Rosemary Jolly
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846312137
- eISBN:
- 9781846315244
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846315244
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This book explores contemporary South African culture as a test case for the achievement of democracy by constitutional means in the wake of prolonged and violent conflict, and addresses ethical ...
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This book explores contemporary South African culture as a test case for the achievement of democracy by constitutional means in the wake of prolonged and violent conflict, and addresses ethical issues normally approached from within the discourses of law, the social sciences, and health sciences, through narrative analysis. It draws from and juxtaposes narratives of profoundly different kinds to make its point: fictional narratives, such as the work of Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee; public testimony, such as that of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Jacob Zuma's (the former Deputy President's) 2006 trial on charges of rape; and personal testimony, drawn from interviews undertaken by the author over the past ten years in South Africa. These narratives are analysed in order to demonstrate the different ways in which they illuminate the cultural ‘state of the nation’: ways that elude descriptions of South African subjects undertaken from within discourses which have a historical tendency to ignore cultural dimensions of lived experience and their material particularity. The implications of these lived experiences of culture are underlined by the book's focus on the violation of human rights as comprising practices that are simultaneously discursive and material. Cases of such violations, all drawn from the South African context, include humans' use of non-human animals as instruments of violence against other humans; the constructed marginalisation and vulnerability of women and children; and the practice of stigma in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.Less
This book explores contemporary South African culture as a test case for the achievement of democracy by constitutional means in the wake of prolonged and violent conflict, and addresses ethical issues normally approached from within the discourses of law, the social sciences, and health sciences, through narrative analysis. It draws from and juxtaposes narratives of profoundly different kinds to make its point: fictional narratives, such as the work of Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee; public testimony, such as that of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Jacob Zuma's (the former Deputy President's) 2006 trial on charges of rape; and personal testimony, drawn from interviews undertaken by the author over the past ten years in South Africa. These narratives are analysed in order to demonstrate the different ways in which they illuminate the cultural ‘state of the nation’: ways that elude descriptions of South African subjects undertaken from within discourses which have a historical tendency to ignore cultural dimensions of lived experience and their material particularity. The implications of these lived experiences of culture are underlined by the book's focus on the violation of human rights as comprising practices that are simultaneously discursive and material. Cases of such violations, all drawn from the South African context, include humans' use of non-human animals as instruments of violence against other humans; the constructed marginalisation and vulnerability of women and children; and the practice of stigma in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780853235521
- eISBN:
- 9781846313011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846313011.003
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
The ‘Columbian exchange’ – the transfer of plants, animals, seeds, and diseases between Europe and America after 1492 – had profound social, biological, and ecological consequences for both ...
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The ‘Columbian exchange’ – the transfer of plants, animals, seeds, and diseases between Europe and America after 1492 – had profound social, biological, and ecological consequences for both continents. The Spanish settlers' unconscious introduction of common epidemic diseases to the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and Peru had a devastating impact upon Native Americans. Scholars agree that biological factors were responsible for the massive demographic disaster which afflicted the indigenous population of Spanish America and Brazil in the sixteenth century. This chapter examines trade and commerce between America and Spain (and Europe as a whole) by focusing on agricultural imports and exports such as textiles, exotic items, cereals, animal products such as furns and horns, and dyestuffs.Less
The ‘Columbian exchange’ – the transfer of plants, animals, seeds, and diseases between Europe and America after 1492 – had profound social, biological, and ecological consequences for both continents. The Spanish settlers' unconscious introduction of common epidemic diseases to the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and Peru had a devastating impact upon Native Americans. Scholars agree that biological factors were responsible for the massive demographic disaster which afflicted the indigenous population of Spanish America and Brazil in the sixteenth century. This chapter examines trade and commerce between America and Spain (and Europe as a whole) by focusing on agricultural imports and exports such as textiles, exotic items, cereals, animal products such as furns and horns, and dyestuffs.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846312137
- eISBN:
- 9781846315244
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846315244.006
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter examines the question of male agency in post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that fear of the shame brought about by entry into the domain of the speakable and the subject's ...
More
This chapter examines the question of male agency in post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that fear of the shame brought about by entry into the domain of the speakable and the subject's simultaneous bearing witness to her desubjectification offer insights into men's specific, complex vulnerability within the post-apartheid setting. This vulnerability can result either in violence or positive resilience. In order to understand the power of deeper psychological anxieties and wider social structures that promote domination and subordination in contemporary South Africa, the chapter analyses narratives of masculine vulnerability by looking at the constitutional declaration of women's rights and the challenges presented by the phenomenon of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also discusses the politics arising from the combination of liberal economic policy, the African Renaissance, and the AIDS denialism of South African President Thabo Mbeki. Finally, the chapter focuses on Phaswane Mpe's 2001 novel Welcome to Our Hillbrow and considers Jacob Zuma, former Deputy President of South Africa, as an explicit representative of a particularly highly profiled image of Zulu masculinity.Less
This chapter examines the question of male agency in post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that fear of the shame brought about by entry into the domain of the speakable and the subject's simultaneous bearing witness to her desubjectification offer insights into men's specific, complex vulnerability within the post-apartheid setting. This vulnerability can result either in violence or positive resilience. In order to understand the power of deeper psychological anxieties and wider social structures that promote domination and subordination in contemporary South Africa, the chapter analyses narratives of masculine vulnerability by looking at the constitutional declaration of women's rights and the challenges presented by the phenomenon of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also discusses the politics arising from the combination of liberal economic policy, the African Renaissance, and the AIDS denialism of South African President Thabo Mbeki. Finally, the chapter focuses on Phaswane Mpe's 2001 novel Welcome to Our Hillbrow and considers Jacob Zuma, former Deputy President of South Africa, as an explicit representative of a particularly highly profiled image of Zulu masculinity.
