Performance in isiZulu radio drama is imaginative and abstract to the listeners and radio drama writers make use of semiotic signs to convey intended action or information to the listeners. This research is meant to uncover the role of semiotics in the isiZulu radio drama and the impact it has on the culture of the isiZulu-speaking community. This study was dedicated to answer the following research questions: • How does semiotics play its role in isiZulu radio drama? • To what extent does semiotics play its role in isiZulu radio drama? • What impact it has on the culture of isiZulu-speaking community? To answer these research questions the researcher formulated the following objectives: • To identify different semiotic signs that plays a significant role in isiZulu radio drama. • To explore the role of semiotic signs in isiZulu radio drama. • To analyse the role of semiotic signs in isiZulu radio drama. • To examine the extent to which semiotic signs can influence the revival of cultural knowledge in isiZulu-speaking community. • To suggest for further research on the role of semiotics in isiZulu radio drama and the impact it has on the culture of isiZulu-speaking community. The researcher used a mixed method consisting of quantitative and qualitative approaches which examined the research problem by surveying isiZulu radio drama listeners, observing selected isiZulu radio drama scripts and conducting a telephone interview with the participant. The researcher found that semiotics play significant and different roles in isiZulu radio dramas and has the potential to revive cultural knowledge of the isiZulu-speaking community. The researcher recommended further research on the grounds that this study did not focus on the infringement that exists in isiZulu language, which is used in isiZulu radio dramas to fit the socio-economic, political, technological and demographic changes whether such infringement still restore and revive cultural knowledge of the isiZulu-speaking community / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

The diploma thesis "Communication of Science in the 19th Century with Regard to the Work of Jan Evangelista Purkyně" maps the development of communication of science during the Czech National Revival and proves the enormous role of science in the development of society, language, culture and politics. The work pays special attention to one of the greatest revivalists of this time, Jan Evangelist Purkyně, who had a huge influence on the formation of today's scientific society. The first part presents the theoretical basis of science communication, which serves as evidence of its influence on emancipation processes in the Czech lands in the 19th century. That means the overall context, then the biography and contribution of Jan Evangelista Purkyně, the development of Czech science, which is important for understanding this area, and finally the first Czech scientific journals, whose founder, or at least a partial initiator of their establishment, was Purkyně. The second part of the work is empirical and analyzes the editorials of the first period of publishing the scientific journal Živa in the years 1853-1867, ie during the leadership of Purkyně and Krejčí. With a qualitative content analysis, a political subtext and a challenging publishing activity in these years is illustrated there.

The Christian History was a pro-revivalist magazine printed in Boston from 1743-1745 during what is known as the Great Awakening. It contained accounts of revivalism written by pro-revivalist ministers from throughout the American colonies, England and Scotland. These ministers believed that the Holy Spirit was being poured out upon the land in a shower of grace, causing unprecedented numbers of people to convert to Christ. In The Christian History, pro-revivalist ministers expressed their support for the revivals and shared their experiences. Thus the magazine has typically been viewed as religious propaganda advocating a single, polemical viewpoint. However, in spite of its pro-revival stance, The Christian History contains a spectrum of ideas pertaining to theology, religious history and the controversial issues that surfaced during the Awakening. For instance, although revival supporters sought to defend the Awakening as an authentic outpouring of God's grace, they did not all agree on how to handle the revivals. When it came to the "errors of doctrine" and "disorders of practice" that surfaced during the Awakening -- things like Antinomianism, bodily manifestations and itinerancy -- Christian History ministers responded differently. Though they sought to form a more uniform policy regarding these issues and others in a pro-revival ministerial meeting, in the end their opinions and reactions were shaped by their personal experiences with the revivals. In spite of their differing views regarding errors and disorders, Christian History ministers evaluated and contextualized the revivals similarly. In their revival narratives they frequently drew upon the Bible to explain and support their pro-revival stance. Some also used historical precedents as tropes for demonstrating that aspects of revivalism were perhaps unusual, but not thoroughly new. Most, however, sought to legitimize the revivals by describing their positive social qualities. For example, they wrote how tavern-going and neighborly contentions decreased, whereas occasions for religious worship multiplied. These "good fruits" of revivalism, asserted Christian History contributors, showed that the Awakening had changed the "face" of society for the better and was therefore an authentic outpouring of God's grace.

