D.Litt. et Phil. / Commenting on a trend by environmental ethicists to appeal to non-Western traditions as sources of alternative perspectives on environmental values and practices, Workineh Kelbessa writes: Despite the fact that advances have been made through recent discourse on the environmental concern of non-Western traditions, most of the related research has centred on Asia, Native American Indians, and Australian Aborigines, with little attention being paid to most of Africa. Those who have studied non-Western religions and philosophies have overlooked the contribution of Africa to environmental ethics. They have either kept quiet or what they said about Africa was rather thin compared to what they said about Native Americans, Asians and Australian Aborigines (Kelbessa, 2005: 19-20). Implicit in this comment are two claims. The first is that Africa has a contribution to make to environmental ethics. The second is that this contribution has not been studied or considered nearly seriously enough. Since it is widely acknowledged that the beliefs and practices of the other indigenous peoples Kelbessa mentions have a meaningful contribution to make to this field, it would be a worthwhile project to investigate what contribution (if any) African thought can make to this field of enquiry. That is what I aim to do in this thesis. J. Baird Callicott epitomises Kelbessa’s claim above and provides a reason for the lack of attention given to African indigenous thought by environmental ethicists. In his comprehensive survey of the ecological ethical traditions of communities across the globe, Earth’s Insights, he claims. Apparently… Africa looms as a big blank spot on the world map of indigenous environmental ethics for a very good reason. African thought orbits, seemingly, around human interests. Hence one might expect to distil from it no more than a weak and indirect environmental ethic, similar to [a] type of ecologically enlightened utilitarianism, focused on long-range human welfare (Callicott, 1994: 158).

This disquisition is an inter-disciplinary investigation into some dominant hegemonic narratives of black people in 20th-21st century South Africa as they are found in public discourses. I contend that there exist hegemonic narratives of black people which can be seen within the African Nationalism debates in South Africa. While not all hegemonic narratives of black people are African nationalist discourses, I illustrate how nationalism is a proverbial vehicle for the dissemination of a ‘truth’ and or a ‘unitary’ understanding of black people in South Africa over others. To be sure, the African Nationalism debates evinces the power/-knowledge dynamics imbued in the meaning, functions, and performances of black people This is with the aim to foreground the less dominant everyday lived experiences and narratives of black people. I do this with the use of the genealogical method of analysis so as to suspend historiographies and/or approaches to historiography that essentializes and advance absolute origins surrounding discourses on black people in South Africa. I aim to throw the fault lines of these dominant narratives into relief by way of a genealogical reading of various different and alternative historiographies, which include the works of black authors, black philosophers and black thinkers. Certainly, a genealogical analysis will aid me in foregrounding the plurality of Blackness. Conversely, my study aims to consider the degree to which these singular lived experiences, those that counter dominant hegemonic narratives, reflect sectors of black society rather than just individual particularities so as to further understand the post-colonial black condition. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Andrew Mellon Foundation / Philosophy / MA Social Science (African European Cultural Relations) / Unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / The issue of personhood has long been of concern to many philosophers. The primary concern has been about determining the necessary and sufficient conditions for an entity to be a person at a particular point in time. The most common answer in Western terms is that to be a person at a time is to have certain special mental properties such as psychological connectedness. On the other hand, others argue that we can only ever understand the ascription of mental characteristics as part of a necessarily joint set of physically instantiated properties. Most recent contributions to the topic have however cast doubt on these earlier attempts to understand personhood solely in terms of bodily and psychological features. Not only do they suggest a model of personhood that is individualistic, they also fail to make reference to communal and social elements. In particular, many non-Western, specifically African, cultures foreground these communal and social aspects. This is true of the Akan, Yoruba and Igbo cultures. As Kwasi Wiredu and Kwame Gyekye; Dismas Masolo; Segun Gbadegesin; and Ifeanyi Menkiti have shown respectively. However, there is a lack of comparable philosophical inquiry in the Southern African context. The primary aim of this study is to critically explore the metaphysical, cultural, linguistic