From Oral Literature to Technauriture: What’s in a Name?

Russell H. Kaschula is Professor of African Language Studies and Head of the School of Languages at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. His doctoral research focussed on African literature, and his works of creative writing have received a number of prestigious literature and short story prizes. Professor Kaschula is an author of both English and isiXhosa academic and literary works, with novels including The Tsitsa River and Beyond and Mama, I Sing to You. In 2011, his short story Six Teaspoons of Sweetness was included in the International PEN-Studzinski award. Andre M. Mostert is a research associate at the School of Languages at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, where he recently completed a master’s thesis on the literary work of the poet Bongani Sitole. Mostert’s interests focus on entrepreneurship and enterprise in schools, the use of ICT in education and training, and the role of ICT in promoting the capture and dissemination of oral poetry. Mostert is the gaming scientist for the EU Player project to support young entrepreneurs and, together with Professor Kaschula, co-developed the ‘publish and thrive’ model of supporting the research records of emerging academics.Oral traditions and oral literature have long contributed to human communication, yet the advent of arguably the most influential technology—the written word—altered the course of creative ability. Despite its potential and scope, the development of the written word resulted in an insidious dichotomy. As the written word evolved, the oral word became devalued and pushed to the fringes of society. One of the unfortunate consequences of this transition to writing has been a focus on the systems and conventions of orality and oral tradition. Although of importance, a more appropriate focus would be on ways of supporting and maintaining the oral word, and its innate value to human society, in the face of rampant technological development. Yet it is ironic that technology is also helping to create a fecund environment for the rebirth of orality. This paper offers an overview of the debate about the relationship between oral literature, the written word and technology, and suggests that the term technauriture may offer a suitable encompassing paradigm for further engagement with the oral word and its application to modern society. We discuss the late Bongani Sitole, a poet whose oral works were transformed into public and educational resources through the application of technology, and we consider the utility of the term technauriture for describing the relationship between orality, literature and technology

The oppression of isiXhosa literature and the irony of transformation

his article will contend that the natural development of isiXhosa orature and literature, as with all South African indigenous literatures, ended with the arrival of European missionaries in 1799. The apartheid policy then exacerbated the destructive approaches to indigenous languages already in operation as it designated separate language boards for language development. These boards operated in the 'homelands' and were generally conservative, corrupt and oppressive. The manuscripts they recommended to publishers were for the most part only those that could be prescribed in schools. This resulted in the publishing of material that was parochial, apolitical and neutral in style. Often the material prescribed was written by the board members themselves. For instance, Lennox Sebe, erstwhile President of the Ciskei, produced an isiXhosa book entitled Ucamngco, for prescription, though it seems to contain little original material. Laurence Wright has shown that the opposite was true for English literature written by black South Africans and published internationally in the 1970s, at the height of apartheid (2004, 47). He describes, for instance, how one of the manuscript readers of Peteni's seminal novel, Hill of Fools (1976), rejected it as irrelevant and unsuitable for publication precisely because it made no reference to South Africa's turbulent politics. Throughout this period, however, only apolitical novels were published in the indigenous languages

Haematin-Quinoline interactions and structure-activity relationships in the antimalarial chloroquine and related compounds

Includes bibliographical references.The nature of the ferriprotoporphyrin IX (Fe(III)PPIX) antimalarial drug target and its interactions with aminoquinolines was investigated spectrophotometrically. The antiquity of malaria, which is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium, is demonstrated by the host specificity of over 100 parasite species found in reptiles, birds and mammals. The four species of plasmodia that infect man are P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. falciparum; of which P. falciparum is the most deadly (Bruce-Chwatt 1981 )

Mandela comes home : the poets' perspective

Political oratory takes place within the wider social, political, and cultural context (the macro situation) of a particular society; this is also true of the imbongi's poetry today. For example, with the reawakening of Black Nationalism and political consciousness among the Xhosas, poetry in the form of izibongo is alive and well within trade unions and political organizations. Thus any ethnographic study of iimbongi as political orators and social critics would have to take place within the broader social and cultural context. Such studies would, in turn, possibly reveal changes within society. The micro or immediate context of any performance, and the macro situation, including the broader South African context, within which the imbongi operates, are interlinked. This approach clearly illustrates that oral tradition has, in this case, adapted itself to become a vehicle of protest in contemporary South African society.Not

The effect of alternative detergent builders on the nutrient removal activated sludge sewage treatment process

Includes bibliography.Phosphate is an essential nutrient for photosynthetic plant growth. However if over-supplied in a water body, it leads to excessive algal growth, a condition is termed eutrophication. Eutrophication is not only unsightly, but renders the water less usable. Most of the highly eutrophied water bodies with a high phosphorus load still receive up to 90 of their phosphorus input from effluents discharged by sewage treatment works (Pretorius, 1983). The phosphorus content of domestic sewage originates from two main sources, namely human waste {±60) and detergents {±40) (Heynike and Wiechers, 1986). There is an argument for a ban on phosphate in detergents to reduce the phosphate load on sewage treatment plants and thereby limit phosphate discharges via treated municipal effluent. The removal of phosphate from detergent formulations has been an effective way in many countries of reducing the phosphorous load to receiving waters. In South Africa, detergent manufacturers are anticipating consumer pressure to reformulate their detergent products to eliminate phosphate. The two possible replacements for phosphates are zeolite 4A and high surface area {HSA) calcite. High surface area (SA) calcite is not yet being used as a detergent builder, but is being seriously considered as a potential replacement for phosphate in South African detergent formulations

In search of the African voice in higher education: the language question

This article seeks to understand what South African universities are doing by making use of language as a tool or as an enabling voice towards Africanisation and transformation with particular reference to Rhodes University, which serves as a case study. Although many universities now have language policies in place and are part of an enabling policy environment, when it comes to using language as part of transformation and asserting an African voice, there are still policy implementation challenges. It is argued in this article that implementation of policy, including university language policies, is now a key indicator for two levels of transformation; namely the more superficially visible or visual representation transformation, as well as deeper curriculum transformation through appropriate language usage. It is the latter form of transformation that largely eludes the contemporary South African university, whether these are historically black universities (HBUs) or historically white universities (HWUs). With the exception of a few best practices that are highlighted in this article, it is argued that transformation of the curriculum remains a long-term process, in the same way that language policy implementation is an ongoing process and requires commitment at all levels of university managerial and academic culture. The African voice in higher education remains an elusive one; though it is gaining ground, as evidenced by the recent removal of the Cecil John Rhodes Statue at the University of Cape Town. Furthermore, there is evidence of selected ongoing curriculum and pedagogic transformation, as presented in this article

The influence of cellular phone "speak" on isiXhosa rules of communication

No abstract available

Vocational language learning and teaching at a South African university: Preparing professionals for multilingual contexts

This paper highlights the methodology that has been used at Rhodes University and other South African universities in implementing vocation-specific African language learning programmes. Essentially, the paper links the curriculum design to the theoretical paradigm of interculturalcommunication. Intercultural theory is used as a basis to develop vocation-specific courses where language and culture are taught, for example, to second language learners of isiXhosa at Rhodes University. These courses include courses for Pharmacy and Law students. This paper offers a new theoretical paradigm for intercultural language teaching. Furthermore, examples from specific courses are provided in order to illustrate how this theoretical paradigm can be implemented in a practical way. The impact of multilingualism and intercultural communication in the wider legal and healthcare work environment in South Africa is also discussed.Keywords: vocational language learning, indigenous African languages, multilingualism, intercultural communication, cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity, legal professional, health-care professional, law, pharmac

Communicating across cultures in South African law courts: towards an information technology solution*

Language rights in South Africa are entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa (Chapter 1, Section 6, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). However, the concomitant infrastructure and organisational realities make this policy difficult to implement, especially in law courts (Kaschula and Ralarala 2004). Creating effective communicative environments has historically been constrained by lack of effective training of legal practitioners and by the lack of capacity for building translation structures. With the advancement of technology, potential solutions are becoming more apparent and it is incumbent upon the academic community to embark on a rigorous investigation into possible solutions and how these Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions could be applied to the execution of justice in South African law courts. This article aims to open the discourse of possible solutions, via assessments of computer based translation solutions, ICT context simulations and other potential opportunities. The authors hope to initiate the interest of other language and legal practitioners to explore how the new technological capabilities could be harnessed to support the entrenchment of language rights in our law courts

Communicating across cultures in South African law courts: Towards an information technology solution

No abstract available