Mediated public spaces both on and offline privilege the educated male elite, and thus cannot address the specific needs of women (Huyer and Sikoska, 2003:2), or their points of view. This study aimed to explore the extent to which three African feminist blogs realise the democratising potential of the blogosphere as well as the ways in which they articulate the concerns and perspectives of women whose vantage points are often silenced by mainstream discourses of citizenship. As a specifically gendered platform within a feminist public sphere, these blogs offer insight into the fluidity of the private/public dichotomy in online media spaces, and how this determines particular discourses of citizenship both on and offline. Using a qualitative-quantitative content analysis of 45 blog posts across three African feminist blogs (Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, Her Zimbabwe, and MsAfropolitan) during July and August 2016, this study investigated how women's engagement with feminist issues is enabled by alternative online media spaces, and in what ways blogs offer African women a relatively democratic space for sharing and discussion. Through an analysis of blog content, the study revealed that contributors deploy particular communicative strategies such as first-person narration, reflection of personal experience in relation to broader social, economic and political issues, and a confessional intimacy that altogether prioritise women's voices and personal lived realities. The topics discussed in the content of blogs cut across public and private life, testifying to a need to move away from ideological conceptualisations of public engagement that delegitimise women's participation in the public sphere. It also makes a case for the reconsideration of the terms "public" and "politics" and what counts as both in a technologically dynamic society in which marginalised groups are continuing to explore alternative avenues for communication and self-expression.

Includes bibliographic references (leaves 88-91). / Whisperers, Feasts and Florence Nightingales: A Collection of Narrative LiteraryJournalism comprises three pieces of narrative literary journalism and one essay oftheoretical analysis.

Fallists belong to a constellation of radical student activist movements that pledge to disturb and reimagine South African society. Rather than restricting themselves to coordinated forms of collective action, Fallists’ advance their “revolution-as-becoming” within a context of everyday resistance (Haynes & Prakash, 1991; Molefe, 2015). In this dissertation, I propose that Fallists form an “emerging networked counterpublic” made up of individual activists that enact everyday forms of resistance on Twitter (Jackson & Foucault Welles, 2016:399). This dissertation explores the use of Twitter by a microblogger who has emerged organically as a “crowdsourced elite” among Fallists (Papacharissi & de Fatima Oliveira, 2012). I contend that this microblogger exemplifies the repertoires of communication and resistance that pervade within Fallist networks on Twitter (Jackson & Foucault Welles, 2016). The microblogger is identified through methods of observation and social network analysis (SNA). “#whitetip,” a Twitter hashtag network that exemplifies Fallist communication and resistance, informs the interpretive content analysis that follows. This analysis is conducted on the tweets that the microblogger broadcast between 1 April and 30 September 2016. Tweets are categorised according to “evaluative frames” that emerged inductively during the course of analysis. I find that “resentment,” “pride and care,” and “play” made up the vast majority of evaluative frames. The microblogger employs the platform in a manner that disturbs dominant understandings of public sphere communication: the microblogger’s tweets are evaluative rather than deliberative, and assert a marginal, embodied subjectivity (Papacharissi, 2014; Warner, 2002).

Includes bibliographical references. / This research is towards the advancement of filmosophy as a progressive new approach to how we think about, and through, film. This explorative research aims to introduce, contextualise, and expand upon the thoughts and writings of Daniel Frampton, as found in his 2006 manifesto: Filmosophy. In order to provide a suitable platform from which to introduce Frampton’s contemporary concepts (i.e. ‘filmind’ and ‘fluid film-thinking’), this paper first outlines and discusses the various ways in which philosophy and film are said to overlap, culminating in a critical discussion of ‘film-as-philosophy’ in terms of the implications it posits for providing innovative philosophical contributions through uniquely cinematic means (the ‘problem of paraphrase’). This literature review concludes by presenting and discussing filmosophy and its major tenets as both an appropriate extension of the current canon, and as a potentially productive new paradigm through which both film and philosophy can be critically considered and advanced.

