The purpose of this study is to reflect on how Ezra-Nehemiah can be used as a new paradigm in a quest for an African theology of renewal, transformation and reconstruction. The particular context of crisis of this study is the (South) African situation of poverty, debt, civil wars, ethnicity, racism, xenophobia, military coups, HIV/AIDS, child and women abuse etc. The study, then, consists of four related parts. One part consists of a detailed analysis of the philosophies of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance. The focus here is on how these two concepts can be a theoretical framework within which the entire thesis rests. The second part consists of an analysis of how Ezra-Nehemiah has been used by African scholars, in a quest for a theology of renewal, transformation and reconstruction. The focus here is on Charles Villa-Vicencio, Jesse Mugambi and Andre Karamaga. The third part consists of a critical study of the text of Ezra-Nehemiah. The focus here is on three related issues. Firstly, we identify the prevalent ideology within the text, and how this ideology is used to sideline the am haaretz. Secondly, we analyse the possible author(s) and date(s) of Ezra-Nehemiah. Thirdly, we offer a sociological analysis of the ideology(ies) of the author(s) of the text of Ezra-Nehemiah. And the fourth part consists of the relevance of the critical study of the text for the (South) African context. The focus here is on contextualizing selected aspects arising out of the analysis of the study of Ezra-Nehemiah, as a way of making such contextualisation a basis for a theology of renewal, transformation and reconstruction for the (South) African continent. The setting for this study is Old Testament biblical studies. While this study begins by analysing both the philosophies of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance as a theoretical framework for the whole thesis, its methodology is biblical sociological analysis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

This thesis challenges the assumption that Chaucer is the father of the living English poetic tradition. Nobody would deny that poetry existed in a form of English before the fourteenth century, but it is commonly assumed that linguistic and cultural changes have made Anglo-Saxon poetry a specialist area of concern, of no use or interest to modern poets. It is demonstrated that during the nineteenth century, advances in linguistic and textual scholarship made Anglo-Saxon poetry more widely available than had been the case, probably since the Anglo-Norman period. Knowledge of Anglo-Saxon literature is subsequently communicated to poets, particularly after the subject is institutionalized in English departments at British and American universities. Chapter One charts this rise in awareness of Anglo-Saxon poetry and considers its effects on several nineteenth-century poets (William Barnes, Henry Longfellow, Alfred Tennyson and William Morris). Major studies then follow of Gerard Hopkins, Ezra Pound and W. H. Auden and the uses that they make of Anglo-Saxon in their own poetry. It is argued that through these writers Anglo-Saxon has had a more important impact on modern poetry than has been thought previously. Moreover, Anglo-Saxon is often included as part of a poetics that might be called 'modernist'. For each of the three poets under study, the nature of their contact with Anglo-Saxon poetry is determined from documentary evidence (whether at university, or via secondary literature), and different stylistic debts are examined by close readings of a number of poems. No previous work has attempted a detailed analysis of the uses to which these three writers put Anglo-Saxon poetry. This thesis offers such an analysis and synthesizes the different approaches to Anglo-Saxon in order to provide an overview of this phenomenon in nineteenth- and twentieth-century poetry.

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Critics often credit Ezra Pound and his Imagist movement for the development of American poetics. Pound’s interest in international arts and minimalist aesthetics of cross-cultural poetry gained the attention of prominent writers throughout Modernist and Post-Modern periods. From writers like Wallace Stevens and Gertrude Stein to later poets like Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder, image and precise language has shaped American literature. Few critics have praised Eastern cultures or the Imagist poets who adopted an East-Western form of poetics: Amy Lowell and William Carlos Williams. Studying traditional Eastern painting and short-form poetry and interactions with personal connections to the East, Lowell and Williams adapt then progress aesthetic fusions Pound began and abandoned through his interpretation of Eastern art. Like Pound, Lowell and Williams illustrate a mix of form, free-verse language, and modernized poetics to not only imitate Eastern art but to create poetics of international discourse which shape American Modernism.