and normative resources of the Zulu people in understanding what it means to be a person. The approach is predominantly conceptual and analytic, but it also draws on some empirical data with a view to extending the results of the literature-based study. Not only does this extend the field of cultural inquiry to personhood, it also opens up new opportunities to tackle old problems in the debate, including the question of what should be the proper relationship between the individual and the community. Specifically, I argue that rather than focus attention on the priority of the individual or community in relation to each other, consideration of the notion of personhood in Zulu culture reveals that notwithstanding significant communal constraints forms of agency are available to individuals. http://

Let me share with you Ubuntu oralities. These stories will connect us in a familial dialogue about how we can and are regenerating beyond neo colonialism by using Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a philosophical and ethical system of thought, from which definitions of humanness, togetherness and social politics of difference arise. Ubuntu can also be viewed as a complex worldview that holds in tension the contradictions of trying to highlight our uniqueness as human beings among other human beings. My interpretation of our Indigenous Ubuntu knowledge communicates how my understanding of Ubuntu is influenced by my Maseko Ngoni and Shona ethnic identities. Another influence of my understanding of our Ubuntu worldview comes from the African languages of my familial communities which are the main tools that I draw on for accessing our shared meaning and creating new shared meaning. The geopolitical experience of being Black in Africa and then leaving Africa for the West also has influenced my understanding of Ubuntu. These are my strengths and limitations in engaging Ubuntu. I give you this information because it is not my aim to create a false dichotomy about Blackness; rather, it is my aim to enter our global contemporary Black academic discourse with another form of remembering Blackness. My remembering is grounded in my own experience which has found constancy through Ubuntu languages and other social symbolic expressions. This cultural transmission process has allowed knowledge from my ancestors to cascade down to me. I believe that by sharing our social stories we build collective confidence to engage and challenge each other with respectful curiosity and, above all, with love. Love is the expression of relational care for our interconnectedness, which is the basis for researching our truths in our shared humanity. Ubuntuness has many ways of transmitting knowledge. This being said, for this work I will focus on how we can share our fragmented memories through our stories of family, community and nationhood, as a way of better understanding our Ubuntuness. This is the process of love creating possibilities beyond pain, isolation, abandonment and hate.

Let me share with you Ubuntu oralities. These stories will connect us in a familial dialogue about how we can and are regenerating beyond neo colonialism by using Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a philosophical and ethical system of thought, from which definitions of humanness, togetherness and social politics of difference arise. Ubuntu can also be viewed as a complex worldview that holds in tension the contradictions of trying to highlight our uniqueness as human beings among other human beings. My interpretation of our Indigenous Ubuntu knowledge communicates how my understanding of Ubuntu is influenced by my Maseko Ngoni and Shona ethnic identities. Another influence of my understanding of our Ubuntu worldview comes from the African languages of my familial communities which are the main tools that I draw on for accessing our shared meaning and creating new shared meaning. The geopolitical experience of being Black in Africa and then leaving Africa for the West also has influenced my understanding of Ubuntu. These are my strengths and limitations in engaging Ubuntu. I give you this information because it is not my aim to create a false dichotomy about Blackness; rather, it is my aim to enter our global contemporary Black academic discourse with another form of remembering Blackness. My remembering is grounded in my own experience which has found constancy through Ubuntu languages and other social symbolic expressions. This cultural transmission process has allowed knowledge from my ancestors to cascade down to me. I believe that by sharing our social stories we build collective confidence to engage and challenge each other with respectful curiosity and, above all, with love. Love is the expression of relational care for our interconnectedness, which is the basis for researching our truths in our shared humanity. Ubuntuness has many ways of transmitting knowledge. This being said, for this work I will focus on how we can share our fragmented memories through our stories of family, community and nationhood, as a way of better understanding our Ubuntuness. This is the process of love creating possibilities beyond pain, isolation, abandonment and hate.