The role of the police is a fundamental one in any society and in South Africa this role is beset with a unique set of challenges which are organisational, institutional, operational, individual and political in nature. It is these I address by means of examining the South African Police Service from the perspective of the praxis, process, means and methods of a working private investigator in contemporary South Africa. My method in this undertaking is a journalistic one in which I use the narrative techniques of dialogue, description, pacing and reflection to bring to life the stories and characters of police officers; ex-police officers; private investigators; victims of crime and perpetrators of crime in order to bring to light some of the more pressing issues with regard to crime and its prevention in contemporary South African society. This lends drama and suspense to a non-fiction narrative and also involves the reader in such a way that they respond to and engage with the subject matter on a personal level, thereby evoking their own thoughts and feelings on the spectre of crime in South Africa and what the SAPS variously is, isn’t or could be doing about it.

This paper is a reflective essay supporting the documentary film Odd Number and aims to clarify and create more depth for the reader around the film's successes and failures in representing Rashaad Adendorf. Rashaad was formerly an assassin for a feared gang but is now a redeemed family man. His life is explored through interviews with him, his victims, his family and his enemies. Re-enactments of his most significant life changing events are used to inform the audience. A film representing Rashaad's life inevitably raises questions around representation and the filmmaker's relationship with Rashaad. The essay concludes that a weakness of Odd Number is its lack of self-reflexivity and lack of showing the filmmaker's process and bias. The paper identifies that the key strength of the film is the relationship and friendship between Rashaad and the filmmaker and how that influences the process of making the film. The paper concludes that through Odd Number, Rashaad has claimed agency, not only to rebuild or redeem his own life, but to work to improve the lot of the community. The paper argues that this is the best possible legacy Odd Number could leave. The film and reflective essay demonstrate that the relationship with the subject is of primary importance and that focussing on the process rather than the outcome can result in a more honest, albeit subjective portrayal of a subject from a different race, class and background to the filmmaker. Ideally the paper should be read after having watched, the documentary Odd Number. It is important to note that the author of this paper is also the director of Odd Number. This paper is therefore not an analysis of somebody else's work, but a set of reflections by the director on his own work. The paper therefore communicates in the first person, aswell as the third person from time to time.

The number of brands using Instagram as a branding tool is steadily rising and so too is the rate of brand related consumer Interactions on social media. The sociocultural shifts in behavioural norms on Instagram have facilitated an increase in social word-of mouth that is surpassing traditional media advertising as the primary influence on consumers' purchase decisions. This revolution in Instagram marketing has facilitated the development of the Instagram Economy. This research aims to draw actionable insights into the South African Instagram Economy, which brand managers can use to inform their Instagram marketing strategies in order to leverage the economic capabilities of this platform. In order to draw actionable insights the study focused on each of the three main role players of the Instagram Economy: brands, Instagram influencers and consumers. The method of research for each of these three components of study was: a case study of a brand Instagram account, a quantitative content analysis of Instagram influencers' brand sponsored posts and lastly a closed, fixed response consumer questionnaire which prospective respondents could voluntarily participate in. This research identified that in order to develop successful brand presence on Instagram and increase the rate of brand related Instagram interactions that influence consumer purchase decisions, brands need to develop the right content for their target audience, partner with influencers that match the brand's values and know their audience's Instagram usage habits in order to reach them effectively.