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One of the most lively and enduring debates in New Testament studies is the question of the significance of ‘apocalyptic' thought in Paul. This has recently given birth to a group of scholars, with a common theological genealogy, who share a concern to emphasise the ‘apocalyptic' nature of Paul's gospel. Leading figures of this group are J. Louis Martyn, Martinus de Boer, Beverly Gaventa and Douglas Campbell. The work of this group has not been received without criticism, drawing fire from various quarters. However, what is often lacking (on both sides) is detailed engagement with the texts of the Jewish and Christian apocalypses. This dissertation attempts to evaluate the ‘apocalyptic Paul' movement through an examination of its major theological emphases in the light of the Jewish apocalypses 1 Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch and the Christian book of Revelation. Placing Paul in this literary and historical context confirms his place as an apocalyptic thinker, but raises important questions about how this is construed in these recent approaches. Each chapter will address one of four interrelated themes: epistemology, eschatology, cosmology and soteriology. The study intends to suggest that the ‘apocalyptic Paul' movement is characterised at key points in each area by potentially false dichotomies, strict dualisms which unnecessarily screen out what Paul's apocalyptic thought affirms.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is motivated by a call by some African theologians for an African theology of reconstruction, specifically Mugambi. Its intended contribution is to propose a biblical paradigm from the Old Testament for an African theology of reconstruction. The study is fully convinced that a successful reconstruction process in Africa is possible if the process of identity formation is recognised as a strongly influential force on the process. The identity formation process needs to be consciously driven into a particular direction. The study identifies two factors that influence the success or failure of a reconstruction process. The two factors, which are conversely related, are community solidarity and social conflict. Community solidarity facilitates reconstruction and social conflict retards it. As far as the study is concerned, both of these factors are products of identity formation. If an identity formation process is exclusive it results in social conflict and if it is inclusive it results in community solidarity. The unfortunate part, according to the study, in any newly liberated nation, is that identity formation is inevitable. Because the Judean community of the Second Temple was a newly liberated community, the study suggests an exploration of their identity formation process. Although the contexts might not be the same, the suggestion is based on the hope that some lessons which can be of value to the African identity formation process might be learnt. The different ideologies that endeavoured to direct the identity formation of that community can potentially inform us of important issues to take note of when engaging in an identity formation process. Amongst the diverse historiographies of the Second Temple period, the study will explore two historiographies, namely, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles. There are two reasons why these particular historiographies are chosen. The first one is that Nehemiah has already been proposed by some scholars as a biblical paradigm for a theology of reconstruction. The second one is that Chronicles, in many respects is related to Nehemiah and therefore provides a suitable comparison for a research study of this nature. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie word gemotiveer deur ‘n oproep deur sommige Afrika-teoloë tot ‘n Afrikateologie van rekonstruksie, veral deur Mugambi. Die bydrae wat die studie wil maak is om ‘n bybelse paradigma vanuit die Ou Testament vir ‘n Afrika-teologie van rekonstruksie voor te stel. Die studie is oortuig daarvan dat ‘n suksesvolle rekonstruksie in Afrika moontlik is as die proses van identiteitsvorming erken word as ‘n sterk-beïnvloedende krag in hierdie rekonstruksie. Die identiteitsvormingsproses moet doelbewus in ‘n bepaalde rigting gestuur word. Hierdie studie identifiseer twee faktore wat bepalend is vir die sukses al dan nie van die rekonstruksieproses. Die twee faktore wat oneweredig aan mekaar verwant is, is gemeenskapsolidariteit en sosiale konflik. Gemeenskapsolidariteit fasiliteer rekonstruksie, terwyl sosiale konflik dit vertraag. Hierdie studie aanvaar dat beide hierdie faktore produkte van ‘n identiteitsvormingsproses is. As ‘n identiteitsvormingsproses eksklusief funksioneer, lei dit tot sosiale konflik, maar as dit inklusief is, is die resultaat gemeenskapsolidariteit. Die ongelukkige deel hiervan, volgens hierdie studie, is dat identiteitsvorming in ‘n nuut-bevryde nasie onafwendbaar is. Aangesien die Judese gemeenskap van die Tweede Tempelperiode ‘n nuutbevryde gemeenskap was, stel hierdie study voor dat ‘n verkenning van hul identiteitsvormingsprosesse gemaak moet word. Hoewel die onderskeie kontekste nie dieselfde mag wees nie, word hierdie voorstel gemaak vanuit die hoop dat ‘n aantal lesse geleer kan word wat van waarde mag wees vir die Afrika identiteitsvormingsprosesse. Die verskillende ideologieë wat invloedryk was in die identeitsvormingsprosesse van daardie gemeenskap kan ons potensieel bewus maak van belangrike kwessies waaraan aandag gegee moet word in ‘n identiteitsvormingsproses. In die konteks van die diverse historiografieë van die Tweede Tempelpreiode sal twee historiografieë verken word, naamlik Esra-Nehemia en Kronieke. Daar is twee redes waarom hierdie spesifieke historiografieë gekies is. Die eerste is dat Nehemia alreeds voorheen voorgestel is as ‘n moontlike bybelse paradigma vir ‘n teologie van rekonstruksie. Die tweede is dat Kronieke in vele opsigte aan Nehemia verwant is en juis daarom ‘n gepaste vergelykingsbron is in ‘n navorsingstudie soos hierdie.