Este estudo tem por objetivo observar relações entre a filosofia africana e a literatura africana produzida em Angola por Boaventura Cardoso e sua troca de influências atuais. Particularmente focando no aspecto que retrata os elementos constituintes dessa filosofia de matriz africana de acordo com os trabalhos de Paulin Hountondji, Henry Odera Oruka, Kwasi Wiredu, Wamba-Dia-Wamba e Sophie Oluwole articulando seus conceitos, suas manifestações e influências na cultura, política, religião, sociedade e educação angolana retratados na narrativa de Mãe, Materno Mar. Ao investigar e mapear a inserção de uma filosofia africana na literatura africana em língua portuguesa, quais processos adotados, fontes e objetivos presentes na produção literária de Boaventura Cardoso, consagrado autor africano, a pesquisa procura evidenciar o modelo de seu projeto literário nacional conciliando com alguns artigos de autoria de Luís Kandjimbo e Carmen Lúcia Tindó Secco. Os debates, as similaridades e as diferenças entre as matrizes de conhecimento ocidental e africano presentes nessa cultura representada pelo escritor são de evidente importância para a compreensão dos fluxos e refluxos entre a literatura, a filosofia e a realidade angolana e se apoiam nas pesquisas de José Castiano, Peter J. King, Gaston Bachelard e Pedro Francisco Miguel. Este estudo propõe-se a trabalhar a literatura como a possibilidade de uma reflexão filosófica. Desta forma, o fazer literário exige por assim dizer, um esforço não apenas de significação e construção de palavras, mas algo para além das fronteiras da própria linguagem. O objetivo deste estudo é contribuir para o delineamento do trabalho e do projeto literário de Boaventura Cardoso sob uma perspectiva filosófica e como eles se ajustam às dificuldades, à conveniência e aos desígnios de uma sociedade angolana. / This study aims to observe relations between the African philosophy and African literature produced in Angola by Boaventura Cardoso and his exchange of current influences. Particularly focusing on the aspect which depicts the elements of this philosophy of African origin according to the works of Paulin Hountondji, Henry Odera Oruka, Wamba-Dia-Wamba, Kwasi Wiredu e Sophie Oluwole, articulating its concepts, its manifestations and influence on culture, politics, religion, society and angolan education portrayed in the narrative of, Mãe, Materno Mar. When investigating and mapping the insertion of an African Philosophy in african literature in Portuguese, which adopted processes, sources and objectives are in the literary production of Boaventura Cardoso, consecrated African author, the research seeks to highlight the model of their national literary project reconciling with articles by Luís Kandjimbo e Carmem Lúcia Tindó Secco. The debates, the similarities and differences between western and african knowledge matrices present in this culture represented by the writer are of obvious importance to understand the ebbs and flows between literature, philosophy and the angolan reality and they are based on the research of José Castiano, Peter J. King, Gaston Bachelard and Pedro Francisco Miguel. This study aims to work the literature as the possibility of a philosophical reflection. Thus, the literary make demands as it were, an effort not only of meaning and construction of words, but something beyond the boundaries of language itself. The aim of this study is to contribute to the design of work and literary project of Boaventura Cardoso in a philosophical perspective and how they fit to the difficulties, the convenience and the designs of an angolan society.

Tales of unethical reporting, conflict of interest, biases and corruption characterize media practice in Zambia today. The advent of technology and the mushrooming of media houses have ironically magnified this trend. Such tendencies have compromised ethical reporting, thus undermining the journalistic credibility. While some scholars call for a return to African ethics, others hanker for greater professionalism. This study offers an overview of the media in Zambia with Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation and the POST newspaper as its case study. The study looks at how virtue ethics would be effective in reclaiming media credibility. Using qualitative methods, data were collected via theoretical and methodological triangulation. Open-ended questions were designed and distributed among 10 Zambian journalists. The interviews were conducted within a period of one month. Findings indicated that media credibility in Zambia has reached unprecedented levels of suspicion and that virtue ethics, if well applied, would redeem the lost credibility.