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This study arises from two contextualised problems faced by the students at the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAS) of a small university in Sri Lanka. These problems are: students’ lecture comprehension difficulties and limited oral language proficiency in their second language (i.e. English). The ideas developed in this study are based on the argument that dialogic lecturer-student interaction, which enables students to take a more active role in discussions compared to the use of recitation scripts (questions-answers-evaluations) developed in non-dialogic interactions, is likely to be beneficial for students’ content and language development. Although there have been studies at primary level, there has so far been little research into dialogic interaction in tertiary-level L1 Science classes, and none yet carried out in the L2 context. Therefore, this study investigates the extent of dialogic interaction practised at FAS, in conjunction with a thorough consideration of the factors that influence interaction between lecturers and students. This study, involving 30 students and 4 lecturers, was undertaken as a pioneer study in this context in Asia by analysing L2 lectures given at FAS. Data were collected from lecturer and student questionnaires, lecturer interviews, student group interviews, observations of 24 lectures and audio recordings. Of the observed lectures, a total of 12 from Biotechnology, Animal Physiology, Physics and Statistics were transcribed verbatim and analysed using an analytical framework, which was especially designed to analyse the FAS lecture discourse. This framework was also used to locate these lectures on a scale from monologic to dialogic. The study revealed the complexity of the perception-practice dynamic, and the multi-faceted sub-set of factors which influenced students' and lecturers’ behaviour in class, and their perception of that behaviour. Students’ lecture comprehension problems and classroom interaction were influenced by their language proficiency, though the students considered the lecturers’ lecture delivery style to be more important than their own language proficiency. In this study it was revealed that a culturally embedded behaviour perpetuated by senior students, known as ragging (a kind of bullying), restricted the classroom interaction of the students. In terms of lecture delivery style, of all the observed lectures only two contained some interactional episodes in addition to monologic segments, while the others were found to be highly or mostly monologic. Students were also found not to be cooperating with lecturers in classroom interaction, despite stating a preference for learning through interaction. The students asked only very few questions in all the observed lectures, and answered in a limited number of lectures. The lecturers asked more knowledge testing questions than any other kind, while there were only a few concept development questions – the type which can help develop dialogic interaction. Overall, this investigation, which demonstrates the importance of combining studies of perception with detailed analysis of the discourse itself, indicates limited lecturer-student interaction as well as a clear lack of dialogic interaction in English-medium Science lectures at this particular university. In addition, it is argued that the innovative analytical framework designed to analyse the lectures delivered in the English Medium Instruction (EMI) context of the present study can be useful for other lectures which are commonly delivered as monologic in both L1 and L2 contexts. Finally, it also stresses the importance of investigating the influence of cultural and behavioural factors, such as ragging, on classroom learning.

This thesis is an ethnographic study of white and West Indian-origin girls and boys attending a comprehensive school in the south of England during their final year of compulsory schooling. The study concentrates on gender, race and class effects on school experiences; attitudes towards school; career choices and early employment or training destinations. Ethnographic data comprise both classroom observations and discussions with 20 informants. These are supplemented by questionnaire data from the entire 5th form year. Chapter 1 outlines the nature of existing research in this field and argues for the need to look at gender, race and class simultaneously to understand the impact of such factors on the lives of pupils. It also addresses methodological considerations and the problem of gaining access. Chapter 2 describes the process of starting research whilst Chapter 3 describes the school, its local context and its internal organisation. Chapter 4 provides an introduction to the 5th year and their teachers drawing largely on classroom observations. Gender, race and class receive individual attention in Chapters 5, 6 and 7 respectively. Chapter 5 indicates that gender was a powerful discriminator in classroom and breaktime interactions whilst Chapter 6 shows that racist humour and beliefs were a regular feature of school life despite a lack of racial discord at the school. Chapter 7 demonstrates that class consciousness existed amongst pupils and informed their attitudes towards school and work. Chapter 8 concentrates on career choices and the quality of careers advice concluding that career choices were both gender and class-specific. Chapter 9 focuses on pupils' early destinations after the 5th form finding that both black and white girls were more likely than boys to utilise 6th form to gain entry into middle-class occupations. For those seeking employment, black girls fared least well being more reliant on YTS and suffering greater unemployment. Overall, gender and class had greatest impact on school experiences and career choices whilst race in conjunction with gender, affected actual destinations.