Appendix C contains video files which were unable to be uploaded onto the institutional repository, but are available with the hard copy of the thesis. / Is female subjectivity possible within a patriarchal system? The following discussion investigates feminist thought though equality, difference and androgyny, mapping the achievements, setbacks, advantages and disadvantages of each through the theories of Luce Irigaray, Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva and others. Discussing Irigaray’s thoughts on disrupting the symbolic with mimesis and hysteria, how intersubjectivity might be possible through a syntax appropriate to women and the possibility of female genealogies through craft and the work of artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Eva Hesse. Derrida’s theory of Différance is used in relation to Irigaray’s ideas of difference and morphology. And allows for Kristeva’s thoughts on the essential meaning of language being in a constant state of flux and therefore fixed definitions of identity are pointless. Virginia Woolf’s use of androgyny and modernist style in her writing is considered in relation to Kristeva’s ideas of revolutionary writing, and how destructive fixed gendered identities can be. The deconstruction of masculine and feminine identities is advocated by Kristeva to allow for individuality and subjectivity.

In the mid-twentieth century many critics considered Eudora Welty’s work regionalist, which limited the interpretation of its social and political implications. However, by the late 1980s there was a renewed dedication to examining the subtle social and political implications present in her fiction. In keeping with this critical trend, I examine Welty’s revisions to four stories in A Curtain of Green and Other Stories. Previous interpretations of “Clytie,” “Why I Live at the P.O.,” “A Memory,” and “A Curtain of Green” do not adequately address how the female protagonists of these stories challenge traditional expectations for women. I argue that Welty’s revisions provide fundamental support for the female protagonists so that they can challenge existing social order in covert ways.

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent and reasons for teacher/learner sexual abuse in South Africa. Using a case study design, the researcher collected contextual data on this phenomenon at six schools in the Limpopo Province. With a view to determining whether or not national and provincial attitudes to school-based sexual abuse affect sexual behaviour at local levels, she also collected relevant national and provincial data. The combination of the three sets of data enabled her to draw not only contextual, but also general conclusions on this phenomenon. Using interview schedules and questionnaires as instruments, the researcher collected information on school-based sexual abuse from selected school principals, Grade 11 learners, departmental officials, and representatives of various organisations. Informed by the assumption that context and culture affect behaviour, the researcher recorded her observations of the physical and emotional climate and culture of the schools serving as research sites. She also collected statistical data on the incidence of sexual abuse, analysed official documents dealing with sexual issues, and consulted academic literature on the topic. The researcher used an inductive approach to data analysis, making use of open, axial and selective coding methods. Qualitative data provided information on the nature and causes of school-based sexual relations. Quantitative data provided numerical information on the extent of the problem. Together, the data enabled her not only to paint a picture of the nature and extent of school-based sexual relationships, but also to uncover the role that socio-cultural factors play in this regard. <-p> The particular significance of this study lies in the fact that it approaches sexual abuse from a socio-cultural perspective. More specifically, it investigates the possibility that teacher/learner sexual abuse has, over the years, become part of African culture, and that the silence on such practices might be rooted in traditional, patriarchal views on gender and social justice. The research findings indicate that there might well be a growing resistance to what is regarded by some communities as the imposition of liberal, urban, value systems on traditional, rural African people. Finally, the study provides evidence that legal, administrative and managerial approaches do not have the potential to resolve cultural conflict. This research opens the door to different ways of approaching a difficult problem like sexual abuse. In exploring other strategies, particularly those more tuned to the needs of traditional communities, the occurrence of sexual abuse at schools might be resolved. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted