Excursus: A brief overview of the opinion of exegetes on the cultural back-ground, reference and rhetorical function of ta; stivgmata tou` jIhsou` in Galatians 6:17 In their explanation of ta; stivgmata tou` jIhsou` in Galatians 6:17, exegetes usually discuss one or more of the following three aspects (without necessarily distinguishing between them): its possible cultural background, the na-ture of the bodily "marks" Paul has in mind, and his rhetorical purpose in mentioning these. For the purposes of this overview, these aspects will be discussed separately. CULTURAL BACKGROUND With regard to the cultural background of ta; stivgmata, most scholars refer to the practice of religious tattooing in antiquity as the most likely background. The following scholars (among others) could be mentioned as examples in this re-gard: Lietzmann, Lightfoot, Schlier, H. D. Betz, and Vouga. However, this view is not unanimous. For example, Burton rejects this view and prefers to link Paul's use to another custom, namely that of branding slaves to indi-cate ownership. Some exegetes merely name both possibilities without choosing be-tween them. See, for example, Longenecker and L�hrmann. The custom of religious tattooing seems to be the most obvious parallel to Paul's use of stivgmata in Galatians 6:17, and it is therefore understandable that exegetes tend to prefer it as potential background. However, perhaps one should not restrict the potential back-ground for Paul's reference to stivgmata to an either-or between the two possibili-ties mentioned thus far, since branded marks were a well-known phenomenon in an-tiquity, functioning in various social contexts. In his comprehensive overview of stivgmata, O. Betz provides numerous examples in this regard: the branding of animals; deserters; prisoners of war; robbers of temples; wrong-doers; slaves (for running away, stealing, or sometimes merely for the sake of indicating ownership [on the forehead]); recruits of the Roman army (on the hand); members of certain tribes; devotees of Dionysios (with an ivy leaf), the Great Mother, Mithras or other cults/gods. From Betz's overview it is evident that branded marks were a well-known phenomenon in Paul's time. Furthermore, one could also say that such marks were re-garded either positively or negatively. For example, in the case of runaway slaves or prisoners of war they functioned in a negative way. However, in those cases where people received such marks voluntarily, for example to indicate devotion to a particu-lar cult/god or membership of the Roman army, they were regarded as something positive (at least by the people who wore them!). Generally speaking, Paul's reference to his stivgmata could be classified as an example where the "marks" he received are viewed in a positive sense. REFERENCE To the question "Which bodily stivgmata does Paul have in mind in Ga-latians 6:17?" nearly all exegetes respond by referring to the marks left on his body as a result of his suffering as an apostle. However, this is not a unanimous view. Some exegetes propose other � often interesting! � interpretations: � D�lger rejects the idea that Paul is referring to marks left on his body as a result of his sufferings as an apostle, and, claims that he had tattooed the name of Jesus on his body. He also states that if this was not the case, Paul's reference to his stivgmata should not be understood as any physical marks at all, but as referring to the fact that he considered himself a slave of Christ, i.e. as indicating "seine innigste Zugeh�rigkeit zum Herrn". � Fenner interprets the stivgmata as Paul's auto-suggestive reactions to the sufferings which Jesus experienced on the cross. In other words, Fenner suggests that Paul experienced his mystical unity with Christ to such an ex-tent that he in fact developed bleeding wounds on his hands and feet. � Hirsch is of the opinion that the events that occurred during Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus � in particular, the appearance of Christ ("die ihn blitzartige �berfallende Erscheinung") � could have caused him some lasting medical problems. He considers the possibility that these could have been eye problems due to the blinding light that Paul saw. However, Hirsch also points out that, according to Acts 26:13-14, the other people who travelled with Paul, also saw this blinding light, and this poses a prob-lem for identifying Paul's medical problems as eye problems. He therefore prefers to interpret the stivgmata as unspecified medical problems ("ein k�rperlicher Zusammenbruch und eine dauernde von uns nicht n�her bes-timmbare k�rperliche Sch�digung") resulting from Paul's conversion. � Dinkler agrees with D�lger that Paul has bodily marks in mind. However, he links these to symbolic markings at baptism, in particular, to the possibility that the bodies of the Christians were marked symbolically with the letter X (the first letter of "Christ" in Greek) during baptism. � Bligh agrees with scholars who are of the opinion that Paul is probably thinking of the scars left on his body as a result of the persecution, but also believes that stivgmata is Paul's "metaphorical description of the 'circum-cision of heart' or 'new creation' which he and the other Christians receive through faith and baptism". Although these exegetes offer interesting and sometimes ingenious sugges-tions for interpreting stivgmata in Galatians 6:17, none of them is convincing. The view of the majority is thus to be regarded as the best interpretation

Katherine of Alexandria, one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages, was acclaimed for her great learning. This investigation focuses on the fraught relationship between knowledge, the feminine and the idea of the body in the predominantly Catholic society of late medieval England as it is revealed in John Capgraveâs fifteenth century Life of Saint Katherine of Alexandria. In chapter one the interrelations between Katherine, the Virgin Mary and Eve â particularly with regard to each womanâs relation to knowledge â is considered. Capgrave attempts to associate Katherine with the positive example of the Virgin Mary and her relation to knowledge through Christ, the Word, in order to increase admiration for Katherine as a saint. However, as the conversion scene is set in an enclosed garden it recalls the Garden of Eden and the Fall thus also creating parallels between Katherine and Eve. In this way an underlying uneasiness with Katherineâs exceptional level of education as potentially disruptive and negative is achieved. The centrality of marriage to Capgraveâs text is explored in chapter two. The representation of Katherine and the Church as the brides of Christ and the ways in which this essentially feminine image lends itself to associations with the body, as well as the Churchâs simultaneous portrayal as the body of Christ, is considered. It is proposed that Katherine may be perceived as a symbolic representative of the Church and although, both the bride and body images have implications of subservience for those placed in the feminine role they also serve to express the intimacy of the relationship striven for with God. Chapter three examines Katherineâs use of the body of rhetoric. It is demonstrated that the changes in her use of rhetoric after her conversion and mystical marriage indicate that, as a woman making effective use of the body of rhetoric to argue for female rule, she may be perceived as transgressing gender boundaries in medieval patriarchal society. The âdiscipliningâ of Katherineâs âtransgressiveâ behaviour may be seen in her mystical marriage to Christ as this is the decisive event which brings her under patriarchal control. Therefore any threat she might have been seen to pose to the status quo is subtly neutralised. In chapter four the analogies relating to the body are further considered, particularly with regard to the spiritual implications. Parallels between St Katherineâs passion and Christâs Passion are noted to indicate how the imitatio Christi and sponsalia Christi themes converge in Capgraveâs text to elide Katherine (as the âbodyâ and bride of Christ) with the divine (perceived as male). The incident narrated in Capgraveâs prologue, where an English priest has to consume a book in a dream before he can discover St Katherineâs legend, may be seen to reveal her elision with the divine through the interrelations of Katherine, the book containing her legend, the eucharist, the Passion, the Resurrection, relics, the body and the translation of her legend as an âun-cagingâ of meaning. Thus Capgrave does not shy away from the issues of gender power-relations that were pertinent to his society. Although he appears to be unique among his peers in allowing for quite a balanced debate of these issues in his text, he includes aspects which subtly undercut Katherineâs strident independence as a woman. In this way he is able to honour the saint while simultaneously confirming the âproperâ position of women in medieval patriarchal society by equating it to the position of humanity in the Church vis-à-vis Christ. Consequently, Capgrave is able to openly consider challenges to, and yet subtly affirm, the status quo of his society in this multivalent saintâs legend.

