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If we cannot do this, if Classics remains the preserve of a White enclave, then it is hard to see a future for the subject in South Africa.[23] Twenty-five years later, people may well ask if Classics in South Africa, historically the country in Africa with the most extensive network of university Classics departments, and the most international, but almost wholly White, Classics ecosystem, still remains that "White enclave". But for what we have been able to produce, we hope that this attempt will lead to a more sustained and serious conversation on decolonizing Classics in Africa, including what we can learn from the history of Classics in Africa and what strategies, challenges, and prospects there are for us to navigate. B David van Schoor b 's paper, 'For an African elenchus: colonial and post-colonial misprisions and Classics in Africa', attempts a refutation (hence, an elenchus) of two prevalent errors of interpretation - Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism - to point the way forward for future Humanities and Classics in Africa. [Extracted from the article]

The visual arts were fully represented within the culture of liberation that flourished within South Africa’s liberation movements. However, relatively little has been written about visual arts representing the armed struggle. This paper aims to explore the visual arts created around the armed struggle; and begin to position this within a broader understanding of the culture dynamics that emerged as part of Southern Africa’s liberation movements, and the armed struggle in particular. Most scholars agree that music, poetry and dance were integral cultural expressions within the liberation movements; styles often developed within military camps, then were adopted throughout ‘liberated zones’. In contrast, military structures provided little or no space to practice the visual arts. Active military personal had little time or resources to create visual artworks, no storage and exhibition space, and little access to reproduction or distribution. Visual representation of fighters - both in photographs and realistic portraits - could create a security risk if taken by the enemy. Unlike music and writing, most visual art of the armed struggle was therefore produced within the mass movements, and in solidarity movements supporting the armed struggle. This paper discusses direct (in some cases personal) experiences of problems confronting visual artists of the armed struggle; and solutions artists found for these. It places the failure to recognize the visual art of the armed struggle within a broader failure to explore the integration of armed resistance with cultural practice and belief in the struggle for democratic societies in Southern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the public frenzy over Thabo Mbeki's speech, "I am an African" that was delivered in 1996, South Africa has since become a subject of debate as to who is an African and what constitutes as African. This has been going on for almost two decades and a half now. Mbeki's speech appears to have evoked solemn questions relating to the issues of identity and culture. Subsequent to that speech, the South African public began to question what it meant to be African. The central point of enquiry was: what makes one an African? Is it the color of their skin? Their citizenship? Or is one merely an African because others regard him or her as such? These and many other questions arise when one touches upon the subject of Africans. These perplexing questions, however, are not only unique to the South African context; they apply, to some extent, to the general continent of Africa. With talks and debates about African renaissance, decoloniality, and indigenization, the question of African identity and culture resurfaces. Here, the discussion hubs around the issue of African persona and what it means to be authentically African. By means of document analysis, this paper critically employs a philosophical approach in order to grapple with the subject of identity and culture. This is done through a systematic discussion of the following facets: (a) history, (b) identity, and (c) culture. These three facets are therefore critically engaged in order to establish what constitute an African and what can be characterized as an African identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a prelude to the reconsideration of the writing life and contribution of an African intellectual and nationalist who, studiously and courageously, subjected the concepts of race, culture and nationalism to critical evaluation. Molema's engagement with popular politics began after his return from years of studying medicine at Glasgow University. However, from 1912 to 1921, he engaged with the history of South Africa intellectually, only later producing essays and speeches for more popular audiences. His study of black South Africans, The Bantu Past and Present (1920) challenged racist interpretations of the past, while also taking subtle aim at racism in Scotland during and after World War I. The text is multi-layered, moving from first- to third-person narration, which suggests that the author's own identity was subtly entangled with this project. In the Preface, the young writer defines his writing identity, revealing that the book's purpose is historical, ethnographical and, implicitly, nationalist. This paper examines the Preface's crucial role in defining the author's writing identity as nationalist and intellectual. Molema used his standpoint knowledge as ‘a member of the race’ whose story he ‘unfold[ed] to the world’ to begin the task of carefully reclaiming black history from the margins of South African cultural life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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The topic of decolonisation has become a contested terrain because of the curriculum challenges facing education systems in Africa, particularly South Africa. To address these challenges, many scholars have underscored the importance of using socio-culturally relevant curricula in Africa. This article is divided into two sections. First, it explores challenges facing education systems in Africa and how decolonisation and socio-culturally relevant curricula, resources, and teacher training can provide answers to those challenges. Then the article explains how Ufasimba Primary School emerged as a school where the School Environmental Education Programme (SEEP) was used to decolonise the curriculum. The challenge, however, was that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in the KwaZulu- Natal province in South Africa had not made it mandatory for schools to implement the SEEP. This study recommends that the integration of the SEEP into the curriculum should be mandatory at primary education level. A qualitative approach and a grounded theory method, underpinned by the social constructivist paradigm, were used for this study. