ABSTRACT Agnes of God is the story of a nun (Agnes) who gets pregnant while living in a convent. She almost dies after giving birth to a baby, who was later found dead in a garbage can. The cast consists of three members: Agnes; Mother Miriam Ruth (Mother Superior); and Dr. Martha Livingstone, the court appointed psychiatrist. Faith is tested as Dr. Livingstone draws closer to uncovering the truth surrounding the conception, birth, and death of Agnes’ baby. I performed the role of Mother Superior in the UNO production of Agnes of God. This thesis documents my rehearsal and performance journey. It includes a rehearsal journal and an evaluation of my performance. The play was performed in the Lab Theatre of the Performing Arts Center on November 5 and 6; November 14 and 15; and on November 19 and 20. Agnes of God is based on a true story. Keywords: Mother Superior, Agnes, Pielmeier, Sacrifice, Nun, Maureen Murphy

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In Congolese society, heterosexual marriage is a highly regarded institution that is viewed as contributing significantly to the true identities of women. In this study, I use Masenya’s terminologies, “idolization of marriage” and “marriage at all costs”, as springboards to re-read the story of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible in light of the experiences of Congolese women who tend to regard marriage as a norm. I have analysed and critiqued patriarchy as it has shaped the lives of biblical women (cf the Ruth character in the Hebrew Bible) as well as it continues to shape the lives of many Congolese women. Although in some sense, the Ruth character can be emulated in terms of her sense of independence, in terms of her commitment to seeking marriage at all costs though, Ruth, cannot be a helpful model to the lives of many poor Anamongo women who today trapped in poverty, continue to regard heterosexual marriage as the norm in their search for survival, security, and value. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M. Th. (Old Testament)

In Congolese society, heterosexual marriage is a highly regarded institution that is viewed as contributing significantly to the true identities of women. In this study, I use Masenya’s terminologies, “idolization of marriage” and “marriage at all costs”, as springboards to re-read the story of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible in light of the experiences of Congolese women who tend to regard marriage as a norm. I have analysed and critiqued patriarchy as it has shaped the lives of biblical women (cf the Ruth character in the Hebrew Bible) as well as it continues to shape the lives of many Congolese women. Although in some sense, the Ruth character can be emulated in terms of her sense of independence, in terms of her commitment to seeking marriage at all costs though, Ruth, cannot be a helpful model to the lives of many poor Anamongo women who today trapped in poverty, continue to regard heterosexual marriage as the norm in their search for survival, security, and value. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M. Th. (Old Testament)

This study posits that a deconstructive socio-historical reading of Ruth will elicit aspects of ancient Israelite women’s agency which can then be used to inspire greater socio-economic agency amongst poor rural women today. While it is difficult to establish the date of Ruth with any precision, the study argues that the book was first written to legitimise David’s kingship and then used as a polemic against Ezra-Nehemiah’s intermarriage policies some 550 years later. Accordingly, it discusses the socio-economic conditions pertaining to both periods, namely the early monarchic and the early post-exilic periods. The study shows that Israel began as a loosely organized tribal confederation, which lacked a structured political system, in the pre-monarchic period, and that far-reaching changes ensued upon the institution of the monarchy. During the monarchic period, the political structure of the land was increasingly centralised around the king. Despite the political changes, and variances within the mode of production, the family remained the basic economic production unit throughout Israel’s history. Similarly, Israelite society remained patriarchal in nature, and women derived their identity and economic wellbeing from the men in their lives. Women did not have any economic rights per se; their rights, if any, were secured and safeguarded by the men to whom they belonged. Furthermore, land was the most important economic commodity but Israelite law deprived the majority of women of the opportunity to own land. These factors disenfranchised and impoverished women, particularly childless widows. Within this context, Naomi and Ruth devised strategies which subverted the oppressive patriarchal structures of their time and overcame their socio-economic distress. The principles underlying their actions may be used to encourage poor rural women to develop greater socio-economic agency today. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Sara Payson Willis Eldredge Farrington Parton, more famously known as the elusive Fanny Fern, employs three autobiographical personae mediated by fiction in her debut novel, Ruth Hall: (1) Ruth Hall, the novel's protagonist; (2) Floy, the fictional Ruth's pseudonym; and (3) Fanny Fern, Parton's real-life pseudonym and the name under which Ruth Hall was published. Together these personae assert a fragmented presence that incorporates various voices and lives, allowing for exploration, growth, and interactivity.Philippe Lejeune's autobiographical contract outlines three specific guidelines for autobiography—that it be a narrative, that it explore personal history, and that it link author and protagonist. Ruth Hall participates in two-thirds of Lejeune's contract, though Parton's conscious fictionalization demands a revisiting of the autobiographical contract, revealing the impossibility of recording truth as well as the impracticality of a unitary self.Through her use of autobiographical personae in Ruth Hall and in her personal life, Parton succeeds in rewriting the narrative of domesticity for the nineteenth-century American woman. Her self-conceptualization embraces multiplicity as she demands to be seen as "more than."

Thesis (M.C.A.-Res.)--University of Wollongong, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 49-54.

