Media coverage of the poor state of this country's education system has described public images of the teaching profession which provide a context for the research described in this paper. The research is concerned with how and to what extent work identity is reflected in the life stories of five female teachers from a rural village in the Eastern Cape. A social constructionist approach is taken to the meaning and construction of identity, and the paper describes the process of a narrative method of analyzing and interpreting the stories. An initial analysis reveals that the participants had few career options and little choice of career. Further analysis is concerned with interpreting how the teachers create coherence in their stories around this lack of choice as well as within the larger social and historical context. Simultaneously there is an interpretation of the participants' work identity. The teachers create coherence in their narratives around their families and their socioeconomic or cultural circumstances, but make no explicit reference to the political context of their work choices, which were made in the context of the restraints of the Apartheid era. From each teacher's story an understanding of their unique work identity emerges. These alternative understandings provide a contrast to the images constructed by the media.

This thesis reports on a project which investigated how young native, Afrikaans-speaking Rhodes University students responded to the musical outfit Die Antwoord and to their music video “I Fink U Freeky”. The study attempted to establish how a selected group of Afrikaans-speaking students consisting of Whites, Coloureds and Blacks interpret the work of Die Antwoord as well as their own Afrikaans identity. The purpose of the study was to interrogate the relationship between artistic media, citizenship and belonging to a particular group. The thesis reports on the ways in which interviewees in the group discussions responded to notions of identity, whiteness, class, race, hybridity and creolization registered in the music video which was used to prompt the discussions. Finally the thesis reports on findings regarding the relationship between citizenship and the artistic media. The enormous change in the socio-political position of Afrikaans-speakers in the post -1994 dispensation provides the social context of the study. The project utilised qualitative research and a reception study of the music was undertaken by means of focus group discussions in order to arrive at thick descriptions in an attempt to understand the contextual behaviour of the participants. It was postulated that Die Antwoord provides a discursive site within which audiences could generate their own innovative meanings regarding being Afrikaans. While there was no clear indication that the identities of the participants was constructed by the media, the video prompted discussions regarding identity and provided evidence that media texts are capable of stimulating an interrogation of identities. It emerged that all participants, while abandoning some aspects of Afrikaans culture, strongly embraced and highly valued the language. Participants did not regard race as an important aspect of citizenship. Vociferous discussions regarding class demonstrated how media texts can influence citizenship. Discussions about hybridization and creolization demonstrated how the media can challenge received conceptions regarding citizenship. Responses provided evidence that the media could stimulate new forms of citizenship and contribute to the inclusion of previously excluded subjects. The research findings clearly demonstrate links between artistic media, citizenship and belonging to a group of Afrikaanses rather than Afrikaners. Post- 1994 young Afrikaans-speakers in this study provided clear evidence that they are exploring new and alternative ways of being Afrikaans.

The central argument of my study is that, among other matters, in his works, J.M. Coetzee could be said to demonstrate that the known Self is an embodied being and is not autonomous. With regard to the latter contention, Coetzee intimates that any two Subjects are implicated in each other’s subjectivities in a reciprocal process that involves what Derek Attridge has called “irruptions of otherness” (2005: xii) into the Subject’s subjectivity. These irruptions, which happen during the encounter, lead to a double loss of autonomy for each Subject and this phenomenon renders the relationship between Subjects non-dichotomus or non-binaric. In other words, the Subject does not produce the contents of his or her consciousness in a sui generis and ex nihilo fashion, and his or her ontological indebtedness to the Other constitutes his or her first loss of autonomy. As for those Others that do possess consciousness, the Subject is implicated in their consciousness and this constitutes the Subject’s second loss of autonomy. These losses counter the near solipsistic Nagelian neo-Cartesianism and paves the way for imagining both intra- and inter-species “intersubjectivity”. It is my view that this double loss of