The image and the body in modern fiction’s representations of terrorism: embodying the brutality of spectacle

My research arises from a critique of the tendency within terrorism debates to equate the terrorist act with the production of spectacular images. Chapter 1 uses the work of Luce Irigaray to critique this trend in terrorism discourses, arguing that such a characterisation relies on a repression of the very materiality that terrorist action exploits. Moreover, placing the concept of terror in an Irigarayan framework reveals that the concept of terrorism is bound up with concepts of masculinity. In developing this critical approach, I build on the thinking of both Irigaray and Gayatri Spivak in turning to literary representations of terrorism to find a means of articulating a new understanding of the concept of terrorism and its place within our culture. Chapter 2 brings together the figure of the woman terrorist in terrorism studies, Nadine Gordimer’s Burger’s Daughter(1979), and Doris Lessing’s The Good Terrorist (1985) in order to critique the portrayal of the feminine in terrorism discourses. Chapter 3 then moves on to ask how the global reach of terrorism discourses after September 11th, 2001, has impacted on our understanding of masculinity and femininity, looking at the relationship between the body and subjectivity in Ian McEwan’s Saturday (2006). Finally, Chapter 4 examines how Don DeLillo’s Falling Man (2007) figures the body as a site of resistance to such global narratives of terror, as he explores the possibility of an embodied ethics opening up a suspension of photographic and filmic modes of perception. By setting up a dialogue between terrorism studies and literary fiction, I reintroduce the body to our conceptualisation of terrorism. In doing so, I show how literature can open up new ethical horizons in an otherwise closed rhetoric

Indigenous knowledge and practices for marine ecotourism development in Misool, Raja Ampat, Indonesia.

This doctoral study examines the complexities of integrating Indigenous knowledge and practices into sustainable marine ecotourism development, with a focus on the case study of Misool, Raja Ampat, in West Papua Province, Indonesia. The research addresses the knowledge gaps on integrating Indigenous knowledge into marine ecotourism initiatives. Indigenous knowledge is often neglected as a key source of information, undervalued from the perspective of Western scientific knowledge, even though utilising Indigenous knowledge helps to increase the sustainability of development efforts and contributes to the empowerment of local communities. Literature on marine ecotourism shows an almost total absence of studies that draw from Indigenous knowledge, yet, local community participation is underlined as one of the most important factors in sustainable marine ecotourism development. This thesis thus aims to contribute new insights on how Indigenous knowledge can be optimally integrated or applied in marine ecotourism development. Misool is one of the islands in Raja Ampat which attracts scuba divers and marine tourists from around the world, due to its abundance marine life. As tourism development in Misool is still in its early stages, it is an excellent location to explore processes of marine ecotourism development and the integration of Indigenous values. This study is qualitative, informed by an awareness of research approaches to Indigenous issues. The method applied was semi structured in-depth interviews, which complements Indigenous methodology approaches. The fieldwork was conducted in five tourism villages in Misool with forty-seven participants, consisting of: Indigenous people who worked in tourism and Misool’s Marine Protected Area, marine ecotourism operators, heads of villages, traditional leaders, government officials, and NGOs. Both field notes and transcriptions were analysed using narrative analysis with a thematic approach to explore participants’ viewpoints around the issues. This study has identified nine key themes of Indigenous knowledge and practices the local communities in Misool hold, which are: 1) marine sasi (traditional marine resource management), 2) petuanan adat (customary ownership right of land and/or sea area), 3) baca alam (reading the signs of nature), 4) finding and calling the animals, 5) pamali ikan (fish taboo), 6) respecting sacred sites, 7) weather shamanism, 8) traditional way of sailing, and 9) traditional ways of building. It was also found that the local Indigenous communities, marine ecotourism operators, NGOs, and some of the local government institutions in Misool have acknowledged and incorporated some aspects of Misoolese Indigenous knowledge and practices in existing marine ecotourism development. The local Indigenous communities and marine ecotourism operators have been incorporating Misoolese Indigenous knowledge and practices in scuba diving and other marine ecotourism activities, as well as into the establishment of supporting facilities. The research identified that NGOs and a local government institution have been using marine sasi and petuanan adat to support marine conservation and development programmes, which involve the local communities. Overall, the findings of this study contribute to and also make practical recommendations for understanding the integration of Indigenous knowledge and practices into marine ecotourism development

