Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-68).

This thesis draws upon poststructuralist theory, case study methodology, and multiple research methods to explore children’s representations of distant places, particularly African places such as Ghana. It investigates the ways in which a particular group of children’s representations of Ghana can be understood as exemplifying an ‘exoticist’ way of thinking explored by Edward Said in his seminal studies Orientalism (1978) and Culture and Imperialism (1993), and it explores how and to what extent these representations shifted over the course of a unit of geography teaching on Ghana. The research agenda presented here thus focuses (as Said puts it) on the ‘ideas, ... forms, ... images and imaginings’ of contemporary geographies of otherness, and considers geography education furthermore as a form of ‘struggle over geography’ in which different approaches to distant places come into contact, with some approaches becoming more dominant than others. The findings from this thesis therefore help to illuminate contemporary challenges in geographical education regarding distant places, and African distant places in particular.

In this work, I explore how African American authors and texts have contributed to or confronted what Toni Morrison calls “Africanism” in Playing in the Dark. I argue that the construction of blackness by non-black people and its consequent racial stigma, imbuing skin color with mental and physical inferiority, functions in an intraracial context to obscure the solidarity of all African Americans irrespective of their socioeconomic status. My work spans the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first centuries, investigating representations of the middle class who seek to deny or ignore the impact that a Eurocentric value system has on their lives and the lives of the black majority. These texts also illustrate the struggle to reconcile social mobility and economic progress with the persistence of the cultural trauma of slavery and racial stigma, as well as the struggle between exclusionary claims of African American authenticity and more complicated middle-class and black majority constructions of African American identity. I correct claims that the tension between African American authenticity and educational and economic progress is a new phenomenon, demonstrating that this tension extends back to the beginning of the twentieth century and arguably even to the period of Reconstruction. My dissertation also reveals the mythical nature of the postracial ideal, suggesting that contemporary African American investment in postracial ideology is the product of a desire to reflect and obtain an elusive “Americanism” that has never been unreservedly available to African Americans.

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The intention of this paper has been to look at how pan-African ideas about a common identity hav e been expressed and developed on the African continent since the period of decolonisation in the 1960s. By using social constructivist identity-theory I have looked at how identity can be constructed by the use of myths, stories, symbols and ‘othering’. Thereafter I used these ideas when analysing different official documents from pan-African movements such as the creation of the AU and its constitutive act to identify what tools that were used to construct a common African identity. Thereby I was also to see if there had been any change in how pan-African ideas have expressed African identity over time.

Since its emergence two decades ago, the Nollywood film industry is fast becoming social, cultural and economic phenomenon among Malawian audiences. Every year, Nollywood actors visit Malawi and some Malawi print media have columns dedicated to Nollywood. According to unofficial statistics carried out by this study, nine out of every ten film enthusiasts in Malawi’s rural areas are Nollywood fanatics, and at least seven out of ten people in the urban areas frequently watch Nollywood films. The films are more popular than both Hollywood and Bollywood films. It could be argued that this popularity is due to the reason that the films are cheaper to buy. Another reason is that the proliferation of free-to-air satellite dishes has made these films easily accessible for the Malawian audience. Notwithstanding these perspectives, this study reveals that unprecedented appeal to Nigerian made films is first and foremost a result of cultural identity. The study, carried out among nine communities across Malawi represented by focus groups, demonstrates that viewers enjoy watching the cultural portrayals manifested in the films by the characters which, they feel, are similar to their own real life and experiences. Taking into account the widespread patronage of Nollywood films, it is safe to assume that these films are making an impact on the local audiences. Based on focus group discussions and analysis of the six case study films by 83 participants in selected areas across Malawi between 2012 and 2013, the study findings indicate that there is a problem of power relations in Malawian society based on gender and iii sex. Men have the upperhand in decision making, access to resources and education opportunities. The study reveals that emergence of the films in Malawi is offering another perspective of gender and social relations: the films’ portrayal of women shows that it is possible for them to have equal opportunities and power relations as their male counterparts. As the case study films were representative of Nollywood films owing to the fact that they represented women/gender and gender relations similary, this study therefore suggests that the films have a potential to bring about social change in Malawian communities. Through the responses of participating audiences that encompassed both men and women, the study reveals that the cinematic portrayals, especially those of female characters, have the potential to change the social perception of women and womanhood. The study uses continentalisation ( as adapted in Omoniyi, 2014b) as a conceptual framework in interpreting and analysing audiences’ responses to female representations in Nollywood films. The study observes that both Nigerian (as depicted by the film characters) and Malawian audiences share common cultural aspects that are predominantly African. The study regards Nollywood as a vehicle of intra-continental cultural flow. For this reason, the study makes an attempt to explore the extent to which Nollywood could be effective in facilitating gender notions that are identical across African societies. The study claims that despite variations in certain elements, culturally, there are more commonalities than differences among Africans. Malawian audiences and in iv particular, female audiences could get an inspiration from the portrayals that would advance their cause in society. Arguably, the portrayals of militancy and some heroism in some female characters could go a long way to inspire the female audiences and instill confidence in them. Thus, exposure to the films for a long period could improve Malawians’ perception of women or womanhood. This thesis therefore argues that Nollywood is a vehicle for the flow of these engendered notions of power relations across the continent. Thus, these engendered notions should be identified as African approaches to gender, and with their emphasis on balanced power relations between male and female members of communities, they have the ability to/ they have a potential to deconstruct social gendered female stereotypes. This study therefore claims that Nollywood films in general offer positive, empowering representation of African women. Nollywood studies are a rather young research field, and the representation of women in those films has been poorly-studied area so far, with gender relations being largely ignored by scholars. The fact that this is the first study done on the reception of Nollywood in Malawi makes it arguably a unique and valuable contribution to knowledge.

