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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.

日治時期台灣人與日本人的通婚並非如同今日的國際婚姻關係，而是日本帝國國民之間的異民族通婚行為，是謂「內台共婚」。比起一般婚姻，「內台共婚」可說是一跨越多重「邊界」的結合。 所謂的「邊界」，除了意指地理空間中的境界，同樣也包括社會學意義上的文化、價值觀等方面的差異與隔閡；並且由於當時日本人與台灣人之間制度性地存在「支配者─被支配者」的殖民統治位階關係，使得矗立於「大日本帝國」與「殖民地台灣」之間的「邊界」更形巨大而難以跨越。然而，內台共婚者卻以個人之力跨越厚重的界限，並且將「邊界」兩端的差異、矛盾與衝突濃縮於一個家庭的日常生活之中。 本研究試圖回答以下三個問題：(一)、跨界流動如何可能？綜觀日治時期，乃是一內地與殖民地間「距離」縮短的過程。所謂「距離」，不僅意指地理空間上的差距，更包括內台人在「社會距離」與「心理距離」上的接近程度。藉由觀察各種「距離」變化的過程，探究使得跨界流動的日台人通婚由「不可能」至「可能」的社會背景因素。(二)、是「誰」跨界通婚？由共婚者個人背景之分析，進一步探討存在於「內台共婚」的特殊階級性格。此外，影響共婚者決定結婚的關鍵性因素也是一個有趣的議題，其中包括愛國情操、利益追求，以及嚮往愛情這三種理由。(三)、跨界之後：共婚生活之分析。共婚家庭不僅必須面對來自外部的障礙，例如體制上的不友善以及社會輿論壓力等，也必須克服許多經營家庭生活的艱難課題。此外，跨界的流動也為共婚者本身及其混血兒子女的自我認同與定位帶來許多衝擊。 「內台共婚」者跨越多重的社會位置，其認同也依照不同的社會時空、生活處境而有所轉變，本研究基於史料耙梳、文獻蒐集與經驗訪談等資料，試圖理解共婚者跨越邊界而結合的流動與其複雜的認同軌跡。 / During the Japanese colonial period, the marriage between Taiwanese and Japanese was called "Nai-Tai marriage." The "Nai-Tai marriage" could be seen as an integration that crossed the boundaries between Taiwan and Japan. This study attempts to answer the following three questions: (1) Was the "Nai-Tai marriage" possible? The "distance" meant that not only the the distance from Taiwan to Japan, but also including the "social distance" and "psychological distance" between Taiwanese and Japanese. By observing the ways of "distance" changed, this research try to explore the social background factors of the "Nai-Tai marriage". (2) "Who" did it? This research analyzed the personal backgrounds and the social class of the "Nai-Tai marriage." In addition, the key reason of people decided to "Nai-Tai marriage" is also an interesting question. (3) How about their family life? The families of the "Nai-Tai marriage" had to overcome a variety of problems. In addition, for the "Nai-Tai marriage" people and their mixed-blood children, the mobility of cross-boundary also brought many shocks to their self-identity, and made them feel unsure of themselves in social situations. The "Nai-Tai marriage" people crossed multiple social positions, their identity also changed with their different social space, living conditions and social class. This study explained the "Nai-Tai marriage" people how to live their lives, and how their complex identity had changed.

Contemporary Samoan society is a reflection of a number of different cultures and influences. As a result of several attempts at colonisation by the British, German and New Zealand Administrations the cultural landscape of Samoa has been influenced by many different groups and peoples. As a result of integration and assimilation into the Samoan way of life the Chinese have been accepted into Samoan society and have contributed to the development of Samoan culture and identity. This thesis explores the history of the Chinese in Samoa as a method of uncovering the true extent of the influence played by the Chinese, both as a people and as a nation, in the make-up of Samoan society. It uncovers the roles and impacts of the Chinese in the island nation from the first Chinese arrivals in the late 19th century, through various political administrations and into the present day. The thesis will illustrate the importance of the Chinese in Samoa and how they have contributed to, and helped to shape, the Samoan people, politics, culture, identity and economy. This thesis explains the importance of the Chinese in Samoa by examining important events in Samoan history in the past 150 years. Such events include the forbidding of Chinese settlement in Samoa through the Malietoa Laupepa Law of 1880, the establishment of the Chinese indentured scheme, and the ‘new wave’ of Chinese aid being poured into the Pacific, including Samoa, in recent times.