A space between : contemplating the post-Holocaust subject

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-119).In 2008 I travelled, with camera in hand, to Germany in order to photograph the two concentration camps to Buchenwald and Ravensbrück. These are two of several camps that Germany established during the late 1930s to house so called undesirables or those believed to be enemies of the Reich. These people were not only extracted from society within Germany, but later from all occupied territories. European Jewry was the primary target of this policy. Six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, but they were not the only victims. Approximately one and a half million Gypsies, at least 250 000 physically or mentally disabled people, three million Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, Social Democrats, Communists, partisans, trade unionists and Polish intelligentsia were among those that fell victim to the Nazis. The Germany's concentration camps, these prisoners of the Reich were set to work under severe inhumane conditions as slave labour, which was also a means of torture, as efficient production was not the primary endeavour of these camps. It was only when war broke out that policy altered and the labour was utilised by German enterprises and to aid Germany's war effort. These camps formed part of a larger system that later sought to eventually annihilate these "enemies". There were also transit camps to those camps located towards the east, in Poland - the notorious death camps, where mass murder became harrowingly efficient

Communicating taboo topics in gynaecological consultations in Malawi : a sociolinguistic study on effective strategies used in a conservative culture

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The clinical gaze, which is the combination of doctor expertise and information obtained from and on the patient, is the basis of diagnosis and prognosis (Foucault 1975). As such, open doctor-patient communication becomes a prerequisite for successful medical consultations. However, in a generally conservative Malawian cultural context, gynaecological topics are considered taboo, especially when discussed across genders. Despite the conflict between biomedical requirements of openness and sociocultural requirements of silence about gynaecology-related topics, consultations with male gynaecologists, who outnumber female gynaecologists in Malawi, are conducted. However, the nature of communication in these consultations was not known. This study therefore investigated the nature of gender-discordant communication about topics related to sex, women’s bodies, reproduction, and infertility in Malawian gynaecological consultations. This qualitative study is embedded in a sociolinguistic theoretical framework, making use of Situated Discourse Analysis (Gee 2011), Interactional Sociolinguistics (Gumperz 1982, 2015), and X-phemism Theory (Allan & Burridge 2006) to study Chichewa-dominant interactions between male gynaecologists and their patients in a public hospital in Blantyre. The study hospital is a district and referral hospital treating emergency cases referred by other, smaller healthcare facilities. There were two participant groups (all Chichewa-speaking Malawians), namely four gynaecologists practicing at the study hospital, and 12 women who had consulted a gynaecologist at least once in the 12 months prior to data collection. Individual interviews were conducted with the patient participants. They were asked questions about their communication experiences in gynaecological consultations (such as, which terms they found appropriate, whether and, if so, how culture influenced their communication, what discourse strategies they have experienced gynaecologists using), using an audio-recording they had listened to at the beginning of the interview as prompt. This scripted audio-recording was of a simulated gynaecological consultation in Chichewa. The gynaecologists were also interviewed individually, amongst others on discourse strategies used and the influence of culture on Malawian gynaecological practice. Eight simulated gynaecological consultations also took place, with eight patient participants each consulted one participating gynaecologist on a medical condition of her choice. (Each gynaecologist was therefore involved in two simulated consultations.) The interviews and simulated consultations were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically; by means of Interactional Sociolinguistic methods (Gumperz 1982, 2015) and Situated Discourse Analysis (Gee 2011). Further, taboo referring expressions were analysed using the X-phemism Theory (Allan & Burridge 2006). From the perspectives of former patients and practicing gynaecologists drawn from the interviews and simulated consultations, it was found that: (i) communicating about culturally taboo topics was indeed a challenge, which (ii) could be overcome by establishing relationship boundaries and identities of interlocutors and by using negative politeness strategies; (iii) sociocultural principles were involved in acceptability judgements on Chichewa terms used to refer to sex-related matters; and (iv) the current practice in gynaecological consultations was deemed successful but could improve. In short, this study found that despite cultural restrictions on discussing topics such as sexual health and reproduction, sociolinguistic strategies are used to achieve the goals of gynaecological consultations in the culturally conservative Malawian context.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kliniese blik, wat die kombinasie is van doktersdeskundigheid en inligting wat vanaf en op die pasiënt verkry is, vorm die basis van diagnose en prognose (Foucault 1975). Daarom is oop dokter-pasiënt-kommunikasie 'n voorvereiste vir suksesvolle mediese konsultasies. In die meestal konserwatiewe Malawiese kultuur word ginekologiese onderwerpe egter as taboe beskou, veral as dit met persone van die teenoorgestelde geslag bespreek word. Ondanks die botsing tussen biomediese vereistes van openheid en sosio-kulturele vereistes van stilte oor ginekologieverwante onderwerpe, vind daar inderdaad in Malawi konsultasies met manlike ginekoloë, waarvan daar meer as vroulike ginekoloë in Malawi is, plaas. Die aard van kommunikasie in hierdie konsultasies was egter nie bekend nie. Hierdie studie ondersoek die aard van geslagsdiskordante kommunikasie oor onderwerpe wat verband hou met seks, vroueliggame, voortplanting en onvrugbaarheid in Malawiese ginekologiese konsultasies. Hierdie kwalitatiewe studie is ingebed in 'n sosiolinguistiese teoretiese raamwerk, en maak gebruik van Interaksionele Sosiolinguistiek (Gumperz 1982, 2015), Gesitueerde Diskoeranalise (Gee 2011) en X-femisme-teorie (Allan & Burridge 2006) om Chichewadominante interaksies tussen manlike ginekoloë en hul pasiënte in 'n openbare hospitaal in Blantyre te bestudeer. Die studiehospitaal is 'n distriks- en verwysingshospitaal wat noodgevalle behandel wat daarheen deur ander, kleiner gesondheidsorgfasiliteite verwys word. Daar was twee deelnemersgroepe (almal Chichewa-sprekende Malawiërs): vier ginekoloë wat in die studiehospitaal praktiseer, en 12 vroue wat minstens een keer in die 12 maande vóór data-insameling 'n ginekoloog geraadpleeg het. Individuele onderhoude is met die pasiëntdeelnemers gevoer waartydens vrae gevra oor hulle ervarings met kommunikasie in ginekologiese koontekste (bv. watter terme hulle gepas vind; of en, indien wel, hoe kultuur hul kommunikasie beïnvloed; watter diskoersstrategieë hulle ginekoloë gebruik het), aan die hand van ‘n oudio-opname waarna hulle aan die begin van die onderhoud geluister het. Hierdie oudio-opname was van 'n gesimuleerde ginekoloog konsultasie in Chichewa. Die ginekoloë is ook individueel ondervra, onder meer oor die gebruik van diskoersstrategieë en die invloed van kultuur op die Malawiese ginekologiese praktyk. Agt gesimuleerde ginekologiese konsultasies het ook plaasgevind: Agt pasiëntdeelnemers het elk een ginekoloogdeelnemer geraadpleeg oor 'n mediese toestand van haar keuse. (Elke ginekoloog was dus by twee gesimuleerde konsultasies betrokke.) Die onderhoude en gesimuleerde konsultasies is opgeneem (met slegs klank) en getranskribeer en is tematies ontleed; deur middel van Interaksionele Sosiolinguistiese metodes (Gumperz 1982, 2015) en Gesitueerde Diskoersanalise (Gee 2011). Taboe verwysende uitdrukkings is geanaliseer deur van X-femisme-teorie (Allan & Burridge 2006) gebruik te maak. Uit die perspektiewe van voormalige pasiënte en praktiserende ginekoloë in die onderhoude en gesimuleerde konsultasies is gevind dat: (i) kommunikasie oor kultureeltaboe-onderwerpe inderdaad 'n uitdaging is, wat (ii) oorkom kan word deur die daarstelling van verhoudingsgrense en identiteite van gespreksgenote asook deur negatiewebeleefdheidstrategieë te gebruik; (iii) sosiokulturele beginsels betrokke is by aanvaarbaarheidsoordele oor Chichewa terme vir seksverwante sake; en (iv) die huidige praktyk in ginekologiese konsultasies as suksesvol beskou word, maar kan verbeter. Kortom het hierdie studie bevind dat ondanks kulturele beperkings op die bespreking van onderwerpe soos seksuele gesondheid en geslagsvoortplanting, sosiolinguistiese strategieë suksesvol gebruik word om die doelwitte van ginekologiese konsultasies in kultureel konserwatiewe Malawi te bereik.Doctora

Wearing an amulet: Land titling and tenure (in) security in Tanzania

Land reform in Tanzania introduced a new National Land Policy (1995) and Land Laws (1999), changing the way land is governed and administrated. The land reform process promoted formalisation of customary land rights as a means to tenure security for the citizens. This ethnography found that possession of a land title does not guarantee tenure security; when land held under customary rights is allocated by the state for investors or encroached upon by the wealthy and well connected. Nevertheless, land titling is undertaken strategically by each of the three groups who form the core of this ethnography to achieve their different goals: MKURABITA – a government sponsored programme, the Community Organisation for Research and Development Services (CORDS) – a pastoralist NGO, and the smallholders and pastoralists village residents, to achieve their different goals. The government of Tanzania are focussed on attracting inward investment, loans and development. Civil society groups promote titling for their members as a defensive mechanism against encroachment and smallholders and pastoralists hope that having a title deed just might swing a case in their favour