M.Cur. (Midwifery and Neonatal Nursing) / The infiltration of modern trends into black cultures, has allowed fathers to support mothers during labour. Only a limitednumber of fathers utilise this opportunity. Whether more will do so in future seemed in part to depend on the following: * how do black fathers experience their support to mothers during labour? * what can be done to encourage black fathers to support mothers during labour? The following aims were formulated: to explore and describe the experiences of black fathers concerning support during labour and to establish guidelines to encourage black fathers to support mothers during labour. This study was explored and described within the framework of the Nursing for the Whole Person Theory (ORU 1990; RAU 1992) which functions in an integrated biopsychosocial manner (body, mind, spirit) within the family and or community. The parameters of nursing and beliefs about man, health, illness and nursing are also described. A functional reasoning approach is followed, based on the Botes (1991) model for Nursing Research. The research design entailed an exploratory, descriptive, qualitative study, which is contextual to clinical nursing. Two groups of black fathers were purposively selected for the research study. Group one consisted of fathers who provided support to mother during labour and was selected from a private maternity hospital. Group two, consisted of fathers who did not provide support during labour, and was selected from a provincial hospital. Both hospitals are within the Gauteng province. A phenomenological approach to nursing research was utilized. Unstructured interviews were conducted with ten fathers. They were divided into two groups of five each. After analysis of data, follow-up interviews were conducted with two of the fathers included in the sample. Data was analyzed according to Kerlinger's (1986:476) method of content analysis. A literature control was undertaken in order to explore and describe the conclusions of other researchers and authors. The results from this study indicate that most of the fathers in Group one, experienced negative feelings of frightened, difficulty, helplessness and anxiety due to lack of information concerning childbirth. This is coupled with positive feelings such as excitement, nice, overwhelming and miracle. Most of the fathers in Group two, expressed a feeling of wanting to be there. Lack of information, fear and culture were identified as stumbling blocks. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations concerning nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research were made. Guidelines for encouragement of black fathers concerning support during labour were described.

M.A. (Anthropology) / Though the association of the "BaSotho" with the horse is a commonplace one, thus far very few anthropological studies of the subject have been undertaken. The "BaSotho" to horse relation has been clouded by the idealised Western perception of the horse as symbol of power, vitality and freedom. What further clouds the issue is the simplistic image people have of the "BaSotho" as "traditional horsemen". For an objective understanding of the contemporary "BaSotho"/horse relationship it is necessary to focus on both the general Western perception of the horse and on the reasons for this outlook, as well as on the historical background to the use of the horse in Lesotho ...

No description available.

This thesis makes an ethnographic contribution to the anthropological debates about the contested nature of ‘culture’ as a central term in the discipline. It examines discourses as tools that create, recreate, modify and transmit culture. The research was done in the town of Rundu in Kavango region, northeastern Namibia. In attempting to understand the local notions of culture this study focused on two main events: the Independence Day celebration on 21 March 2006 and a funeral that was held earlier in the month of January. During the study two particular media through which cultural ideas are negotiated, language and clothing were observed.

Magister Artium (Human Ecology) - MA(HE) / The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge and attitudes of college students of the Manzini Nazarene Teacher Training College with regard to HIV/AIDS. The aim was to identify risky sexual practices of the college students as well, which may require redress in order to enhance their effectiveness in combating the spread of HIV. / South Africa