This thesis addresses devil beliefs in Karlstad diocese during the years ca. 1870-1950. The aim of thethesis is to shed light on devil tales that were told during the above-mentioned timeframe with thetheoretical framework of Ulrika Wolf-Knuts’s devil genres. Moreover, the thesis attempts todistinguish a folklore-devil affected by the Christian revival in Sweden during the 19th century. Thethesis thus contributes to a deeper understanding of devil tales in Karlstad diocese, the revival’ssignificance over folklore and comprehension of the Värmlandic and Dalslandic peoples’ culturalhistorical heritage. A hermeneutic as well as comparative methodology was used to navigate the source materialwhich consists of 20th century records of folk belief from The Institute for Language and Folklore(Isof) archives; these consists of stories told by people born during the second half of the 19th century.Furthermore, the records are complimented by a printed work by Carl-Martin Bergstrand,Värmlandssägner, wherein additional stories where analysed. The analysis shows that the source material fits well together with Wolf-Knuts’s devil genres,moreover, four new genres could be identified within Karlstad diocese. These contain mostlyinformative storytelling but are also complementary to Wolf-Knuts’s non-necessary devil genres.Wolf-Knuts’s theoretical framework can thereby receive an update considering these findings.Furthermore, the results determine that the peoples’ understanding of the devil is uniform in itsmultifaceted nature. The thesis puts out a hypothesis; the terminology when referring to the dark lorddiffers in places wherein the Christian revival had a greater hold. There, it was commonplace to usebiblical names for the devil. If the Christian revival is definitively responsible for this occurrence ornot could not be determined.

Amid rapid urbanization in the early XXI century, Swedish countryside faced with 2 interconnected sociodemographic problems: depopulation caused by outmigration of the young and ageing of the remaining citizens. Nowadays, many rural municipalities commit to growing back their inhabitant figures and emphasize sustainable living environment for new generations. However, though modern countryside has the potential to provide quality hybrid and remote work conditions, as well as social services and care for their inhabitants, there are matters in which rural areas fall behind cities, and sustainable multimodal mobility is among them. This thesis explores the interconnection between pedestrian and cycling mobility infrastructure development and the attractiveness of a place for middle-aged people, willing to live outside the city. The goal of the paper is to identify public needs in commuting options for them and their families and align these inquiries to strategic planning goals and priorities. To achieve this, qualitative approach was selected to study common perceptions of mobility problems and development potential, as well as feelings and attitudes planners and local inhabitants express when discussing their personal and professional experiences of living and travelling in the countryside. Being guided by the intersectionality perspective, which requires inclusion and engagement of diverse parties into the planning process, the thesis attempts to reconcile the two perspectives on pedestrian and cycling mobility development in a small Swedish rural municipality of Vingåker and answer the question why it is important to address pedestrian and cycling mobility in rural areas to enhance rural repopulation potential.

Ce travail vise à comprendre pourquoi et comment l'accordéon diatonique breton a connu une profonde transformation organologique et stylistique au cours des dernières décennies. L'évolution de l'instrument est ici le témoin des dynamiques historiques et sociales, que l'accordéon présente la particularité d'avoir intégrées dans sa forme-même du fait de sa rare plasticité, et qu'il permet d'éclairer. Statut des musiciens professionnels au sein d'une pratique restée massivement amateur, rôles et mécanismes de l'apprentissage d'un savoir traditionnel initialement basé sur l'oralité, fluctuation des attentes sociales à travers les générations successives, sont quelques-uns des aspects qui se dévoilent au fil de l'étude et qui se relient.À partir du constat d'une mutation organologique progressive, nous chercherons à comprendre les modifications profondes des fonctions sociales jouées par l'instrument. Un retour historique permettra de définir les intentions et le statut des « pionniers » du renouveau de l'accordéon diatonique breton dans les années 1970. En nous appuyant sur ce socle, nous montrerons comment l'accordéon en tant qu'outil est en interaction étroite et permanente avec le geste du musicien et avec son intention (produire des notes – et dans quelle fonction sociale), et combien le passage des générations a renouvelé le contexte d'exposition de l'accordéon et le statut des musiques bretonnes dites « à danser ». Ainsi, nous verrons que la modification progressive de l'intention a conduit à une modification de l'instrument, mais que celle-ci, en retour, fragilise l'efficacité des intentions antérieures. / This work aims to understand why and how the Breton diatonic accordion has undergone a profound organological and stylistic transformation during the last decades. The evolution of the instrument here reflects the historical and social dynamics, that the accordion has integrated into its very form because of its rare plasticity, bringing them into light. The status of professional musicians in a largely amateur context, the roles and mechanisms of learning traditional knowledge initially based on orality, the fluctuation of social expectations through successive generations, are some of the aspects that unfold over the course of the study and connect with one-another.Starting from the observation of a progressive organologic change, we will seek to understand the profound changes of the social functions played by the instrument. A historical overview will allow to define the intentions and the status of the "pioneers" of the revival of the Breton diatonic accordion in the 1970s. Based on this foundation, we will show how the accordion as a tool is in close and permanent interaction with the musician's gesture and with his intention (producing notes – and in what social function), and how much the passage of generations has renewed the context of use of the accordion and the status of Breton music said "to be danced". Thus, we will see that the progressive modification of the intention led to a modification of the instrument, but that this, in turn, weakens the effectiveness of the previous intentions.

This thesis is an in-depth study of Shona fiction about the liberation war in Zimbabwe. It looks at the way Zimbabwe’s liberation war is portrayed in Shona fiction and focuses on the factors that shaped writers’ perspectives on that war. It is argued that Shona war fiction writers romanticised the war and in the process simplified and distorted history. The researcher postulates that writers’ perspectives on this liberation war were shaped by factors that include the mood of celebration and euphoria, the dominant ideology of the time, the situations of independence and freedom, and literary competitions. The thesis further raises and illustrates the point that writers produced romances of adventure because they were writing on the theme of war, and if one writes on the theme of war one ends up writing an adventure story. However, it is also acknowledged that because authors were writing on a historical event they could not ignore history completely. Some aspects of history are incorporated into the fiction, thereby retaining a semblance of historical realism. The post-independence period is also seen as a time of cultural revival and this is considered as the reason behind the authors’ tendency to celebrate Shona traditional institutions and culture. The celebration of Shona traditional religion and culture introduced into the fiction the element of the supernatural that strengthened the romance aspect of the novels. Shona war fiction writers also perpetuate female stereotyping. Female characters are depicted as everything except guerrilla fighters. It is argued that there are no female characters that play roles of guerrilla fighters because during the actual war women were not visible at the war front, fighting. The thesis argues that men, who were pioneers of the guerrilla war and writers of the war stories, excluded women from liberation war discourse and ultimately from literary discourse as well. A few writers who comment on the quality of Zimbabwe’s independence and freedom show the disillusionment and despair of the peasants and ex-combatants as they struggled to settle down and recover from the war. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil.

This dissertation examines the dynamics of the oral communication which takes place in the Easter Vigil at St. Augustine's Anglican Church, Thaba 'Nchu. The study uses an analytical framework drawn from Orality Theory and Speech Act Theory, to analyse oral communication in the preaching and singing of the Vigil. Through an approach of Participant Observation, details were obtained of the Easter Vigils of 1994, 1995 and 1996. The historical and cultural background of this All-Night Vigil is traced in European Church History and African Traditional Religion. The roles of the Mothers' Union, the St. Agnes Guild and the Guild of Bernard Mizeki are also highlighted. / Missiology / M.Th (Missiology)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis contains the results of an investigation into the elements of the horror story and the Gothic novel in three contemporary works. The investigation was conducted within the theoretical framework of the original historical Gothic novel of the eighteenth century, in comparison with contemporary theorization on the Gothic, with specific reference to the study of Eddy Bertin, and to some extent Hendrik van Gorp and Fred Botting. Four conventions of the Gothic genre were identified, and were applied to an Afrikaans novel and drama, as well as a Dutch novel, to establish to which extent the Gothic manifests itself in these contemporary texts. The study focussed on The night only has one eye (1991) by Francois Bloemhof, Crossing/ Passion (1994) by Reza de Wet and A heart of stone (1999) by Renate Dorrestein. From these texts, which were read within a Gothic framework, it could be deduced that there is a deviation from the conventional Gothic texts within both the Afrikaans and the Dutch texts. This deviation especially occurs with regard to characterization, with specific reference to the female character. The authors use the traditional Gothic characters as a point of departure, but bring about renewal in the texts by making them part of a wider philosophical field. The portrayal of the themes of good versus evil, space and tension, also shows a deviation from the Gothic conventions. An important finding in this study is that the Gothic genre in its pure form can not successfully be traced in contemporary literature. The three texts under discussion show the occurrence of allogamy between the different sub-categories of horror. A further important conclusion is that these three texts cannot be merely categorized as Popular literature because of the renewal it brings regarding the traditional Gothic conventions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis bevat die resultate van 'n ondersoek na elemente van die gruwelverhaal en die Gotiese roman in drie kontemporêre tekste. Die ondersoek is gedoen binne die teoretiese raamwerk oor die genre van die oorspronklike historiese Gotiese roman van die agtiende eeu, in vergelyking met die hedendaagse teoretisering oor die Gotiek, met spesifieke verwysing na die navorsing van Eddy Bertin, en in 'n mindere mate Hendrik van Gorp en Fred Botting. Vier konvensies van die Gotiese verhaaltipe is geïdentifiseer en toegepas op 'n Afrikaanse roman en drama, asook 'n Nederlandse roman, om vas te stel in watter mate en op watter wyse die Gotiek gemanifesteer word in dié hedendaagse tekste. Die navorsing fokus op Die nag het net een oog (1991) van Francios Bloemhof, Drif (1994) van Reza de Wet en Een hart van steen (1999) van Renate Dorrestein. Dié tekste vertoon al drie duidelik Gotiese kenmerke, maar vertoon daarbyook opvallende afwykings van die tradisionele verskyningsvorme van die Gotiek. Dit geld veral vir karakterisering - meer spesifiek die vroulike karakter en die verhouding tussen die twee geslagte. Die outeurs gebruik die tradisionele Gotiese tipe karakters as vertrekpunt, maar bring vernuwing deur die tekste deel te maak van 'n wyer filosofiese veld. Die tekste se hantering van ander konvensies op die terrein van die tematiese (die goeie versus die bose), ruimte en spanning wyk ook af van die historiese Gotiek. 'n Belangrik aspek wat in die ondersoek na vore kom, is dat die Gotiek as verhaaltipe selde nog in sy suiwer vorm in literatuur aangetref word. Die drie tekste onder bespreking toon in watter aansienlike mate kruisbestuiwing plaasvind tussen die onderskeie sub-kategorieë van die riller. Laastens word daar aangevoer dat die Gotiese en gruwel-elemente binne dié drie tekste op so 'n vernuwende wyse geproblematiseer en uitgedaag word, dat dit nie sonder meer as triviaalliteratuur beskou kan word nie.

La version intégrale de cette thèse est disponible uniquement pour consultation individuelle à la Bibliothèque de musique de l’Université de Montréal (http://www.bib.umontreal.ca/MU). / Cette thèse aborde les problématiques épistémologiques et méthodologiques relatives à l’étude esthétique des pratiques vocales traditionnelles du Salento (sud de l’Italie). Les deux premières parties développent une réflexion épistémologique concernant d’une part le statut ontologique de l’expérience esthétique, de l’autre la pertinence d’une étude esthétique sur un terrain ethnomusicologique. La troisième et la quatrième parties exposent la recherche de terrain réalisée auprès de deux groupes socioculturels bien distincts de chanteurs du Salento : celui des paysans et celui des revivalistes. Ces deux univers en plus d’être caractérisés par deux classes d’âge différentes, s’ancrent dans deux réalités socioculturelles et économiques distinctes : d’une part le monde agro-pastoral ayant subsisté au Salento jusqu’aux années 1960 ; de l’autre la société contemporaine résultant des processus de tertiarisation, d’urbanisation et de globalisation mis en œuvre à partir de la deuxième moitié des années 1970. Le propos de cette thèse est d’expliquer en détail le fonctionnement de l’expérience esthétique de chacun des deux groupes de chanteurs vis-à-vis de leur pratique vocale. Il s’agit notamment de développer deux ethnographies différentes sur la base de caractéristiques socioculturelles et musicales propres à chaque contexte générationnel, étudiant toutes sortes de manifestations esthétiques et particulièrement les discours de nos chanteurs. Notre conclusion ouvre le champ de la comparaison des résultats obtenus au sein des deux enquêtes distinctes. Au-delà de la variété des critères, des comportements, des réactions et des facteurs qui caractérisent l’expérience esthétique des deux générations de chanteurs, nous cherchons à envisager la présence éventuelle d’une constante paradigmatique des critères esthétiques, valable aussi bien pour les chanteurs paysans anciens que pour les revivalistes. / This dissertation addresses epistemological and methodological problems related to studying the aesthetics of traditional vocal practices in Salento. In the first two sections of the dissertation, I examine from an epistemological perspective the ontological status of aesthetic experience and the relevance of studying aesthetics in ethnomusicological fieldwork. In the third and fourth sections I present the results of my fieldwork research, conducted with two distinct socio-cultural groups of Salentine singers: traditional singers and revival singers. In addition to coming from two different generations, these two groups of singers are also rooted in two distinct socio-cultural and economic milieux: in one case, the agro-pastoral world that subsisted in Salento until the 1960s; in the other case, contemporary society, which since the second half of the 1970s has been marked by urbanization, globalization, and the shift to a service economy. This dissertation explains in detail how each of the two groups of singers experience aesthetics. I develop two different investigations based on the socio-cultural and musical characteristics peculiar to each generational context, studying various kinds of aesthetic expressions and especially the singers’ discourse. In the conclusion I compare the results of the investigations I carried out with the two groups. Besides considering the variety of criteria, behaviors, reactions, and other factors that characterize the aesthetic experience of these two generations of singers, I propose that there exists a single, constant paradigm of aesthetic criteria that is valid for both traditional singers and for revival singers.