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The present study seeks to examine the abolition of intermarriage according to Ezra 10 by asking the question as to what were the compelling reasons for such a social crisis, and to demonstrate its possible implications to ethnic identity in the postexilic Judean community. In order to accomplish this purpose, the researcher has chosen to use an integrated method which allows him to bring different exegetical approaches into dialogue, bearing in mind that the canonical narratives are an outcome of a long process of redaction of both oral and written traditions done by different editors from different socio-historical contexts. It is through this method that this research highlights the following outcomes: first, from a canonical point of view, the final editors understood the exilic experience as an objective outcome of the intermarriage phenomenon which led the Israelites into a complete loss of their group identity, namely – being a Yahwistic community, and it was, therefore, the responsibility of the returnees to avoid, at any cost, letting history repeat itself. Second, the phenomenon of intermarriage in the Hebrew Bible has to be approached from a diachronic perspective. Unlike the patriarchal and deuteronomistic traditions in which intermarriage was about morality and apostasy respectively, in the context of the postexilic community this topic was all about purity – a strong zeal for temple and worship, as particularly witnessed in the priestly tradition. Third, from the fact that these canonical narratives took shape in socio-historical settings where, in addition to the religious factor, there were also other reasons such as political and socio-economic, which contributed significantly not only to the dismissal of those intermarriages, but also to the negotiation of a group identity of the Second Temple addressee. In other words, in response to those socio-historical circumstances, the returnees were compelled to divorce and dismiss their foreign wives and, at the same time, they were shaping their group identity, which came to be known as Judaism. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie poog om die verbod op ondertrouery soos uitgebeeld in Esra 10 te ondersoek deur te vra wat die dwingende redes vir so 'n sosiale krisis was, en om die moontlike implikasies vir etniese identiteit in die posteksiliese Judese gemeenskap te demonstreer. Ten einde hierdie doel te bereik, het die navorser gekies om 'n geïntegreerde metode waarin verskillende eksegetiese benaderings in gesprek gebring word, te gebruik, terwyl in gedagte hou word dat die kanonieke verhale die uitkoms was van 'n lang proses van redaksie van beide mondelinge en geskrewe tradisies, deur verskillende redakteurs uit verskillende sosio-historiese kontekste. Dit is deur middel van hierdie metode dat die navorsing die volgende uitkomste beklemtoon: eerstens, vanuit 'n kanonieke oogpunt, het die finale redakteurs die ballingskapservaring as 'n objektiewe uitkoms van die ondertrouery verstaan wat die Israeliete tot 'n volledige verlies van hul groepsidentiteit as Jahwistiese gemeenskap gelei het, en dit was dus die verantwoordelikheid van die teruggekeerdes om ten alle koste te vermy dat die geskiedenis homself herhaal. Tweedens, die verskynsel van ondertrouery in die Hebreeuse Bybel moet ook vanuit 'n diachroniese perspektief benader word. In teenstelling met die patriargale en deuteronomistiese tradisies waarin ondertrouery oor die boeg van onderskeidelik moraliteit en godsdienstige afvalligheid verstaan is, handel dit in die konteks van die posteksiliese gemeenskap eerder oor reinheid – 'n sterk ywer vir tempel en die erediens soos veral met die priesterlike tradisie geassosieer. Derdens, vanweë die feit dat hierdie kanoniese verhale vorm aangeneem het in sosio-historiese omstandighede waarin, benewens die godsdienstige faktor, daar ook ander faktore, soos die politieke en sosio-ekonomiese, ‘n belangrike rol gespeel het, het hierdie verhale aansienlik bygedra nie net tot die verbod op ondertrouery nie, maar ook tot die onderhandeling van die groepsidentiteit van die Tweede Tempel gemeenskap. Met ander woorde, in reaksie op die sosio-historiese omstandighede, was die teruggekeerdes verplig om te skei en hul vreemde vroue te ontslaan, terwyl hul terselfdertyd bygedra het tot die vorming van ‘n groepsidentiteit wat bekendstaan as Judaïsme.

After World War II in Italy the cultural scene was in need of resuscitation. Artists searched for tools with which to revifify their works. Central to this, for many key figures in the fifties and sixties, was an engagement with English-language Modernism. This phenomenon has been widely recognised, but this thesis is its first sustained analysis. I draw together the receptions of three English-language Modernist authors – T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and James Joyce – who, as a triad, were instrumental in the radicalisation of the arts in Italy in the fifties and sixties. I show that their works were elevated as models of an experimental approach to language that was revisited by Italian artists – most notably by poets associated with the Neoavantgarde. The specific Modernist linguistic techniques which were adopted by the Italians that we will consider here are the mingling of languages and styles, the use of citations, and the perversion and manipulation of single words and idioms. The poets considered in most depth to exemplify this phenomenon are Edoardo Sanguineti, who was a major exponent of the Neoavantgarde, and Amelia Rosselli, who was more peripherally and problematically associated with the movement. Both poets desecrated the traditional language of poetry and energised their own poetry with recourse to Modernist techniques which they consciously and deliberately adopted from Eliot, Pound and Joyce. An unpicking of the mechanics of these techniques in Sanguineti's and Rosselli's poetry reveals that their texts necessitate an active mode of reading. This aligns with the intellectual ideas propounded by Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes and Umberto Eco, all of whom grounded their theories on readership in analyses of the linguistic experiments of Modernism. Sanguineti's and Rosselli's poetry fulfil the characteristics of Eco's “open” work, Barthes' “polysemous” work, and bring about Benjamin's “shock-effect” in the reader. These radical linguistic techniques, appropriated from the Modernists, contribute to each poets' overall poetic projects – they enact Edoardo Sanguineti's anarchic and revolutionary impulses, and stage Amelia Rosselli's thematic conflicts.