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews and the observation method. The basic principles of grounded theory and the NVivo software program assisted in the data analysis for this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a wealth of research on parent–child communication about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and its influence on young people’s sexual behaviours. However, most of it is from the global North. The aim of this study was to explore parent–child communication in three South African provinces: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Mpumalanga. Nine, peer, focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with young and adult black African men and women in their spoken languages. Data were analysed thematically. Findings revealed that cultural and religious constructions of taboo silenced direct communication and restricted the discussed topics. Parents’ older age, low educational level, lack of knowledge, and discomfort in talking about sexuality matters were reported to restrict conversations with children about sex and sexuality. The influence of these factors differed for parents residing in an urban setting who were more liberal than their counterparts residing in more rural areas. The child’s age and gender were also reported to be a consideration in approaching these conversations. There is a need for interventions to assist parents on how to communicate with their children about SRHR topics beyond pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. These interventions should take into account and address factors that seem to influence parent–child communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concatenates an idea of the customary as a potential site of queer agency and mode of sovereignty against the claims of international law, national constitutional law, and customary law. It tracks the current contested emergence of the right to sexual orientation and gender identity in international law alongside the ongoing conflict between the right to sexual orientation in the South African constitution and customary law. Next, it discusses recent attempts to inhabit the customary queerly in the cases/spectacles of two queer 'weddings,' one in South Africa in 2014 and one in Malawi in 2010. Finally, it turns to a compromised historical and cultural archive in the imagining of the customary as a source of new political and sexual imaginaries and as a site of circumscribed community self-determination through the possibility of the appeal to multiple authorities beneath and above the reach of the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the influence of African culture and tradition on the abuse experiences of Black South African women who are educated and employed. Interviews were conducted with seven Black South African women (age range 38 to 47) who are college educated and employed. All participants were married for seven or more years and self-reporting to be in an abusive relationship. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic content analysis. The results indicate sociocultural factors such as patriarchal values within their culture as an underlying reason for their husbands' abusive behaviour. Abuse seemed likely when the women perceived gender roles that were in conflict with their husband's gender role expectations of them. The cultural expectation that women should not leave a marriage appeared to play an implicit role in their staying in an abusive relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia is the property of Historical Association of South Africa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the development of African historiography as encountered by students, researchers and teachers of the author's generation. The importance of the economies and cultures of knowledge production in discussing the pasts and futures of African history is examined. A brief institutional history of African historiography is presented. The article also explores intellectual trends in African historiography and analyzes a direction towards a new global history of Africa and humanity.

It has been argued that in terms of local economic development, the fortress city of Johannesburg is seeking to transform itself into a creative city. The initiatives which I examined in the process of assessing the potential of Johannesburg to become a centre for cultural and media excellence all had the common vision of Johannesburg at the centre of the African renaissance. Not only did the interviewees express the desire for Johannesburg to become the most competitive city in the country, they extended this desire to the whole of Africa. Private-public partnerships have been suggested as a strategy to combat the common challenge of a lack of finance, and innovative strategies have demonstrated a refusal to allow the threat of crime to dominate them. With these strategies in place, the only weakness which Johannesburg faces is the training of its residents so that there is a pool of highly skilled workers available for the ever increasing technological sophistication which many of the industries rely upon to expand. Johannesburg is primed to become the centre of cultural and media excellence in South Africa. The energy and commitment which many of the interviewees expressed almost guarantees Johannesburg the status of being the centre of the African renaissance. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A00OB018 00006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]