have noted black women’s plight as that characterized by intersectional oppression. Black women cannot adequately pronounce on the experience of being ‘a black person’ without that conversation encompassing the experience of being a woman (including from a certain class grouping, sexuality etc.).
    [Show full text]
  • The Remarkable Story of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo by Redi Tlhabi
    VOLUME 9 | SPRING 2020 INTERMEDIATING POLITICS THROUGH SUBJECTIVITY IN KHWEZI: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF FEZEKILE NTSUKELA KUZWAYO BY REDI TLHABI Ellie Vilakazi & Julieann Ulin Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Abstract In 2005 Zuma was dismissed as deputy president of South Africa after his longtime friend and advisor, Schabir My contention is that literary journalism Shaik was sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption welds large, complex world phenomena that are not and fraud. The court discovered that Shaik made regular always readily understandable to people — war, large- payments to Zuma that totaled to 1.2 million rands scale migration, climate change and others — with the (US$178,000) thereby breaking anti-corruption laws reader through the narrator’s subjective experience. To (The Telegraph). On the 6th of December, later that year, evaluate this argument, I utilize Zuma was officially charged with rape. As the trial went In Khwezi: The Remarkable Story of Fezekile on it was discovered that the woman who accused Zuma Ntsukela Kuzwayo. Redi Tlhabi narrates the life of of rape was HIV positive. After being cross examined, Fezekile both before and after she brought charges against Zuma said that he took a shower after having intercourse the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. I because it "would minimise the risk of contracting the argue that this work of literary journalism has the ability disease [HIV]" (BBC News). to reconstruct the problematic narratives that surrounded The showerhead in the cartoon is meant to Fezekile during the time of the trial. Kwezi is written with serve as a visual representation for the comments that the intention of giving the reader information within one he made during the trial, the trial itself, as well as the body of work of South African politics and endeavors, not fact a few years after the trial, many South Africans only to explain what is happening, but helps the reader believed he was guilty despite the court ruling — which understand why something is happening.
    [Show full text]
  • Global and Local Narratives of the South African General Elections
    DESPERATELY SEEKING DEPTH: Global and local narratives of the South African general elections on television news, 1994 – 2014 By Bernadine Jones Town Cape Thesis presentedof for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY at the Centre for Film and Media Studies UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN UniversityAugust 2017 1 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town Declaration of own work and publications This thesis is my own work, conducted in Cape Town, South Africa between January 2014 and August 2017. I confirm that I have been granted permission by the University of Cape Town’s Doctoral Degrees Board to include the following publication(s) in my PhD thesis: Jones, B. 2016. Television news and the digital environment: a triadic multimodal approach for analysing moving image media, in African Journalism Studies 37(2): 116-137 2 Acknowledgements What respectable body of work would be complete without expressing ones gratitude to those who have helped carry the author – mind, soul, and sometimes body – through the wilderness of research and analysis? It stands to reason then that I convey my utmost appreciation for my two supervisors, Drs Martha Evans and Wallace Chuma, for guiding me along this path with infinite patience, wisdom, and maddening attention to detail without which I would flounder.
    [Show full text]
  • Reading the Sowetan's Mediation of the Public's
    READING THE SOWETAN’S MEDIATION OF THE PUBLIC’S RESPONSE TO THE JACOB ZUMA RAPE TRIAL: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Alison Stent A mini-thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University Supervisor: Dr Jeanne Prinsloo December 2007 ii ABSTRACT Reading the Sowetan’s mediation of the public’s response to the Jacob Zuma rape trial: A critical discourse analysis Alison Stent MA minithesis, Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University In this minithesis I conduct a critical discourse analysis to take on a double-pronged task. On the one hand I explore the social phenomenon of the contestation between supporters of then-ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma and supporters of his rape accuser. The trial, which took place in the Johannesburg High Court between mid-February and early May 2006, stirred intense public interest, both locally and internationally. The performance of thousands of Zuma’s supporters and a far smaller number of gender rights lobby groups, both of whom kept a presence outside the court building throughout the trial, received similar attention. Second, I examine how the Sowetan, a national daily tabloid with a black, middle-class readership, mediated the trial through pictures of the theatre outside the court and letters to the editor. The study is informed by post-Marxist and cultural studies perspectives, both approaches that are concerned with issues of power, ideology and the circulation of meaning within specific sociocultural contexts. A rudimentary thematic content analysis draws out some of the main themes from the material, while the critical discourse analysis is located within a theoretical framework based on concepts from Laclau & Mouffe’s theory of meaning, which assumes a power struggle between contesting positions seeking to invalidate one another and to either challenge or support existing hegemonies.
    [Show full text]
  • Mcgiffin Emily J 2017 Phd.Pdf (6.272Mb)
    Yim’uthi gomololo Land, labour, poetry and the struggle for environmental justice in South Africa Emily McGiffin A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Environmental Studies York University Toronto, Ontario June 2017 ©Emily McGiffin, 2017 Abstract The present work is an interdisciplinary investigation of the environmental politics of written and oral literature in South African society and the shifting role of the amaXhosa imbongi, or oral praise poet, from colonial times to the present. I argue that since colonial times, African literature has played a vital role in constituting understandings of and responses to the social and environmental impacts of capitalism, exploitation, and uneven development. I begin by situating the relationships between amaXhosa people, their environments, and the Western political economy historically, drawing on existing scholarship in the fields of human geography, political ecology, and postcolonial ecocriticism. I then examine several examples of isiXhosa poetry in translation against the backdrop of their historical, political, and environmental contexts, investigating how these poems grapple with the arrival and expansion of extractive capitalism in South Africa and the entrenchment of oppressive patriarchal, colonial, and profoundly racist politics that the process entailed. My research includes several months of field work in the Eastern Cape, where I conducted semi- structured interviews with iimbongi and their audiences. Based on these interviews, I show how the ongoing practice of ontologically and spiritually rich literature has a profound effect on audiences, contributing directly to the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of people and their communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Modelo Formal De Apresentação De Teses E Dissertações Na FCSH
    ‘Wooden Man’?: Masculinities in the Work of J. M. Coetzee (Boyhood, Youth and Summertime) Daniel Filipe Mendes Matias Doctoral Thesis in Modern Languages, Cultures and Literatures Specialisation: Cultural Studies December, 2015 1 Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em Línguas, Culturas e Literaturas Modernas / Especialização em Estudos Culturais, realizada sob a orientação científica de Professora Doutora Teresa Pinto Coelho e Professor Doutor Pedro Aires de Oliveira The author wishes to acknowledge the Portuguese funding institution FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – for supporting the present research, through a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/77855/2011). iii v To Maria Mendes, (Grand)Mother, Teacher, Friend vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I should like to thank Professor Teresa Pinto Coelho. I first met Professor Teresa in my endless quest for more knowledge and a more detailed, complex notion of the world that we inhabit. The memory of this meeting is clear to me, as I remember how in a rainy afternoon, Professor Teresa, with her usual energy and enthusiasm, gave a class to very attentive students on the intricacies of the questions posed by postcolonial studies. Interestingly, alongside its academic substance, my memory is mostly centred on the physical aspects of the event, as I recall Professor Teresa opening her arms widely and concluding – always with a question and, familiarly, with an intellectual provocation – on the myriad of possibilities of reading, of research, of understanding. This ample gesture, indicating openness and not closure, braving darkness and yet also suspicious of too easy a light, resonated in me as a possible promise of looking at the world anew.
    [Show full text]