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Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Graduation date: 1993

At the outbreak of the First World War, the archaic principles of nationalism and masculinity ruled Britain. These principles placed on men expectations that had become unrealistic due to the changed nature of warfare. The new horrors of war and the loss of the masculine characteristic of self-control produced a high frequency of combat trauma. For such victims of the war, the healing of psychological conditions required the assignment of meaning to their trauma, accomplished through the communication of loss to the civilian population. The problem was the inability of most non-combatants, including medical doctors, to comprehend ideas outside of the language-supported ideology that governed perception of reality. Instead of empathy, traumatized veterans were met with demands of conformity to the standards of masculinity established long before the war. Veterans who dissented from the official line of God, King and Country were silenced by the very society they fought to protect. Women writers, however, were free from the strictures of masculinity and were thus able to act as proxies to their counterparts. Rebecca West, Rose Macaulay, and Virginia Woolf challenged the dominant assumptions of war trauma and masculinity, each identifying language and anachronous ideology as the primary means used to promote conventional thought and silence discordance in society.

The purpose of this study is to find out the spiritual meanings behind traditional West African jewelry, more specifically from The Gambia and Casamance in south of Senegal, and how children and youth learn about jewelry production. I want to find out if teaching about jewelry production lies in school’s responsibility—as it does in Sweden where we have our hand-craft education—or if it is learned in another way. I also want to know whether the youth of West Africa value their jewelry traditions, and if it is something they want to pass on to future generations.           This study has a pedagogical perspective with an emphasis on “practical” and “silent” knowledge. Furthermore, this study discusses forms of communication other than verbal, such as visual languages. I have chosen to make a few qualitative interviews with a young woman, a jewelry smith, and a teacher, and to hand out a small questionnaire in a school class. I have chosen these methods of research to discover more about West African traditional jewelry and its meanings. I also seek to know about young people’s views on their ornament traditions.           The result of my study is that traditional West African jewelry often has spiritual meanings and aims to provide divine protection from sickness and other ailments. The jewelry traditions in West Africa are still very popular, even among teenagers. Western African youth is very proud of this tradition and plans to pass it on to future generations, including their own children. I also found out that there is a severe lack of resources in schools, and the handicraft profession, therefore, must be learned from older family members and relatives rather than from school.

At the outbreak of the First World War, the archaic principles of nationalism and masculinity ruled Britain. These principles placed on men expectations that had become unrealistic due to the changed nature of warfare. The new horrors of war and the loss of the masculine characteristic of self-control produced a high frequency of combat trauma. For such victims of the war, the healing of psychological conditions required the assignment of meaning to their trauma, accomplished through the communication of loss to the civilian population. The problem was the inability of most non-combatants, including medical doctors, to comprehend ideas outside of the language-supported ideology that governed perception of reality. Instead of empathy, traumatized veterans were met with demands of conformity to the standards of masculinity established long before the war. Veterans who dissented from the official line of God, King and Country were silenced by the very society they fought to protect. Women writers, however, were free from the strictures of masculinity and were thus able to act as proxies to their counterparts. Rebecca West, Rose Macaulay, and Virginia Woolf challenged the dominant assumptions of war trauma and masculinity, each identifying language and anachronous ideology as the primary means used to promote conventional thought and silence discordance in society.

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Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 143 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 72 p. : col. maps. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-52).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 49 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-49).