Ruth First was an activist, journalist and sociologist trained by experience and credentialed by her numerous publications. Having lived most of her adult life as an intellectual and activist, First died in August 1982 at the hands of a regime and its supporters who intensely detested all these pursuits. This research project sketches the intellectual contributions made by the South African sociologist during her time at the Centre of African Studies at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. Her life like the newspaper she edited in the early 1970s was a Fighting Talk and this research project is about celebrating that life and valorising some of the life’s work that she left behind. Making use of qualitative research methods such as archiving, semi-structured interviews and contents analysis, this thesis sought to document Ruth First’s intellectual interventions while at the Centre of African Studies. Engaging with her work while she was in Mozambique and inserting her intellectual contributions, which like those of many African scholars have given way to debates from the global North, into our curriculum would perhaps be the real refutation of the assassin's bomb. This engagement is also crucial as it extends much further than the striking accolades which take the form of buildings and lectures established in her honour.

This dissertation puts into historical context allegations of farm labour abuse during the period 1948 to 1960 on the eastern Transvaal Highveld. It not only gives an exposition of these events, but importantly analyses these allegations of abuse in the context of the South African government’s intervention into farm labour for this period. The dissertation, however, first gives an overview of the government’s policies of regulating and providing farmers with black labour in the period 1910 to 1948. It deals specifically with the dubious measures introduced and coercive actions taken by the National Party government after 1948 to provide farmers with “cheap and plentiful labour”. The reactions to the accusations of abuse by the South African government, the farmers, the conservative, liberal and leftist press, and other independent bodies, such as the churches, Black Sash and the South African Institute of Race Relations, are also explored. The reaction of the African National Congress and the Potato Boycott launched in 1959 by this organisation in response to the mistreatment of farm labourers, also receives specific attention. It concludes with a discussion of how the farm labour scandals and the reaction during the 1950s and more specifically the Potato Boycott of 1959 are still relevant today by considering the contested nature of the commemoration of this event in 2009 AFRIKAANS : Hierdie verhandeling plaas bewerings van die misbruik van plaasarbeid gedurende die periode 1948 tot 1960 op die oostelike Transvaalse Hoëveld in historiese konteks. Dit bied nie net ‘n uiteensetting van hierdie gebeure nie, maar ontleed dié bewerings van mishandeling teen die agtergrond van die Suid-Afrikaanse regering se ingryping ten opsigte van plaasarbeid vir dié tydperk. Die verhandeling bied ten eerste ‘n oorsig van die regering se beleid van die regulering en voorsiening van swart arbeid aan boere gedurende die periode 1910 tot 1948. Dit handel spesifiek oor die twyfelagtige dwangmaatreëls wat deur die Nasionale Partyregering na 1948 geïmplementeer is om boere van “goedkoop en voldoende arbeid” te voorsien. Die reaksies op die bewerings van mishandeling deur die Suid-Afrikaanse regering, die boere, die konserwatiewe, liberale en linkse pers, as ook ander selfstandige instansies, soos die kerke, Black Sash en die Suid-Afrikaanse Instituut van Rasseverhoudinge word ook ondersoek. Die reaksie van die African National Congress en die aartappelboikot wat deur die organisasie in 1959 van stapel gestuur is in reaksie op die mishandeling van plaaswerkers, work ook ontleed. Die studie sluit af met ‘n bespreking van hoe die plaasarbeidskandale, die reaksie in die 1950s en meer spesifiek die aartappelboikot van 1959, steeds vandag relevant is teen die agtergrond van die omstrede herdenking van die gebeurtenis in 2009. / Dissertation (MHCS)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Historical and Heritage Studies / unrestricted

Der Beitrag von Theresia Swars, Eine Fremde in Israel – ein Israelit in der Fremde. Fremdsein im Vergleich am Beispiel der biblischen Gestalten Rut und Josef, eröffnet die zweite, texthermeneutische und sprachwissenschaftliche Aufsatzgruppe des Bandes, um letztmalig, jetzt aus der fachwissenschaftlichen Perspektive der Biblischen Theologie, Fragen des ‚Gender‘ mit dem Problemkreis ‚Migration‘ zu überschneiden. Konsent mit der aktuellen Forschungsmeinung, dass der Komplex aus Flucht, Vertreibung, Schutz von Fremden und Gastfreundschaft ein universelles, identitätskonstitutives Merkmal aller antiken Religionen sei, liest auch Swars die Bibel als ‚Flüchtlingsbuch‘, wo sich gerade im Alten Testament – und notwendig aus jüdischisraelitischer Sicht – zahlreiche Bilder des Fremden sowie Fremdheits- und Integrationserfahrungen narrativiert finden. Der Erkenntniszugewinn verdankt sich der geschlechtswissenschaftlichen Dimensionierung der Fragestellung. Indem die Verfasserin die Erzählungen von Rut und Josef genderanalytisch vergleicht, kann sie nicht nur zentrale (genderneutrale) Gemeinsamkeiten dieser ‚zwei Lebenswege über Ländergrenzen hinweg‘ herausarbeiten, so etwa die (untypische) Absenz fremdenfeindlicher (anti-ägyptischer und anti-moabitischer) Stereotype oder die hohe Bedeutung, die religiösen und familialen Momenten bei der Integration Ruts und Re-Integration Josefs in den jüdisch-israelischen Sozial- und Kulturraum zukommen. Der Beitrag zeigt vielmehr, dass und wie der auffälligste Unterschied der beiden Migrations- und Integrationsbiographien – Ruts: linear, Josefs: non-linear – mit Genderdifferenzierungen zusammenhängt.