Authority as it operates in the daily lives of married women in Gcaleka society is reinforced and maintained by a body of avoidances which women need to observe during their married lives. Avoidances constitute part of the control system in the society whereby wives are being 'kept in their place'. Avoidances do not only restrict her, but also safeguard her position and her interests. Lines of authority emerge through the process of interaction; the structure reveals itself as avoidances are acted out in time and space. This study was conducted in Qwaninga, an administrative area in the coastal area of the Willowvale district, Transkei. The research started out as a study of ritual impurity and the status of women in a traditional, 'red' Gcaleka society. It soon became clear that pollution practices and beliefs associated with women form part of a greater body of avoidances which women need to observe during their married lives. Avoidances entail economic, dietary, sexual, linguistic and spatial prohibitions; as well as restrictions concerning what a woman is supposed to wear, and her withdrawal from social life. These restrictions are enforced through certain ritual and other sanctions. Three forms of avoidances are identified in this study, and are discussed and analysed. Avoidances are found in the everyday male/female division in society; in the ways through which the wife shows respect towards her husband and her in-laws (especially her husband's ancestors); and in the reproductive situations a woman finds herself in from time to time. In many anthropological studies in the past women have often been hidden in the background. This study is an attempt to give women the prominence they should be given, to show that nonwestern women are not as subordinated as people in Western society like to assume. In Gcaleka society the authority structure affecting the position of women is not only based on a distinction being made between males and females. It will be shown that a finer authority structure operates in this society whereby gender as well as age and kinship distinctions are being made. These distinctions constitute a system of classification which is safeguarded and protected by the avoidances and other restrictions imposed on women.

This is a study of 'beer drinks' among Xhosa people living in the Shixini administrative area of Willowvale district, Transkei. Beer drinks are defined as a 'polythetic' class of events distinguishable from other kinds of ceremonies and rituals at which beer may be consumed, and an attempt is made to outline their major characteristics. A detailed description of the way in which beer drinks are conducted is provided in Chapter 3, with emphasis on the symbolism involved in the allocation of beer, space and time, and on the speech events (including formal oratory) that occur. The main theoretical argument is that beer drinks may be regarded as 'cultural performances' in which social reality or 'practice' is dramatised and reflected upon, enabling people to infuse their experience with meaning and to establish guidelines for future action. This is achieved by relating social practice to cultural norms and values, in a dynamic rather than a static manner. It is demonstrated that the symbolism involved in beer drinking is highly sensitive to the real world and adjusts accordingly, which means that 'culture' is continually being reinterpreted. Despite poverty, a degree of landlessness and heavy reliance on migrant labour, Shixini people maintain an ideal of rural selfsufficiency and are able to partly fulfill this ideal, thereby maintaining a degree of independence and resistance to full incorporation into the wider political economy of southern Africa. They achieve this largely by maintaining a strong sense of community and of household interdependence, linked to a sense of Xhosa tradition. It is this aspect of social practice, manifested in a variety of forms - work parties, ploughing companies, rites of passage, and so on - that is dramatised, reflected upon and reinforced at beer drinks. In a definite sense then, beer drinks may be regarded as a response and a way of adapting to apartheid, and this study one of a community under threat.

This case study examines some of the cultural and educational implications of the intersection of a Western world view and a Yupiaq world view in a remote Yupiaq Eskimo village on the Kuskokwim River in southwestern Alaska. The study examines how the contemporary Yupiaq people have adapted their belief system, educational practices and subsistence lifestyle to accommodate a mix of Western and indigenous cultural traditions and technologies. It involves the documentation of Yupiaq practices in a traditional fish camp and science education in a school setting. The most important vehicle for data gathering was the role of participant-observer, because it was congruent with the way Yupiaq people learn. In addition to patient observation, emphasis was placed on document analysis, informal conversations, and interviews as the primary sources of data from the fieldwork. The study addresses the aspirations of Yupiaq people for self-determination and self-reliance by providing a pedagogical framework which attempts to meld Western and Yupiaq knowledge generation and use, based on the data gathered in the field. Special attention is given to the generation and application of scientific knowledge in a manner suited to the maintenance of Yupiaq cultural traditions and world view in a contemporary world. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