Este estudo tem por objetivo observar relações entre a filosofia africana e a literatura africana produzida em Angola por Boaventura Cardoso e sua troca de influências atuais. Particularmente focando no aspecto que retrata os elementos constituintes dessa filosofia de matriz africana de acordo com os trabalhos de Paulin Hountondji, Henry Odera Oruka, Kwasi Wiredu, Wamba-Dia-Wamba e Sophie Oluwole articulando seus conceitos, suas manifestações e influências na cultura, política, religião, sociedade e educação angolana retratados na narrativa de Mãe, Materno Mar. Ao investigar e mapear a inserção de uma filosofia africana na literatura africana em língua portuguesa, quais processos adotados, fontes e objetivos presentes na produção literária de Boaventura Cardoso, consagrado autor africano, a pesquisa procura evidenciar o modelo de seu projeto literário nacional conciliando com alguns artigos de autoria de Luís Kandjimbo e Carmen Lúcia Tindó Secco. Os debates, as similaridades e as diferenças entre as matrizes de conhecimento ocidental e africano presentes nessa cultura representada pelo escritor são de evidente importância para a compreensão dos fluxos e refluxos entre a literatura, a filosofia e a realidade angolana e se apoiam nas pesquisas de José Castiano, Peter J. King, Gaston Bachelard e Pedro Francisco Miguel. Este estudo propõe-se a trabalhar a literatura como a possibilidade de uma reflexão filosófica. Desta forma, o fazer literário exige por assim dizer, um esforço não apenas de significação e construção de palavras, mas algo para além das fronteiras da própria linguagem. O objetivo deste estudo é contribuir para o delineamento do trabalho e do projeto literário de Boaventura Cardoso sob uma perspectiva filosófica e como eles se ajustam às dificuldades, à conveniência e aos desígnios de uma sociedade angolana. / This study aims to observe relations between the African philosophy and African literature produced in Angola by Boaventura Cardoso and his exchange of current influences. Particularly focusing on the aspect which depicts the elements of this philosophy of African origin according to the works of Paulin Hountondji, Henry Odera Oruka, Wamba-Dia-Wamba, Kwasi Wiredu e Sophie Oluwole, articulating its concepts, its manifestations and influence on culture, politics, religion, society and angolan education portrayed in the narrative of, Mãe, Materno Mar. When investigating and mapping the insertion of an African Philosophy in african literature in Portuguese, which adopted processes, sources and objectives are in the literary production of Boaventura Cardoso, consecrated African author, the research seeks to highlight the model of their national literary project reconciling with articles by Luís Kandjimbo e Carmem Lúcia Tindó Secco. The debates, the similarities and differences between western and african knowledge matrices present in this culture represented by the writer are of obvious importance to understand the ebbs and flows between literature, philosophy and the angolan reality and they are based on the research of José Castiano, Peter J. King, Gaston Bachelard and Pedro Francisco Miguel. This study aims to work the literature as the possibility of a philosophical reflection. Thus, the literary make demands as it were, an effort not only of meaning and construction of words, but something beyond the boundaries of language itself. The aim of this study is to contribute to the design of work and literary project of Boaventura Cardoso in a philosophical perspective and how they fit to the difficulties, the convenience and the designs of an angolan society.

Este estudo tem por objetivo observar relações entre a filosofia africana e a literatura africana produzida em Angola por Boaventura Cardoso e sua troca de influências atuais. Particularmente focando no aspecto que retrata os elementos constituintes dessa filosofia de matriz africana de acordo com os trabalhos de Paulin Hountondji, Henry Odera Oruka, Kwasi Wiredu, Wamba-Dia-Wamba e Sophie Oluwole articulando seus conceitos, suas manifestações e influências na cultura, política, religião, sociedade e educação angolana retratados na narrativa de Mãe, Materno Mar. Ao investigar e mapear a inserção de uma filosofia africana na literatura africana em língua portuguesa, quais processos adotados, fontes e objetivos presentes na produção literária de Boaventura Cardoso, consagrado autor africano, a pesquisa procura evidenciar o modelo de seu projeto literário nacional conciliando com alguns artigos de autoria de Luís Kandjimbo e Carmen Lúcia Tindó Secco. Os debates, as similaridades e as diferenças entre as matrizes de conhecimento ocidental e africano presentes nessa cultura representada pelo escritor são de evidente importância para a compreensão dos fluxos e refluxos entre a literatura, a filosofia e a realidade angolana e se apoiam nas pesquisas de José Castiano, Peter J. King, Gaston Bachelard e Pedro Francisco Miguel. Este estudo propõe-se a trabalhar a literatura como a possibilidade de uma reflexão filosófica. Desta forma, o fazer literário exige por assim dizer, um esforço não apenas de significação e construção de palavras, mas algo para além das fronteiras da própria linguagem. O objetivo deste estudo é contribuir para o delineamento do trabalho e do projeto literário de Boaventura Cardoso sob uma perspectiva filosófica e como eles se ajustam às dificuldades, à conveniência e aos desígnios de uma sociedade angolana. / This study aims to observe relations between the African philosophy and African literature produced in Angola by Boaventura Cardoso and his exchange of current influences. Particularly focusing on the aspect which depicts the elements of this philosophy of African origin according to the works of Paulin Hountondji, Henry Odera Oruka, Wamba-Dia-Wamba, Kwasi Wiredu e Sophie Oluwole, articulating its concepts, its manifestations and influence on culture, politics, religion, society and angolan education portrayed in the narrative of, Mãe, Materno Mar. When investigating and mapping the insertion of an African Philosophy in african literature in Portuguese, which adopted processes, sources and objectives are in the literary production of Boaventura Cardoso, consecrated African author, the research seeks to highlight the model of their national literary project reconciling with articles by Luís Kandjimbo e Carmem Lúcia Tindó Secco. The debates, the similarities and differences between western and african knowledge matrices present in this culture represented by the writer are of obvious importance to understand the ebbs and flows between literature, philosophy and the angolan reality and they are based on the research of José Castiano, Peter J. King, Gaston Bachelard and Pedro Francisco Miguel. This study aims to work the literature as the possibility of a philosophical reflection. Thus, the literary make demands as it were, an effort not only of meaning and construction of words, but something beyond the boundaries of language itself. The aim of this study is to contribute to the design of work and literary project of Boaventura Cardoso in a philosophical perspective and how they fit to the difficulties, the convenience and the designs of an angolan society.

In this thesis Antjie Krog’s ‘transformation trilogy’ consisting of three nonfiction texts, Country of My Skull (1998), A Change of Tongue (2003) and Begging to Be Black (2009) is analysed with specific focus on conceptions of identity in the trilogy. This is done from numerous angles, namely a postcolonial approach to the trilogy, an analysis of Krog’s exploration of an ‘African worldview’, an in-depth inquiry into Krog’s preoccupation with ‘race’ and the assertion that Krog is essentially asking the National Question. The overarching approach that is followed in the thesis is to read all three texts of the trilogy in conjunction with each other and to highlight examples of repetition, progression and/or change with regard to the issues that have been identified. The translated nature as well as the form and content of the transformation trilogy are singled out as important signposts for the interpretation of the trilogy. Several instruments are identified that will be used in analysing the texts, including the importance of questioning, the concept of gesturing as articulated by Terry Eagleton, and Krog’s pedagogical attitude. The trilogy is situated within postcolonial theory: the importance of postcolonial theory in general and whiteness studies specifically for the study of the trilogy is highlighted. Krog’s explicit and implicit references to colonialism and postcolonialism in the trilogy are discussed as an important postcolonial gesture. Another meaningful gesture is Krog’s exploration of what can be termed an ‘African worldview’. This exploration takes place through her incorporation of African orality in the trilogy, and through her extensive enquiry into African humanism. Her use of the term ubuntu is examined, as well as her explicit interaction with formal African philosophy. It is averred that Krog’s focus on an ‘African worldview’ necessitates a thorough investigation into the role of ‘race’ in the trilogy. The place that is given to ‘whiteness’ and ‘blackness’ in the trilogy is analysed in part by engaging with whiteness studies. The conclusion in reached that the concept of complicity is essential for correctly interpreting Krog’s preoccupation with ‘race’, and the way that her trilogy engages with international discourses on restitution is equally important. Finally all the above issues come together when it is stated that Krog is essentially asking the National Question: to whom does South Africa belong? Can ‘white’ people belong to the South African nation? Krog’s conceptions of identity are evaluated in this context and identity-as-becoming is identified as a central concept emerging in the course of the trilogy. / In hierdie proefskrif word Antjie Krog se ‘transformasie-trilogie’ bestaande uit drie niefiksie tekste, Country of My Skull (1998), A Change of Tongue (2003) en Begging to Be Black (2009) ondersoek met spesifieke fokus op konsepsies van identiteit in die trilogie. Dit vind vanuit verskeie invalshoeke plaas, naamlik ’n postkoloniale benadering tot die trilogie, ’n analise van Krog se verkenning van ’n ‘Afrikawêreldbeeld’, ’n indringende ondersoek na Krog se preokkupasie met ‘ras’, en die bewering dat Krog die Nasionale Vraagstuk betrek. Die oorkoepelende benadering wat in die proefskrif gevolg word, is om al drie tekste van die trilogie saam te lees en voorbeelde van herhaling, progressie en/of verandering ten opsigte van die geïdentifiseerde kwessies aan te toon. Die vertaalde aard asook die vorm en inhoud van die transformasie-trilogie word as belangrike rigtingswysers vir die interpretasie van die trilogie belig. Enkele instrumente word geïdentifiseer met behulp waarvan die tekste telkens ontleed word, insluitende die belangrikheid van vraagstelling, die konsep van gebare wat van Terry Eagleton ontleen is, en Krog se pedagogiese ingesteldheid. ’n Postkoloniale situering van die trilogie vind plaas waarin die belangrikheid van die teorie van postkoloniale studies in die breë en witheidstudies in besonder ten opsigte van die trilogie kortliks uitgelig word. Die wyses waarop Krog eksplisiet na kolonialisme en postkolonialisme verwys, word as ’n veelseggende postkoloniale gebaar bespreek. ’n Verdere belangrike gebaar is Krog se verkenning van wat as ’n ‘Afrikawêreldbeeld’ omskryf kan word. Hierdie verkenning vind plaas deur haar inkorporasie van Afrika-oraliteit in die trilogie, en deur haar uitgebreide ondersoek na Afrikahumanisme. Krog se gebruikmaking van die term ubuntu geniet aandag, asook haar eksplisiete interaksie met formele Afrikafilosofie. Daar word beweer dat Krog se fokus op ’n ‘Afrikawêreldbeeld’ ’n deeglike ondersoek na die plek van ‘ras’ in die trilogie noop. Die plek van ‘witheid’ en ‘swartheid’ in die trilogie word ontleed deur onder andere met witheidstudies in gesprek te tree. Uiteindelik word beweer dat die konsep van medepligtigheid noodsaaklik is om Krog se preokkupasie met ‘ras’ na behore te interpreteer, en daarmee saam is dit belangrik dat Krog deelneem aan internasionale diskoerse oor restitusie. Uiteindelik val al die genoemde kwessies saam wanneer beweer word dat Krog in wese die Nasionale Vraagstuk opper: aan wie behoort Suid-Afrika? Mag ‘wit’ mense tot die ‘Suid-Afrikaanse nasie’ behoort? Krog se konsepsies van identiteit word binne hierdie konteks beoordeel en identiteit-as-wordingproses word as ’n belangrike konsep geïdentifiseer. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Afrikaans / DLitt / Unrestricted