autonomy accounts for the sympathetic and empathetic imagination that we encounter in Coetzee’s fiction. Following Coetzee’s intimations of intersubjectivity through irruptions of otherness, what I see as my contribution to studies on this author’s work through this study is the link I have established between the physicalist strain within the philosophy of mind (whose central thesis is that consciousness is an embodied phenomenon) and a modified Kantian “metaphysics”, especially Immanuel Kant’s conception of concepts as comprising form and content. I have deployed this conception in demonstrating the Subject’s ontological indebtedness to external sources of the content part of consciousness. And, through the Husserlian concept of intentionality, and Kant’s (1929: 27) observation that we cannot have appearances without something that appears, I have linked the Subject to the sources of his or her content and thereby also demonstrated that the Subject is not eternally separated or alienated from those sources. Instead, the Subject is not simply contiguous but coterminous and co-extensive, albeit in a mediated way, with the external sources of the content part of his or her consciousness. Thus, while accepting the thesis of the Other’s radical otherness, I modify the thesis of the Other’s radical exteriority. Ultimately, then, ontologically speaking, the Coetzeean project could be described as one of embodying and grounding the supposedly autonomous, solipsistic and freefloating/disembodied Cartesian Subject. This he does by alerting this Subject, first and foremost, to its embodiedness and, further to that, pointing out its ontological indebtedness to its Others and its implication in the Others’s consciousnesses and so prevent it from continuing with its imperialistic and ecological barbarities. However, ethically speaking, beyond the reciprocal ethics that arises from mutual ontological indebtedness and implication, it is the selflessness that characterises a cruciform logic that comes across as the epitome of Coetzeean ethics.

This dissertation seeks to explore the perceived intricate relationship that exists between constructed identity, discrimination and violence as portrayed in Bessie Head's trilogy from varying perspectives, including aspects of postcoloniality, materialist feminism and liminality. Starting with a background to some of the origins of racial hybridity in Southern Africa, it looks at how racial identity has subsequently influenced the course of Southern African history and thereafter explores historical and biographical information deemed relevant to an understanding of the dissertation. Critical explorations of each text in the trilogy follow, in which the apparent affinities that exist between identity, discrimination and violence are analysed and displayed. In conclusion the trilogy is discussed from a largely sociological perspective of hope in a utopian society. / English Studies / M.A.(English)

Young people are currently affected in the realm of self-esteem, identity development and relational behaviour amidst advancing technology. There is the need for research in this area. Obstacles include fragmented homes, distance job–location and back-log parental education. There is the need for spiritual direction and for the formation of Christian spiritual principles. This is evident in the attraction of young people to cults and the influences of the New Age. The study will explore the complexity of relationships, identity and behaviour in young people. The empirical research will be obtained with permission from a school in the Eastern Cape; the focus group of this study is ages 11 – 18 years. The aim of this study will be to explore interventions which can help facilitate better personal, family and peer relationships in adolescents. The aim will further be to help bring about better integration in their personalities, relationships and communication. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

A question addressed in this study is; how are identities of children constructed using narratives and photographs in humanitarian discourse? This study is a sociological exposition of ethical issues that arise from representations of children within humanitarian discourse. Humanitarian discourse is treated as a special type of cultural representation. This discourse entails uses of a special form of language that constructs represents and portrays stereotypical identities of children. Such cultural representation illustrates how children’s identities are socially constructed realities. Constructions of realities of children are shaped, influenced and ‘controlled’ by intentions of humanitarian professionals as social actors. Humanitarian professionals’ actions as agents are also located within socio-cultural structures and contexts that give rise to the humanitarian discourse. This means reality is not ‘unified’ but a product of intentional and conscious inter-subjective human actions in specific contexts. Such is an assumption of phenomenological sociological theory that situates this study. This assumption also influenced qualitative research methods of this study. Qualitative methods emphasise the significance of individual perceptions and interpretations when analysing social issues. Identified ethical issues arise from practical program situations causing humanitarian professionals to collect children’s narratives and photographs in the first instance. Those situations include; conducting child focused researches, designing children’s programs, writing child rights advocacy articles and policy briefs, marketing children’s issues, media publishing, writing project proposals, monitoring and evaluating projects. Ethical issues that arise from the above include; violations of children’s privacies, lack of informed consent to collect and use children’s narratives and photographs, uses of enticements to induce information from children, disclosures of sensitive data, exaggerations, sensationalising and manipulations of children’s identities. Based on study findings, knowledge or academic contribution situated within phenomenological sociology is proposed. The study’s knowledge contribution is that constructions of children’s identities reveal how perceptions and interpretations of identities create socially determined realities within humanitarian discourse. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)

This study arose from the experience of difficulties in individuating incorporating tensions in the self-group, self-other, and self-self relational dimensions. This situation initiated the questions: What does individuation mean in collectivist cultures? Can selfexpression occur in a different way to opposing public opinion? Can one conceptualise experiential dialectics to facilitate their resolution in practice? The literature initiated the questions: How do Western theories on individuation incorporate 'culture'? Does a relationship between the socio-cultural context and the process of self-expression exist? Conclusions were: - that the socio-cultural context influences this experience directly by influencing the process of self-expression via defining what is experienced as narcissistic, altruistic, or individualistic behaviour, and indirectly by the theories which reflect its norms; - that the relationship between experience, and theory and personal epistemologies potentially initiate tensions, and facilitate their resolution; - that a theory of individuation in collectivist cultures is lacking. A way of interpreting 'individuation' was discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-11-21T08:59:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Lais Claro Oliveira.pdf: 1675452 bytes, checksum: 5d9278c5f6a3912ae694f27b3abefd93 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-21T08:59:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lais Claro Oliveira.pdf: 1675452 bytes, checksum: 5d9278c5f6a3912ae694f27b3abefd93 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-09-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The phenomenon of inscriptions made on the walls dates since the cave times, when man recorded with images and symbols his daily life, therefore the history of civilization. In ancient times, graffiti has started to characterize and compose complaints, resistance and subversion movements. Widely spread throughout the world, graffiti was decriminalized in 2011 in Brazil by Law 12408 which differed it from vandalism. However, even after the effervescence of urban interventions and the inclusion of new connotations such as leisure and work, the production is still considered marginalized and carries various stigma to those who draw graffiti, specially in regions far away from large urban centres. In Paraíba Valley, in the countryside of São Paulo, a study carried out in 2015 allowed to observe that even in the face of regulatory and territory exclusion aspects, the practice of graffiti essentially led by young people has personal and social transformation power. Thus, in order to better understand the process of building the identity expression of the youth who resists and creates new ways of being in the contemporary urban context, the present study sought to respond: “How does the process of identification, resistance and creation of the young graffiti draftsman happen given the sociocultural identity policies of the territory of Paraíba Valley?”. The study is supported by the contributions of Critical Social Psychology and social constructs of the Identity analytical category proposed by Antonio da Costa Ciampa (1987). The technique of life history narrative was privileged as instrument, analyzed in the light of the Identity-Metamorphosis-Emancipation Syntagma (1987), according to the usual procedures of the identification studies in the category. The use of interviews with informants, field records and photographs of the productions of young draftsmen of Paraíba Valley was adopted to assist in the field characterization and its main issues. It has been understood that the practice of graffiti is permeated by the institutional commercial imprisoning logic of the territory, which influence the experiences and senses attributed by young people. Nevertheless, given that social space and metamorphosis intercalate, it was understood that creativity reveals to be a strategy of coping with the present contradictions and identity policies involved. It is expressed over youth by different artistic modalities and contexts, as well as in the organisation of independent collective events and actions, which retain communicative and critical capacity, and expand the possibilities of emancipatory movements / O fenômeno das inscrições feitas nos muros data desde os tempos das cavernas, quando o homem registrava com imagens e símbolos sua vida cotidiana, e com isso, a história da civilização. Na Antiguidade o grafite passou a caracterizar e compor movimentos de denúncia, resistência e subversão. Já amplamente difundido por todo o mundo, no Brasil o grafite foi descriminalizado em 2011, por meio da Lei nº 12.408 que o diferenciou do vandalismo. Entretanto, mesmo diante disso, da efervescência de intervenções urbanas e da inclusão de novas conotações como de lazer e trabalho, a produção ainda é tida como marginalizada e carrega diversos estigmas a quem o faz, em especial, nas regiões mais afastadas dos grandes centros urbanos. No Vale do Paraíba, interior de São Paulo, observou-se em estudo realizado em 2015 que mesmo diante dos aspectos regulatórios e de exclusão do território, a prática de grafite essencialmente protagonizada pela juventude tem potência de transformação pessoal e social. Dessa forma, a fim de compreender melhor o processo de construção e expressão identitária do jovem que resiste e cria novas formas de ser no contexto urbano contemporâneo, o presente estudo buscou responder: “Como se dá o processo de identificação, resistência e criação do jovem grafiteiro frente às políticas de identidade socioculturais do território vale paraibano?”. O estudo é sustentado pelos aportes da Psicologia Social Crítica e constructos da categoria analítica de Identidade propostos por Antonio da Costa Ciampa (1987). Privilegiou-se como instrumento a técnica da narrativa de história de vida, analisada à luz do Sintagma Identidade-Metamorfose-Emancipação (1987), em acordo com os usuais procedimentos dos estudos identitários da categoria. Adotando ainda o uso de entrevista com informantes, registros de campo e fotografias das produções de jovens do Vale do Paraíba grafiteiros para auxiliar na caracterização do campo e suas principais questões. Entendeu-se que a prática do grafite é permeada pelas lógicas institucionais e comerciais conservadoras e aprisionantes do território, que influem nas vivências e sentidos atribuídos pelos jovens. Contudo, visto que o espaço social e as metamorfoses intercalam-se mutuamente, compreendeu-se que a criatividade revela-se como estratégia de enfrentamento as contradições presentes e políticas de identidade implicadas. Expressa no trânsito da juventude por diferentes modalidades artísticas e contextos, bem como, na organização de eventos e ações coletivas independentes, que conservam a capacidade comunicativa, crítica e expandem as possibilidades de movimentos emancipatórios

Percebe-se, na contemporaneidade, um crescente movimento, no meio adolescente, de busca de mecanismos identificatórios através do pertencimento a grupos formais e/ou informais. Neste contexto, situam-se as Tribos Urbanas que, segundo Michel Maffesoli (2006) configuram-se como um fenômeno cultural, agregando adolescentes de diferentes níveis sócioeconômicos com os mais variados interesses. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa objetivou investigar o sentido de pertença a uma Tribo Urbana para a construção da identidade adolescente. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa em que, a partir de uma análise metodológica na perspectiva fenomenológica existencial, utilizando entrevistas semidirigidas, abordou adolescentes, de ambos os sexos, numa faixa etária compreendida entre 18 a 20 anos, de qualquer nível sócio-econômico, pertencentes à Tribo Urbana de Metaleiros recifenses. Os resultados obtidos trouxeram ricas contribuições para a compreensão do sentido desta pertença e sua importância no universo simbólico do adolescente. Contrariando o senso comum que as Tribos Urbanas agregam "desocupados" e/ou "marginais"; percebemos que estas se constituem como espaços propiciadores de crescimento pessoal, social e cultural. Além disso, as entrevistas revelaram que as Tribos Urbanas desempenham um relevante papel, para os adolescentes metaleiros, como mediadora entre o "desligamento" do ambiente familiar e a inserção no meio social. Esta pertença, ainda, configura-se como um dispositivo para a construção de mecanismos de identificação e diferenciação, fundamentais na estruturação da identidade adolescente. Acredita-se que este trabalho possa oferecer subsídios para um maior entendimento dos mecanismos que operam na construção da identidade adolescente, possibilitando uma melhor compreensão acerca da necessidade gregária dos jovens, minimizando, assim, a representação social negativa das Tribos Urbanas de adolescentes / On percoit, dans la culture contemporaine, un mouvement croissant, dans les milieux dadolescents, de recherche de mécanismes didentification par lappartenance à des groupes formels et/ou informels. Dans ce contexte sinscrivent les Tribus Urbaines qui, selon Michel Maffesoli (2006) se configurent comme un phénomène culturel, agrégeant des adolescents/adolescentes de divers niveaux socio-économiques avec les intérêts les plus variés. Dans cette foulée, la présente recherche sest fixé comme objectif détudier le sens de lappartenance à une Tribu Urbaine pour la construction de lidentité adolescente. Il sagit dune recherche qualitative dans laquelle, à partir dune analyse méthodologique dans la perspective de la phénoménologie existentielle on a utilisé des entrevues semi-dirigées avec des adolescents des deux sexes dans la tranche dâge des 18-20 ans, de tout niveau socioéconomique et appartenant à la Tribu Urbaine des Metaleiros (Rock Heavy Metal) de Recife. Les résultats obtenus ont apporté de riches contributions pour la compréhension du sens de cette appartenance et de son importance dans lunivers symbolique de ladolescent. Au contraire du sens commun pour qui les Tribus Urbaines réunissent des faînéants e/ou des marginaux, nous avons perçu quelles constituent des espaces propices à la croissance personnelle, sociale et culturelle. En plus, les entrevues ont révélé que les Tribus Urbaines accomplissent un rôle pertinent pour les adolescents metaleiros, dintermédiaire entre la séparation de lentourage familial et linsertion dans le milieu social. Cette appartenance se présente en plus comme un dispositif pour la construction de mécanismes didentification et de différentiation, fondamentaux pour la structuration de lidentité adolescente. Nous pensons que ce travail peut offrir des subsides pour un meilleur entendement des mécanismes en jeu dans la construction de lidentité adolescente, permettant une meilleure compréhension de la nécessité grégaire des jeunes, tout en minimisant ainsi la représentation négative des Tribus Urbaines dadolescents

Alguns saberes têm se destacado no estudo da autolesão, entre eles a medicina, (notadamente a psiquiatria), a psicologia e a psicanálise. Estes campos do conhecimento diferenciam os atos de ferir a si mesmo como parte de uma cultura específica ou ritual religioso das práticas autolesivas que são atribuídas a patologias ou disfunções. Estas últimas são consideradas como atos de autodestruição produzidos por pessoas que precisam de intervenções de especialistas para que deixem de ferir-se. Partimos do pressuposto de que a autolesão é um modo de subjetivação construído e transformado por diferentes discursos dependendo do contexto sociocultural em que acontece. Assim, a intenção deste trabalho é analisar, à luz da perspectiva pós-estruturalista, mensagens de pessoas que se autolesionam e discutem a sua experiência em comunidades virtuais da rede social Orkut. Resultados indicam que além dos discursos em comum com os citados campos de saber e com a religião, há ainda quem defina a autolesão como arte, maneira privilegiada de expressão das emoções ou mesmo fonte de prazer. Alguns internautas reivindicam o corpo como território de intervenção pertencente unicamente a si próprios, reclamando o direito de utilizá-lo como bem entendem, no que se pode caracterizar como um movimento de resistência à norma de ter que apresentar um corpo dócil. Por fim, compreende-se que os sujeitos envolvidos nessa prática relacionam-se com seu corpo e com as comunidades de que participam enquanto locais de produção de identidades. / Some fields of knowledge have been highlighted in the study of self-harm, such as medicine (especially psychiatry), psychology and psychoanalysis. These areas differentiate the acts of harming oneself as part of a specific culture or religious ritual from those recognized as pathologies or dysfunctional behavior. The last ones are considered as acts of self-destruction produced by individuals who need assistance so that they can stop self-injuring. Partimos do pressuposto de que a autolesão é um modo de subjetivação construído e transformado por diferentes discursos dependendo do contexto sociocultural em que acontece. Assuming that self-harm is a form of subjectivity produced and transformed by different speeches, depending on the social context in which it takes place, this study intends to analyze, using the post-structuralism perspective, messages left on Orkut virtual communities by people who self-harm and discuss their experiences in that social network. Results indicate discourses in common with the aforementioned fields of knowledge and with religion, as well as definitions of self-harm as art, a privileged way of expressing emotions or even a source of pleasure. Some internet users claim for the right to use their bodies as they please since it is meant to be their territory of intervention and their only, what can be understood as a movement of resistance to the rule of having a docile body. In conclusion, it is understood that the subjects involved with self-harm relate to their bodies and with virtual communities as means of producing identities.