This thesis studies the relationships between newcomers employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Simpson and the Ts’msyen people who came to live outside the fort from its establishment in Ts’msyen territory in 1834 until the founding of a Christian Ts’msyen village at Metlakatla in 1862. I argue that a mutually intelligible – if not equally understood – world was developed at this site in which the lives of these newcomers and local Ts’msyen people became intertwined and somewhat interdependent. While this world was not characterized by universal conditions of fellowship and trust it did involve shared Ts’msyen-newcomer participation in significant cultural activities, the repurposing or remaking of each other’s customs, and jointly developed practices in which customs from both groups were intermingled. I propose that some of these practices, particularly those of law and marriage, can be considered as culturally hybrid. This study suggests the compromised position of the HBC on the northern Northwest Coast, Ts’msyen cultural disposition, and dynamics of power within and between these groups fostered the development a mutually intelligible world and hybrid Ts’msyen-newcomer practices. Far from any centre of British power, greatly outnumbered by the Ts’msyen, and soon out-armed, the newcomers of Fort Simpson were particularly vulnerable. Ts’msyen people, it is claimed, generally valued innovation and had a long-established system for acquiring ownership of changes brought from outside into their communities. Ts’msyen women had a special role in this process. Moreover, both the Ts’msyen and the newcomers had hierarchically structured societies in which displays of power and authority were important. These local circumstances were fundamental to the formation of the hybrid institutions of marriage and law at Fort Simpson/Laxłgu’alaams and to the other complex social and cultural interactions of the two groups documented here. While this study acknowledges that Ts’msyen and newcomer people had distinct motivations for entering relationships with each other, for sharing and cross-participating in customs of the other, and for developing new joint and hybrid practices, it argues that for both groups power and authority were crucial factors. The distinct circumstances which made a mutually intelligible world possible at Fort Simpson/Laxłgu’alaams came to an end in 1862. The return of smallpox in Ts’msyen territory, the removal of the missionary William Duncan and his followers from Fort Simpson to Metlakatla, and the increasing colonial regulation of Indigenous people brought an end to the brief period of accommodation and collaboration between HBC newcomers and Ts’msyen people.

As Muslims increasingly cross ethnic, religious, and social barriers within Western societies, the rate of interfaith marriages continues to rise. As a result, several issues are generated within the Muslim community globally. One of these issues focuses on the subjectivity of Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men since Islamic religious texts may be unclear and indirect regarding the issue. Additionally, Muslims in the West are increasingly exposed to individuals from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, which raises the probability of exogamy. Many Muslims residing in the West do not have issues with exogamy; it is mostly familial and societal expectations that exude stress when individuals intermarry within the Muslim community. Openness to intermarriage among Muslims in the West can be attributable to differences in faith and identity development of second-generation Muslims growing up in Western countries, which can lead to a differentiation of Muslim identity in comparison to their parents and extended family. Regardless of the taboo and stigma that exist with regard to intermarriage in Islam, Muslim interfaith marriages in the West arguably can be seen as microcosmic representations of positive pluralistic relations in contemporary times. Through discussions of data collected for this research, this thesis considers the issues and ideas mentioned above as it considers the experiences of Muslims in interfaith marriages in Western societies by considering notions of gender, globalization, and religious pluralism. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

This study is on the influence of Biblical teaching and church participation on marital commitment and adjustment of Evangelical intercultural couples of Filipinas with North American Caucasian husbands. The project is based on literature research and fieldwork. Consideration was given to literature on intercultural marriage, Biblical theology on intercultural marriage, and on pertinent Philippine and North American mainstream cultural values. The sample in the field research consists of 23 couples. Each spouse was interviewed by phone for one hour. Thus, 46 one-hour interviews were conducted that included assessment of demographic and church activity data; levels of the couples' marital commitment and adjustment, and a personal interview. The study found that Biblical teaching functioned as a constraining force against divorce, as the principle for unconditional sacrificial love, and as a guiding principle in dealing with differences and adjustments. It was the foundation on which the couples attempted to establish common values for their marriage life. Joint church participation that is adequate gave them a sense of extended family; a sense of being rooted and belonging together as a couple and their children; and spiritual nurture. It helped establish a common Evangelical Christian identity, regardless of their diverse cultures or previous religious backgrounds. The study also points to potential improvements for churches in ministering to intercultural couples. / PRACTICAL THEOLOGY / DTH (PRACTICAL THEOLOGY)

