Living the vast majority of my life in an area that celebrates diversity but thrives because of illegal cross-border activities (undocumented workers, drug imports) at times the distance between the United States and Mexico is in fact as thin as the width of a fence. Though it is typical for a filmmaker to hope to present a unique take on a subject, given how I have seen the topics of immigration and the perspective of the purpose of homeland security portray, I am confident that there is an opportunity to show these issues in a more personal, less aggressive light with the use of first person accounts instead of a dependence on the most violent aspects of these topics. The main subject will give character to this agency by blurring the lines of his life as an agent and as a citizen.

My dissertation critically assesses the evolution of Beur productions (1980s - 21st century) with reference to the socio-cultural and economic conditions of their development. I am interested in identity (re)construction in the work of three Algerian origin artists in France: Mehdi Charef, Tony Gatlif and Farid Boudjellal. I examine texts and films like Le thé au Harem d’Archi Ahmed (1983), Petit Polio (1999), Je suis né d’une cigogne (1999) and Exils (2004). My interest lies in analyzing the impact that these “minor” artists and their chosen art genres have on mainstream cultural productions. Besides focusing on the second generation immigrants in France (the Beurs), the authors challenge also the canonical “Frenchness” or “Europeanness” beyond borders, thus promoting the concept of cultural hybridity. I argue that constant displacement, change of political, social and cultural contexts have significantly transformed the dynamics between the center and the periphery. Furthermore, I provide evidence that “French” identity has undergone a continuous transformation over time and has become a substantially diverse and lively construct. I stand for a new approach to the fixed French identities, one that includes a pluriethnic and multilingual francophone body, and for a redefinition of cultural boundaries reshaping the relationship between self and otherness. My thesis has two major sections (language and space) divided respectively into four chapters. The first two chapters look at different ways in which the Franco-Maghrebi literature and cinema forge new ways of expression within French language and culture. The first chapter is mainly focused on the importance of mastering French by the Beur artists, while in the second chapter I insist on more elaborate stylistic dimensions such as postcolonial irony in the given texts. The last two chapters critically analyze how the artistic productions of Charef, Gatlif and Boudjellal situate themselves in the French socio-cultural context by trespassing borders of a cultural, literary, linguistic and geographical order. This multiple border crossing leads to a movement of these texts to different locations within the main culture. At the esthetic level, this movement between different borders promotes the innovation and the creativity that the Beur artists bring to France.

My dissertation critically assesses the evolution of Beur productions (1980s - 21st century) with reference to the socio-cultural and economic conditions of their development. I am interested in identity (re)construction in the work of three Algerian origin artists in France: Mehdi Charef, Tony Gatlif and Farid Boudjellal. I examine texts and films like Le thé au Harem d’Archi Ahmed (1983), Petit Polio (1999), Je suis né d’une cigogne (1999) and Exils (2004). My interest lies in analyzing the impact that these “minor” artists and their chosen art genres have on mainstream cultural productions. Besides focusing on the second generation immigrants in France (the Beurs), the authors challenge also the canonical “Frenchness” or “Europeanness” beyond borders, thus promoting the concept of cultural hybridity. I argue that constant displacement, change of political, social and cultural contexts have significantly transformed the dynamics between the center and the periphery. Furthermore, I provide evidence that “French” identity has undergone a continuous transformation over time and has become a substantially diverse and lively construct. I stand for a new approach to the fixed French identities, one that includes a pluriethnic and multilingual francophone body, and for a redefinition of cultural boundaries reshaping the relationship between self and otherness. My thesis has two major sections (language and space) divided respectively into four chapters. The first two chapters look at different ways in which the Franco-Maghrebi literature and cinema forge new ways of expression within French language and culture. The first chapter is mainly focused on the importance of mastering French by the Beur artists, while in the second chapter I insist on more elaborate stylistic dimensions such as postcolonial irony in the given texts. The last two chapters critically analyze how the artistic productions of Charef, Gatlif and Boudjellal situate themselves in the French socio-cultural context by trespassing borders of a cultural, literary, linguistic and geographical order. This multiple border crossing leads to a movement of these texts to different locations within the main culture. At the esthetic level, this movement between different borders promotes the innovation and the creativity that the Beur artists bring to France.