Not only did the Romans work very hard during the night, but they also enjoyed eating, drinking and partying. Although there were only limited sources of light, they used their evenings and nights optimally. During the first and second centuries A.D., there was a definite renaissance in commercial life, in cities as well as in the country. Basic concepts were standardised, such as the calendar (by Caesar), time reckoning by means of sun dials and water clocks. There were also improvements in the ways of recreation, entertainment and different kinds of artificial light. In this study primary sources of information were used. The chapter on the sources is an endeavour to combine the biographical information of the specific writers and the influence of their milieu on their writing and way of life, with the extracts from their work. Martial and Juvenal give an exaggerated reconstruction, which however contains many apt descriptions of the social milieu. Pliny in his encyclopaedia (Naturalis Historia) gives useful facts on e.g. the making of candles and how time was reckoned in experimental ways,. The question when time should be regarded as âdayâ or ânightâ already existed in ancient Rome. When the cockâs crow to announce the morning was no longer regarded as sufficiently correct, night guards were used to announce a new day. That was before scientific inventions such as the sun dial and later the water clock were used to determine time. Lighting was an important factor as it became dark quite early and after sunset, the Romans were dependent on artificial light. Not only did torches, candles and later even lamps enrich the quality of life, but crime was also limited by lighting. Prices and availability of fuel played a big role in the distinction between the social classes. Apart from the personnel of the fire brigade who could be called out at night, bakers, prostitutes, light house sentinels, doctors and bar- and restaurant owners also worked during the night. The army, responsible for the safety of the inhabitants of the country, sometimes had to act during the night, thus it is logical that they had to be on call day and night. Many authors such as Quintilian, Seneca and Pliny the Elder also worked during nighttime. The Roman day ended at around the eighth hour with the cena as the main ac tivity of the late afternoon and evening. It was during this time that citizens were busy eating and drinking in the triclinium to forget the dayâs worries. Two relevant issues in modern times are gender inequality and social stratification. From the study it is clear that discrimination is not a modern tendency but already played a role in ancient times. Women and poor people were scoffed, humiliated and deemed inferior. The research field of this dissertation thus lay on the socio-cultural level, with specific reference to the experiences of different social classes and males and females with regard to nocturnal activities in ancient Rome. This study presents a more nuanced picture of the social life in ancient Rome. The central theme of this work, however, stands in contrast with previous studies since nocturnal activities are not mentioned in passing only but are discussed in detail, in order to point out the wide range of these activities.

This dissertation explores queer identity construction using theories of gender fluidity and performance. The research suggests that binary structures such as masculine/feminine, male/female, and heterosexual/homosexual, restrict the expansion of queer gender identities. A deconstructive theoretical framework based predominantly on the philosophy of Judith Butler is applied to a selection of contemporary lesbian novels. The textual analysis of lesbian, transgender and transsexual characters focuses on the ways in which binary structures are challenged by the multiplicity of gender expressions depicted within a variety of sociopolitical contexts. The reality of gender-based violence is investigated as a significant consequence of hegemonic power structures. The charge against butch/femme identity as imitative of heterosexual norms is challenged by demonstrating how such a category functions as a parodic subversion of heteronormative ideals. Female masculinity is also presented as a powerful identity category that inverts expectations of dominant masculinity, while allowing for an interrogation of the connection between sex and gender. From the arguments presented in this dissertation, what emerges very clearly is that queer gender identities empower the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex) community when identity is freed from the constraints of heteronormative discourse.

This study discusses Melvin Seeman's 1959 theory of alienation within a postmodern, post-structuralist and systems theory context. Seeman's five aspects of alienation, namely powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, social isolation, and self-estrangement are re-evaluated while taking into account Von Bertalanffy's General Systems Theory and interpretations thereof, Even-Zohar's Polysystem Theory, post-modernism, and structuralist and post-structuralist perspectives. More recent contributions to alienation research are discussed, particularly where sociological and theoretical changes have forced a re-evaluation of his original conception. Felix Geyer (1996), Arthur G. Neal and Sara F. Collas (2000), and Devorah Kalekin-Fishman (1998) provide the crux of the discussion on the reevaluation of Seeman's theory. It is argued, in following these researchers, that a post-modernist and systems theory approach favours a reduction of Seeman's five aspects to four by omitting self-estrangement, since the self is argued to be relationally constituted (by e.g. Vorster (2003), Von Bertalanffy (1969), and Wilden (1981)) and therefore self-estrangement is already contained within the other four aspects. The re-evaluated remaining four aspects of Seeman's theory of alienation are thus applied to the chosen four novels belonging to contemporary British Fiction: Ian McEwan's The Child in Time, Martin Amis's London Fields, Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting and Pat Barker's Regeneration. It is argued that Seeman's theory of alienation is applicable to contemporary British fiction, and thus how his theory manifests in the chosen texts is analysed. Each of the chosen novels is contextualised, bearing in mind the oeuvre of each author, the socio-historical system, and the contemporary British literary system. A short discussion of contemporary Britain is provided to situate the texts within the cultural and political milieu of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This is done in order to provide the reader with essential background information where it aids the interpretation of the texts, since all four texts engage with the socio-historical milieu in which they were created. Barker's Regeneration is however a historical novel set in the First World War, so wherever necessary, the context of the novel in the early twentieth century is sketched. The proven hypothesis of this thesis is that Seeman's sociological theory of alienation can be applied to literary texts, since the chosen novels do manifest the same characteristics that he identified within the field of sociology. It is shown how each author and each text foregrounds some aspects and backgrounds others, and how particularly powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, and social-isolation manifests in each text. McEwan's The Child in Time highlights social isolation, in particular with the dissolution of the heterosexual dyad after the couple's child is abducted, and shows how meaningless manifests when different genders attach different meanings to actions. Amis's London Fields highlights normlessness through the character of Keith Talent in particular, and obliterates meaning by making the characters' world a television-controlled simulacra, and adding the motif of darts to indicate how superficial culture has become. Welsh's Trainspotting emphasises social isolation and normlessness in depicting the marginal subculture of drug-users in Leith, Edinburgh, whose relationships are as superficial and void of morality as in London Fields. Barker's Regeneration illustrates powerlessness in particular, as it depicts soldiers returning from the trenches of the First World War who suffer from war neurosis as they are stripped of their decision-making rights. Rivers's theory of war neurosis argues that it is powerlessness that leads to war neurosis, and he links psychological symptoms to what is seen amongst the female population during peacetime, suggesting that it is powerlessness which leads to psychological breakdowns in males and females. Alienation, in one way or another, thus is a central aspect to the main actions and imagery employed in the chosen novels. Discussing these texts from this theoretical frame of reference contributes to the understanding of some of the seminal works of contemporary British fiction.

Reading in South African schools is rated amongst the worst in the world. Many children come from backgrounds where reading is uncommon. Since reading is the key to the mastery of other subjects and a predictor of future success, there is mounting disquiet about learnersâ reading ability. Accordingly, the principal of a secondary township school requested help with reading development. This project aimed to design a programme of reading intervention that would lead to on-going, sustainable second language reading development, with the focus on improving the educatorsâ skills to teach reading. Because the chosen methodology was action research, the teachers were included as participants and co-researchers. An additional aim was to reflect critically on the interventions in order to ensure more generalised understanding of an educational problem. The results of this study will have value in that they will facilitate a closer understanding of reading development in one township school as an example of a general educational problem.

Being literate is a privilege which is often taken for granted. The ability to read the morning newspaper or the subtitles of oneâs favourite soap opera is often viewed as trivial, or incidental, and yet South Africaâs population is far from 100% literate. The youthâs preoccupation with technology (cell phones and computers, for example) has marginalised healthier pastimes like reading. Fortunately, this trend appears to have begun to shift: our youth may be rediscovering previous generationsâ love of reading thanks to best-selling authors like J.K. Rowling, Terry Pratchett, and Phillip Pullman. Consequently, the rationale for this study is to determine to what extent (if any) a specific authorâs contribution to literature is motivating young people to read again, and whether her texts can be deemed a viable aid to the moral education of the youth. Thus, J.K. Rowlingâs Harry Potter oeuvre is the main material under study, and is explored in terms of both its potential as an aid to moral development (and the consequent lessons that can be taken from it), as well as its possible contribution to the re-establishment of a reading culture among the youth of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The question then arises as to whether a culture of reading has, in fact, been established among the above-mentioned group, and whether the suggested texts have played a part in doing so. Moreover, one has to consider what moral lessons, if any, are propagated by Rowling. On the one hand, this dissertation explores the responses of young people who have and have not been exposed to the series in terms of their interest in and affinity for reading, and to what extent Rowlingâs series has influenced them, if at all. As the focus of this study is solely on Rowlingâs Harry Potter series, it is naturally not quantifiable beyond these limitations. However, the results may still serve as a springboard for future studies. On the other hand, the focus of the study extends to areas of a more personal nature that deal with principles such as young peopleâs responses to themes like good versus evil, and their understanding of social and moral commentary. The opinion of certain critics, such as Maretha Maartens who fervently denounced the texts for religious reasons, is also considered in an attempt to verify whether young readers are exposed to moral risks by the magical aspect of Rowlingâs work, or whether, in sharing Harryâs experiences, they form a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between good and evil and the complexities of life and human relations. From an academic point of view there is no doubt that literacy is a vital and invaluable asset that everyone should be privileged to possess. In conducting this research, I hope to contribute to the already existing body of data pertaining to the study of literacy and the affinity of young people for reading. Furthermore, I intend to confer a greater sense of credibility, from a literary perspective, on Rowlingâs oeuvre, which also addresses a number of relevant moral concerns. I believe that the lessons learned from the texts, as well as the companionship they lend to young people, who often feel alone and unappreciated, are not always acknowledged. Additionally, I believe that Harry Potter is the ideal material to prescribe to both first- and second-language speakers of English, especially at primary school level. Apart from the moral and thematic aspects that young people of this age group will be privileged to encounter, they will also be exposed to a body of work that contains an impressive range of words for vocabulary improvement, and a standard of English that will establish a reliable basis for any future studies in the language.

This dissertation explores the benefits of nurturing early literacy which are increasingly being recognized. Many language practitioners (Snow, Barnes, Chandler, Goodman and Hemphill, 1991; Gestwicki, 1997; Krashen, 2004; White, 2005; Morrow, 2007) emphasise that withholding instruction in reading and literate behaviour until schoolgoing age results in children being unprepared for the rigours of school. Intervention should therefore commence as early as possible (Auerbach and Roche, 1971; Brierley, 1987; Essa, 2007; de Witt, 2009) to ensure school readiness and to pave the way for a successful transition into Grade R. At present, it is compulsory for South African learners to begin school in Grade R. This is a government endeavour to ensure that all learners have at least one compulsory year of kindergarten tuition. However, the years preceding Grade R are the most important in terms of acquiring emergent literacy skills (Hechinger, 1966; National Research Council, 1998; Barbarin and Richter 2001; Arnold and Doctoroff, 2003), and urgent attention should therefore also be paid to nurturing literacy during these crucial years. Clearly, children from less advantaged backgrounds who receive little or no stimulation involving printed matter start Grade R at a severe disadvantage as opposed to children who regularly attend pre-school and have literate parents who spend ample time reading to their children. This study highlights ways in which parents and caregivers can significantly alleviate this disadvantage simply by reading to children and by exposing them to a literate environment. Reading to children provides an immensely powerful tool for teaching crucial skills such as page-turning, reading from left to right with return sweeps, following words and understanding basic narrative structures (Bloch, 1996; Ntuli and Pretorius, 2005; Joubert et al, 2008).