Marriages with differences in religion are a source of misunderstanding, friction, and disharmony, and as a result, such marriages are exposed to a breakdown. Religion is not merely a set of beliefs, but a way of living and thinking. When this differs, it causes misunderstanding in the family and may cause marriage failure as adjustments to each other becomes compocated. D vorce is much more common in mixed marriages whether of different culture, religious or socio-economic background than when the backgrounds are similar. Religious similarity is linked to marital durability. The researcher wanted to indicate through this work that the increase of. marriages between people of different religious faiths does not really matter to people any longer. It is proved in this research that the outcome of such marriages is in most cases disastrous. Mixed marriages are the object of attention in every society because of their life meaning. Marriage is more than a relationship between individuals. It involves many more people, It is suggested in this study that African traditional methods like mahundwane (camping or a miniature village), betrothal and the giving of thakha (bride wealth} in marriage should be used to prevent both mixed marriages and marital problems which usually leads to marriage breakdown. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Summaries in French and English / Text in French / Les romans analyses - Une si longue lettre et Un chant ecarlate de Mariama Ba, O pays, mon beau peuple! by d'Ousmane Sembene et Agar d' Albert Memmi - proposent tous une histoire se deroulant en Afrique et ayant pour theme le mariage mixte et/ou polygame, theme particulierement riche comme foyer d'observation socioculturelle et interculturelle des milieux evoques. Le chapitre 1 cerne le theme du mariage et ses diverses configurations mixtes et polygames dans les quatre roamns. Sont examines dans les chapitres suivants: les rapports familiaux et sociaux tels qu'ils sont vecus par les couples protagonistes; la polygamie, centrale aux deux romans de Ba et omnipresente dans celui de Sembene; les religions des societes concernees, telles qu' ell es affectent les couples en jeu; les images de la femme - et surtout de la femme africaine - qui ressortent des situations conjugates developpees par les auteurs; l'eventuelle influence du sexe de l'auteur sur la representation de la femme. / The novels analysed - Une si longue lettre and Un chant ecarlate by Mariama Ba, O pays, mon beau peuple! by Ousmane Sembene and Agar by Albert Memmi - all tell stories set in Africa and share the theme of mixed and/or polygamous marriage, a particularly fertile theme through which to focus a socio-cultural and intercultural examination of the social environments portrayed. Chapter 1 identifies the theme of marriage and the various mixed/polygamous configurations it assumes in the four novels. The succeeding chapters examine: family and social relationships as experienced by the protagonists; polygamy, central to both novels by Ba and omnipresent in Sembene's novel; the religions of the societies portrayed, insofar as they affect the couples concerned; the images of woman - and particularly the Afiican woman - emerging from the marital situations developed by the authors and, finally, the possible influence of authorial gender on the presentation of woman. / Classics and Modern Euorpean Languages / M.A. (French)

This study, located in the disciplines of human geography and demography, explores the socio-spatial boundaries encapsulating Britain’s Jewish population, particularly at micro-scales. It highlights and challenges key narratives of both Jewish and general interest relating to residential segregation, assimilation, partnership formation, exogamy and household living arrangements. It presents a critical exploration of the dual ethnic and religious components of Jewish identity, arguing that this ‘White’ group has become ethnically ‘invisible’ in British identity politics and, as a consequence, is largely overlooked. In addition, the key socio-demographic processes relating to Jewish partnership formation are addressed and a critical assessment of data pertaining to the decline of marriage, the rise of cohabitation and the vexed topic of Jewish exogamy, is presented. The analysis culminates by linking each of these issues to the micro-geographical scale of the household and develops a critical assessment of this key unit of Jewish (re)production. Jewish population change is contextualised within the framework of the second demographic transition. This deliberately quantitative study is designed to exploit a recent glut of data relating to Jews in Britain. It interrogates specially commissioned tables from Britain’s 2001 Census as well as four separate communal survey data sources. It highlights and challenges recent geographical critiques of quantitative methodologies by presenting a rigorous defence of quantification in post-‘cultural turn’ human geography. It emphasises the importance and relevance of this fruitful shift in geographical thought to quantitative methods and describes the role quantification can now play in the discipline. Above all, it synthesises two disparate sets of literature: one relating to geographical work on identity and segregation, and the other to work on the identity, demography and cultural practices of Jews. As a result, this thesis inserts the largely neglected ethno-religious Jewish case into the broader geographical literature whilst developing a critical quantitative spatial agenda for the study of Jews.