In April 1982, Nishga carver Norman Tait hosted the raising of a fifty-five foot totem pole named Big Beaver at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. Over the winter of 1981-82 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tait and five apprentices had carved the pole with images inspired by a story given to Tait by his maternal uncle, Rufus Watts, a man Tait calls grandfather. In the early spring of 1962, Watts had taught dances and songs to Tait, Tait's apprentices and other family members and the dancers created costumes and ceremonial paraphernalia for the pole raising ceremony in Chicago. In Chicago in April, members of the Northwest Coast artistic community and staff and patrons of the Field Museum participated in the contemporary Nishga cultural performance. This thesis is an ethnography of the events leading up to and including the pole raising ceremony. It is a case study of the revival of native Indian traditions, a revival that has been occurring on the Northwest Coast since the 1950's. The work addresses four questions. 1. How are native Indian visual and performance forms created from orally transmitted tradition? It describes how the contemporary native carver and his grandfather brought forward their traditions. It discusses the role of museums, anthropology, media, marketplace and other artists. 2. What is the nature of the communities generated by the artistic activity of a contemporary native carver? Included are descriptions of the Nishga and Northwest Coast artistic communities' participation in an expanded native Indian cultural project. 3. How does a museum contextualize a native Indian cultural performance and what meta-messages are communicated? The Field Museum refers back to the Native American participation in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago to contextualize their events in 1982. Were the messages that were overtly expressed in 1893 covertly communicated in 1982? 4. What changes occur in traditions that are brought forward in a contemporary cultural performance? There is a simplification of the traditional Nishga system of cultural messages and a shift in emphasis. There are also changes in the types of alliances for the production of the contemporary totem pole and an adaption of the traditional ritual system for the modern pole raising. The thesis concludes with some questions and discussion on how to assess contemporary native Indian cultural performance in non-traditional settings. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Contrary to popular belief, three hundred years of Molière studies has not exhausted the possibilities of further research in this field. Of the many Molière plays read and studied, Le Tartuffe is certainly among those that give rise to the most number of questions and the greatest amount of research. While many of the contemporary critics have devoted lengthy and detailed studies to the various aspects of Tartuffe's origins, his development throughout the play and even his influences on later seventeenth century fiction, few have chosen to discuss the importance of all three. Hence, our desire to present a more condensed but better organized version of the facts and speculations surrounding the circumstances of the play Le Tartuffe and more specifically those of the germination and evolution of its main character. Chapter one deals with a general study of the Italian theatrical tradition and discusses the many traces of Italian influences which are present in Molière's hypocrite. Our goal in this first chapter is not to stress Molière's dependence on his Italian colleagues but to illustrate the process of give and take and the rich exchange of ideas which all contribute to the makings of Tartuffe's mysterious but dynamic personality. The second chapter distances itself from the world of fiction to take a closer look at Molière's personal circumstances at the time of Tartuffe's conception and to examine briefly each of the live personnages who may or may not have served as a model for the playwright's fictitious character. Once again, we do not seek to implicate Molière as a man of vengence who was unable to separate his work from his personal prejudices but rather to underline the fact that Molière's creation relied equally on his imagination as well as his encounters in the world of reality. In our third and final chapter we return once again to the world of fiction and make-believe. Chapter three is divided into two parts: the first part deals with a study of other comedies by Molière and the numerous correlations that exist between Tartuffe and the main characters of these other plays. Part two discusses the works of two major writers of Moliere's time; La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère and the extent to which Molière's Tartuffe influenced the 'raaximes' and the 'caractères'. Although our study of Molière's Tartuffe does not solve all the mysteries surrounding this dynamic character, it does give a better insight of his affinities and his influences within the seventeenth century world of fact and fiction. In our conclusion, we stress and draw upon two main points. In examining the character of the hypocrite, it is important to recognize that he is indeed a rich combination of external sources and influences right from the legacy of the Italians to the various courtisans and nobles of Molière's own time. On the other hand, it is equally vital to keep in mind Tartuffe's own flavor of authenticity for although many of his superficial traits are derived from external sources, there are elements in this fictitious character that render him unique. Secondly, we must consider the author himself and his role in the development of Tartuffe's personality. Time and again it has been suggested that Moliere's characters were in fact no more than 'porte-paroles' of his personal philosophy or worse, tools of vengence against his own real life enemies. We have always adhered to the theory that these suggestions were purely speculative and our research of Tartuffe's origins, affinities and influences have shown us that far from being a tool of vengence, the hypocrite is the reflection of one man's energy, perception and devotion to his work. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate