Following the postmodern discourses of spatial conceptualisation, this study examined the manner in which space in an Open Distance Learning (ODL) University enables or constrains academics’ work as they go about the process of constructing their academic identities. Focusing on academics’ engagement in one college of the University, the study was premised on the assumption that, in the current higher education (HE) dispensation, academic identity construction presumes and demands the existence of supportive space for academics to effect the academic practices. Lefebvre’s (1991) social production of space and Soja’s (1996) Thirdspace were used as lenses to examine the multiple dimensions of space in relation to spatial practices in the College, the spatial policies and the experiences of academics as the users of the Institutional space. Qualitative ethnographic research methods that were used to collect data included a review of the Institutional policies, intranet posts and emails; the observation and photographing of academics’ offices and administrative office space; observation of departmental meeting proceedings and the conducting of semi-structured interviews with academics of different academic ranks. Findings suggested that although some forms of space are supportive of spatial practices that contribute to academic identity construction, the imagined space of the ODL Institution can be unfairly inclusive and inconsiderate of academics’ unique spatial needs. Such inclusivity of space seemed to be inconsistent with the appropriate ODL space as imagined by some participants where academics may work comfortably and with limited restrictions. The study concluded by making recommendations on how the Institution and the academics may manage space for optimal academic identity construction in the College. / Educational Foundations / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

une délicate maison de bêtises est un recueil de poésie qui explore la tension entre rester et partir. La sujet lyrique évoquée dans les poèmes est tiraillée entre son envie de connexion, de relation, et son besoin de liberté. Écrit en vers libres, séparé en trois parties selon les affects de la sujet, le recueil explore les espaces, physiques et émotionnels, que l’on fuit puis réinvestit incessamment. L’essai s’intéresse au recueil Là où fuit le monde en lumière de Rose Eliceiry et analyse comment les lieux mis en place dans les poèmes interagissent avec la sujet lyrique. Il réfléchit à l’inscription de la douleur sur les corps, que ceux-ci soient humains ou urbains. S’appuyant notamment sur le concept de Thirdspace développé par le géographe Edward W. Soja, il invite à repenser les lieux au-delà de leur inscription physique et mentale, dans ce qu’ils peuvent produire comme espaces tiers. La compréhension de ces emplacements autres se construit également à partir des travaux de Michel Foucault, autour de ce qu’il nomme des hétérotopies et des hétérochronies. Entrant et sortant de ces espaces autres, la sujet lyrique d’Eliceiry est soumise aux délimitations des lieux qui l’accueillent ou la rejettent. Malgré l’importance de l’altérité au cœur de la poésie, cet essai étudie également la présence et la signification de multiples lieux communs insérés dans la parole poétique. Ces topoï littéraires ancrent l’œuvre et l’expérience de la sujet lyrique dans notre contemporanéité en évoquant à la fois certains enjeux de l’époque et différentes réalités sociales. / une délicate maison de bêtises is a book of poetry that explores the tension between staying and going. The lyrical subject evoked in the poems is torn between its desire for connection, for relationship, and its need for freedom. Written in free verses, separated into three parts according to the affects of the subject, the book explores places, physical and emotional, that we avoid and then constantly reinvest. This dissertation focuses on the book of poetry Là où fuit le monde en lumière of the Quebecoise poet Rose Eliceiry. It analyses how the places of the city interact with the lyrical subject. It explores the inscription of pain on bodies, whether they are human or urban. Based on the concept of Thirdspace developed by the geographer Edward W. Soja, it invites us to rethink places beyond their physical and mental inscription, in what they can produce as othering spaces. The understanding of these spaces is also built around the work of Michel Foucault, from what he calls heterotopias and heterochronies. Entering and leaving these other areas, the lyrical subject of Eliceiry is vulnerable to the boundaries of the places that welcome or reject her. Despite the importance of otherness at the heart of the poems, this essay also studies the presence and significance of multiple commonplaces inserted in the poetic speech. These literary topoi anchor the work and experience of the lyrical subject in our contemporaneity by evoking both certain issues of the time and different social realities.

This study and the accompanying design project explore postmodern identity construction as a nomadic state of being in relation to the shared experience of space. The potential of the relationship between postmodern identity and physical space is explored both theoretically and through practical application. The main theory explored is ‘third space’, with specific reference to the concept of ‘thirdness’ as articulated by American psychoanalyst Jessica Benjamin (in Frosh&Baraitser 2009). This study examines how shared spaces can, through narrative reframed by ontology (Somers 1994), be seen as physical manifestations of the ‘third space’ as envisaged by the likes of Homi K Bhabha (1994) and Edward Soja (1996). The notion of ‘thirdness’ is used to explore the relationship between individuals and shared space. ‘Thirdness’ is also paralleled to Ubuntu. ‘Thirdness’ is investigated as a means to access shared relational spaces that provide an abundance of symbolic narratives that can be gathered and integrated into the self. This study explores how being connected through shared space has the potential to be constructive in identity formation in the wake of unstable postmodern identity. This study uses a design process adapted from Karl Aspelund (2006) as an approach to the research. In the context of this study, design is seen as more than the resulting artefact. It encompasses the thought process, the methods used and steps taken to reach a particular research outcome. This study attempts to form a synthesis between the theoretical research conducted and design praxis in the form of the design outcome. As inspiration for the design action, the design process followed in this research facilitates the exploration of theory that is perhaps unfamiliar to design discourse. The steps in the process allow the refinement of concepts, application of the theory in a practical environment (a paper making workshop) and finally, the visualisation of the theory via the design artefact (an animated short). The medium of animation is selected purposively in order to convey the interpretive narrative derived from the process. The paper produced in the workshop reflects the theory, inspires the narrative of the animation and is used to create the environment and characters of the animation, which, in turn, embody the overarching concepts of the study. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Visual Arts / unrestricted