No description available.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus of this dissertation is the examination of the relationship between space and identity in recent narratives of migration, in contemporary African literature. Migrant narratives suggest that there is a correlation between identity formation and the types of boundaries and borders migrants engage with in their various attempts to find new homes away from their old ones. Be it voluntary or involuntary, the process of migrating from a familial place transforms the individual who has to negotiate new social formations; and tensions often accrue from the confrontation between one’s culture and the culture of the receiving society. Return migration to the supposed country of origin is an equally important trajectory dealt with in African migrant literature. The reverse narrative stipulates similar tensions between one’s diasporic culture – the culture of the diasporic space – and the culture of the homeland. Thus, intra- and inter-continental migrations and diaspora is a bifurcated inquiry that examines both outward and return migrations. These movements reveal the ways in which Africans make sense of their Africanity and their place in the world. The concepts of “border”, “boundary” and “borderland” are useful to examine notions of difference and separation both within the nation-state and in relation to transnational, intra-African as well as inter-continental exchanges. I focus more fully on these notions in the texts that examine migrations within Africa, both outward and return movements. This study is not only interested in the physical features of borders, boundaries or borderlands, but also on their consequences for the processes of identity formation and translation, and how they can help to reveal the social and historical characteristics of diasporic formations. What undergirds much of the analysis is the assumption that the negotiation of belonging and space cannot be separated from the crossing or breaching of borders and boundaries; and that these negotiations entail attempts to enter the borderland, which is a zone of exchange, crisscrossing networks, dissolution of notions of singularity and exclusive identities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die fokus van hierdie proefskrif is ‘n ondersoek na die verhouding tussen ruimte en identiteit in onlangse migrasie-narratiewe in kontemporêre Afrika-literatuur. Migrasienarratiewe dui op ’n korrelasie tussen identiteitsvorming en die soorte skeidings en grense waarmee migrante gemoeid raak in hulle onderskeie pogings om nuwe tuistes weg van die oues te vind. Hetsy willekeurig of gedwonge, die migrasieproses weg van ’n familiale plek verander die individu wat nuwe sosiale formasies moet oorkom, en spanning neem dikwels toe weens die konfrontasie tussen die eie kultuur en dié van die ontvangersamelewing. Migrasie terug na die sogenaamde land van herkoms is net so ’n belangrike onderwerp in Afrika-migrasieliteratuur. Die terugkeernarratief stipuleer dat daar ooreenkomstige spanning heers tussen ’n persoon se diasporiese kultuur – die kultuur van die diaspora-ruimte – en die kultuur van die land van oorsprong. Die ondersoek na intra- en interkontinentale migrasies en diasporas is dus ’n tweeledige proses wat uitwaartse sowel as terugkerende migrasies beskou. Hierdie bewegings openbaar die ware maniere waarop Afrikane sin maak uit hulle Afrikaniteit en hulle plek in die wêreld. Die konsepte van “grens”, “grenslyn” en “grensgebied” is nuttig wanneer die begrippe van verskil en verwydering ondersoek word binne die nasiestaat asook in verhouding tot transnasionale, intra-Afrika en interkontinentale wisseling. Ek fokus meer volledig op hierdie begrippe in die tekste wat ondersoek instel na migrasie binne Afrika, beide uitwaartse en terugkerende bewegings. Hierdie studie gaan nie net oor die fisiese kenmerke van grense, grenslyne en grensgebiede nie, maar bestudeer ook die gevolge daarvan op die prosesse van identiteitsvorming en vertaling, en die manier waarop hulle kan help om die sosiale en historiese eienskappe van diasporiese formasies te openbaar. ’n Groot deel van die analise word ondersteun deur die aanname dat die onderhandeling tussen tuishoort en ruimte nie geskei kan word van die oorsteek of deurbreek van grense en grenslyne nie, en dat hierdie onderhandelinge lei tot pogings om die grensgebied te betree, waar die grensgebied gekenmerk word deur wisseling, kruising van netwerke en die verwording van begrippe soos sonderlingheid en eksklusiewe identiteite.

Can cross-border interaction: interpersonal, economic, and otherwise, help ease relations between neighbouring political entities facing conflicts of interest and other differences? 1. How and why are border crossing communication routes created and maintained? 2. Under what circumstances are they used and how? 3. In what ways do they alter the conditions of a conflict between the parties that they link? 4. How do governments relate to the communication route and in what ways do they fit it into their policies? Seeking to reconcile the theories of the international system advanced by Hedley Bull and John W. Burton, we conduct a comparative case study, based on contemporary media and scholarship, of the situations regarding Senegal and the Gambia, as well as the two de facto (if not de jure) republics of Cyprus to answer these questions. Having sought to estimate the causes and effects of border crossing, we find that host factors, in particular divergent economies and the utilization of international partners, may in fact come to stem from the issues of border-crossing activity and contribute to complicating existing conflicts rather than resolve them.

Magister Educationis - MEd / The study employed a quasi-experimental design to determine the effect of DAIM on learners’ conceptions of lightning. The experimental group was taught using DAIM while the control group was taught the same content using TLM. Data was collected using the Science Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ), Beliefs about Lightning Questionnaire (BALQ), Conceptions of Lightning Questionnaire (COLQ) and Science Achievement Test on Lightning (SATOL) which was used to determine learners’ overall performance on the topic of electrostatics. The data was analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of the study revealed that prior to the intervention (DAIM); the two groups of learners had both the scientific and the indigenous knowledge about lightning. A majority of the learners believed that lightning is caused by witches and traditional doctors. After being exposed to the DAIM most of the learners in the experimental group were found to have changed to the more scientific explanation of cause of lightning and protective measures against lightning. Few learners in the control were classified as possessing an equipollent worldview in terms of the CAT after the post tests. Some learners’ conceptions about lightning wavered between the scientific and traditional worldviews. The Science Attitude Questionnaire showed that both groups of learners had a positive attitude towards science. The findings also suggested that the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in science lessons promoted active participation from the learners, reinforced the learning of science because it promoted conceptual development and scientific literacy. The learners in the study also supported the integration of the scientific and the traditional worldviews about lightning. After the instruction, the learners in both groups seemed to still hold indigenous beliefs in relation to lightning. The post-test results showed that the DAIM group seemed to have been able to link the concept of lightning with electrostatics when they related lightning storms to electric discharge. The experimental group was found to be more elaborate in their explanations of the scientific nature of lightning than the control group which was not exposed to DAIM

No description available.

<p>The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named &ldquo / Culture Secondary School&rdquo / have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learners&rsquo / pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or &ldquo / Umqombothi&rdquo / , an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners&rsquo / worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners&rsquo / generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners&rsquo / home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gatherred were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions.</p>

科学研究費補助金 研究種目:基盤研究(C)(2) 課題番号:14510644 研究代表者:田所 光男 研究期間:2002-2003年度