Studies in English Literatures (Vol. X1)

No Abstract

Reviews

Margaret Doyle. the A-Z of Non-Sexist Language, 1st edition 1995112 pp. ISBN 0 7043 4430 O. London: The Women's Press Ltd. Pric~£6,99

War-affected Children in Three African Short Stories: Finding Sanctuary within the Space of Placelessness

In short stories by three postcolonial African authors depicting war-affected children – Zimbabwean Dambudzo Marechera’s “The Camp” (1994, written in 1986), Nigerian Ben Okri’s “Laughter beneath the Bridge” (1986) and Ethiopian Maaza Mengiste’s “A Good Soldier” (2012) – the child protagonists are displaced and exist in precarious spaces of unbelonging. The conditions vividly evoked from these war-affected African children’s perspectives indicate that the unaccommodating “places” where the children find themselves propel them into terrifyingly featureless, engulfing and unrecognizable “non-places,” in need of sanctuary as a place of safety. Yet even in such places of desperation, the children somehow retain or find precarious shelter in “places” of love, tenderness and loyalty. war-affected children, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ethiopia, displacement, sanctuar

Male ‘Somaliness’ in diasporic contexts: Somali authors’ evaluative evocations

Addressing five texts by four Somali authors—Nuruddin Farah’s Yesterday, Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora (2000) and North of Dawn (2018) in juxtaposition with three novels by female Somali authors, i.e. Safi Abdi’s Offspring of Paradise (2003), Cristina Ali Farah’s Little Mother (201; Italian original 2007) and Igiaba Scego’s Adua (English translation 2017, Italian original 2015)—this article assesses the work these texts do to enhance contemporary understanding of the complex, evolving phenomenon that is the diasporic Somali presence in Western Europe, focusing on Somali men. How do the authors portray and (implicitly or overtly) evaluate how diasporic male Somalis cope in foreign, non-Muslim and culturally Western environments—against the backdrop of Somalia’s state collapse and social disintegration? Somali men’s experiences have generally been given less attention than those of their female counterparts, hence the focus here on male-gendered characters. This focus serves to link the two Nuruddin Farah texts and the three novels by Somali women—a textual grouping and focus not previously attempted in critical studies of Farah’s work. This brief essay assesses the five texts’ respective combinations of evaluative evocation, affective intensity and epistemological detail, approaching these works as complementing social science researchers’ efforts in depicting diasporic Somali men’s lives. By deepening understanding of the impact of the diaspora on individual Somali men, the five texts convey significant psychological, social and moral insights into lives of Somali men in foreign contexts

A critical evaluation of different models for the possible privatisation of the management of state-assisted rental housing in the Mangaung local municipal area

ThesisState-assisted housing and low-cost rental housing are of high priority in South Africa as a result of the high unemployment rate, high poverty rate, and a critical undersupply of suitable housing. This became very important in 1994 with the first democratic election of South Africa. The aim of the newly elected government is to provide as many low-cost housing facilities to the poor as possible. A very fine balance should be achieved in the provision of low-cost rental housing and state-assisted housing to the poor. This should be managed in such a way that it will be an ongoing facility and so that as many individuals as possible will be provided with suitable accommodation within the restraints of a limited budget. Management of the low-cost rental housing or state-assisted housing has become extremely important for local government. Effective management can make a major difference in client I tenant satisfaction and cost-effective practice. . The workplace challenge of the Mangaung local municipality represents a challenge experienced by many local municipalities in South Africa. The management of the housing portfolio is an impossible task for many. Variables to take into consideration are housing legislation, the national housing strategy, budgetary constraints, and the socio-economic status of the tenant. A review of relevant management models was conducted. Models including tho~ .:; from the private practice were studied and compared. Special attention was given to all aspects of the management of the low-cost rental-housing portfolio of the Mangaung local municipality. A new model is proposed for the effective management of the Mangaung low-cost housing portfolio. This management model would be suitable for use by other local municipalities. The model will address social upliftment, tenant involvement in management, private partnership agreements and market-related rentals to ensure continued economic viability. Attention is given to feasibility and valuation. The implementation of the model and the timeframe for successful completion are discussed

What determines the suspension of budget support in Sub-Saharan Africa?

This working paper examines what determines the suspension of budget support in Sub-Saharan Afric

Gemaskerde depressie

Masked depression is a condition in which the classic affective and cognitive symptoms of depression are hidden behind a variety of somatic complaints or behavioural problems. Patients suffering from masked depression are usually incorrectly diagnosed and treated symptomatically with little success. The condition is often encountered in the medical literature from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, but little has been published about it in recent years. This review discusses the changing ideas and approach with regard to masked depression and examines whether they are still relevant today. The literature published in each of the previous decades is studied and specific attention is given to cultural differences in a South African context. Although little has been published on masked depression in the past few years, somatic complaints in depression are still regularly examined in the literature. A significant number of patients with depression are still not correctly diagnosed and masked depression therefore remains relevant. Doctors should be aware of the presenting complaints in these patients and should understand the reasons for somatisation

The Uncoiling Python: South African storytellers and resistance

No abstract available

What determines the suspension of budget support?

Although Budget Support (BS) was not designed to push political reform in recipient countries, donors have nonetheless used it to sanction democratic regress. An econometric analysis of all BS suspensions by bilateral donors in the period 2000–11 finds that suspensions effectively do reflect downward tendencies in voice and accountability, and in level of democratic functioning. The larger the in-country BS donor group, the more suspensions. Interestingly, ideological alignment between donor and recipient and aid dependence decrease the likelihood for suspensions, while domestic donor economic growth increases it; and multilateral suspensions have the largest positive effect of all

Two bad-time stories and a song of hope

Please cite as follows:Gagiano, A. 2002. Two bad-time stories and a song of hope. Literator, 23(3):161-178. doi:10.4102/lit.v23i3.348.The original publication is available at http://literator.org.zaUsing three fairly recently published South African texts – David B. Coplan’s In the Time of Cannibals – The Word Music of South Africa’s Basotho Migrants (1994); A.H.M. Scholtz’s Vatmaar – ’n Lewendagge verhaal van ’n tyd wat nie meer is nie (1995) in its English translation, A Place Called Vatmaar (2000) and Mongane (Wally) Serote’s Come and Hope with Me (1994) – this essay looks at the role such texts can play to give public expression to the voices of formerly silenced communities. The essay contends that the deep fissures in South African society require intense efforts in order to make those isolated from one another mutually intelligible. All South Africans need to broaden their cultural vocabularies. This is where texts such as novels and those containing the oral art of neglected communities can function as ‘translations’, and have profound social importance. It can be predicted that rehistoricising writings and culturally recontextualising teaching practices will continue to be required in this country, but also texts that contain the vision of a shared South African future.http://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/348Publisher's versio