Cette recherche intitulée DISCOURS IDENTITAIRE ARABO AFRICAIN: AL-FAYTŪRĪ ENTRE L'ARABITÉ ET L'AFRICANITÉ est une étude de cas qui tente de comprendre la diversité culturelle dans le milieu arabe. Les œuvres complètes d'al-Faytūrī illustrent comment l'africanité est aperçue dans cet environnement. Outre ce résumé, l'introduction générale, la méthodologie, la conclusion générale et les annexes, ce travail est composé de deux parties. La première est théorique. Elle est constituée de deux chapitres: chapitre de la bibliographie et celui de la description textuelle des œuvres d'al-Faytūrī. La seconde partie est analytique. Elle est constituée également de deux chapitres: le premier porte sur les théories interculturelles qui ont servi à l'interprétation des œuvres d'al-Faytūrī, le deuxième porte sur la discussion des thèmes constituant le discours identitaire arabo-africain de cet auteur. / This research entitled ARAB-AFRICAN IDENTITY SPEECH: AL-FAYTŪRĪ BETWEEN ARABISM AND AFRICANISM is a case study that seeks to understand the cultural diversity within the Arab environment. The complete works of al-Faytūrī illustrate how Africanness is seen in this environment. In addition to this summary, the general introduction, the methodology, the overall conclusion and appendices, this work is composed of two parts. The first is theoretical. It consists of two chapters: chapter one bibliography and textual description of the works of al-Faytūrī. The second part is analytical. It also consists of two sections: the first focuses on intercultural theories that were used in the interpretation of the works of al-Faytūrī, the second focuses on the discussion of themes constituting the Arab-African identity discourse by this author.

From 1920 to 1980, British colonial authorities and post-colonial Tanzanian leaders struggled with African mobility and identities. State officials viewed border-crossers, including labor migrants, refugees, immigrants, and smugglers, as problematic. During the colonial period, persistent African mobility and flexible, multi-faceted identities led the state to abandon attempts to control African migrant laborers. As the state transitioned to independence, nationalist leaders created Tanzanian citizenship and claimed to embrace trans-border African mobility in order to reject colonial racist views and promote Pan-Africanism. However almost immediately following independence, concerns about security, political opposition, land-use, and the economy actually contributed to state attempts to harden borders. Examining citizenship legislation and border controls reveals the tensions between border-crossers, and the Tanzanian colonial and post-colonial governments. Border-crossers maintained long-term ties and regional identities, while both colonial authorities and post-colonial nationalist leaders sought to fix their identities and limit their movement across borders.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / In Black and African theology, especially in the North American and African contexts, there is consensus that claims of people of European descent being regarded as God’s chosen people, are heretical and serve to legitimise the domination in the name of differences with regard to race, class and culture. Such discourses may be understood to be a sustained critique, rejection, and even condemnation, of the injustices of imperialism, colonialism, human subjugation like slavery, and racial supremacy. In constructive responses to racial supremacy, claims have been made in certain political discourses, cultural philosophies and theologies, that instead, Black Africans who currently reside in Africa and those Black Africans whose ancestry is vest in Africa, may be regarded as God’s chosen people, and Africa as God’s chosen country. Such views are also expressed in some Christian circles and are discussed in the context of certain historical and contemporary North-American, and Pan-African theologies.

This dissertation examines the interplay of history, Pan-Africanism and soft power and its impact on how hegemony should be understood on the African continent. These dynamics were demonstrated through an examination of scholarship related to South Africa’s contested status as a regional hegemon. Using the theoretical framework of the Hegemonic Stability Theory, it argues that much of the current contestation is attributed to the limitations of transposing a global theory to the regional level without taking into account the dynamics and complexities of that particular region. The study adopts a qualitative design and is grounded in an interpretivist paradigm to allow a more nuanced and richer analysis of the regional system. The study is a literature-based study that relies on secondary sources. The dissertation found that the examined contextual factors rooted in the history and ideology of the continent combine to create powerful structural forces that impede the operation of hegemony in the manner envisioned by Hegemonic Stability Theory. Any application of hegemonic discourse to South Africa therefore requires a deeper understanding of the continent’s history, its Pan-Africanist ideology, and accompanying norms and values, as they actively constrain hegemonic ambition. Domestic complexities; contested space; increased competition; waning soft power and lack of secondary state followership also impede South Africa’s hegemony in Africa. / Mini Dissertation (MDIPs)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Political Sciences / MDIPS / Unrestricted