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African scholarly research is relatively invisible globally because even though research production on the continent is growing in absolute terms, it is falling in comparative terms. In addition, traditional metrics of visibility, such as the Impact Factor, fail to make legible all African scholarly production. Many African universities also do not take a strategic approach to scholarly communication to broaden the reach of their scholars' work. To address this challenge, the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme (SCAP) was established to help raise the visibility of African scholarship by mapping current research and communication practices in Southern African universities and by recommending and piloting technical and administrative innovations based on open access dissemination principles. To do this, SCAP conducted extensive research in four faculties at the Universities of Botswana, Cape Town, Mauritius and Namibia.
From my friendships and loves are born the lines herein. My greatest desire is that we must learn to love to the best of our abilities and not better than the Best of our abilities. Requesting the latter would be demanding the impossible. For me, every heart is filled with goodness and love that only a positive posturing and channeling of their energies can warrant the transcendence of these terrestrial realities to flirt with their divine counterparts.
Einar Schleef zählt zu den herausragendsten Theaterregisseuren der 1990er Jahre. Seine Theaterstücke polarisierten, waren unbequem und verlangten den Zuschauern ein Höchstmaß an Konzentration ab. Er wurde gefeiert und verflucht gleichermaßen. Weniger bekannt war allerdings, dass er sich auch als Schriftsteller betätigte und auch hier ausufernd und kompromisslos war. Erst nach seinem Tod 2001 rückten zunehmend seine epischen Werke in das Bewusstsein eines breiteren Publikums. Einar Schleefs "halbdokumentarische[r] Familien- oder Heimatroman" Gertrud, geschrieben in den Jahren nach seiner "Republikflucht" 1976, ist der schier endlose, auf nahezu tausend Seiten ausgebreitete Erinnerungsstrom einer alten, in Sangerhausen geborenen und dort lebenden Frau, Gertrud (Trude) Schleef, geborene Hoffmann. Sie ist die Mutter des Autors, die (durch das Sprachrohr Schleef) in einem ständigen Wechsel von Monologen, Briefen, Tagebuchnotizen ihr Leben erzählt. Als der erste Band gedruckt vor ihm liegt, schreibt Schleef in sein Tagebuch: "Mutter, ich habe dir eine Pyramide errichtet, einfach Schotter übereinander. Für eine Deutsche Familientragödie."
Women in Islam explores the complexities of gender relations in Muslim communities in the Horn of Africa and beyond, engaging critically with the social, political and cultural challenges associated with the intersection of Islam and gender. With an eclectic selection of essays, academic papers, opinion pieces and personal narratives punctuated with poetry and art, the journal seeks to spark creative and forward-looking discussions on how to effectively improve the status of women in Muslim societies. Women in Islam is published annually by SIHA, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa. Issue One of Women in Islam includes investigations of social issues, profiles of inspiring women, book and film reviews, and opinion pieces. The theme of the dossier, 'Unveiling Hijab', includes a selection of in-depth articles on the hijab and the practice of veiling. Highlights include an introduction to the life and work of Amina Wadud, a discussion of masculinity and fatherhood in a Muslim context, and reflections on what it means to be a 'moderate' Muslim today.
The book, the translation of Long Time Coming into Ndebele from English, brings together short stories and poems from thirty-three writers that provide snapshots of this turbulent period in Zimbabwe's history. Snapshots of living in a country where basic services have crumbled: where shops have no food, taps no water, banks no money, hospitals no drugs, bars no beer. Snapshots of characters surviving against seemingly insurmountable odds. Horrific snapshots of the abuse of power, of violence and oppression, of the destruction of dreams. But this is Zimbabwe and there are lighter moments and moments of hope: in some of life's simple pleasures, in the coming of the rains, in the wink and the smile of a stranger, in a challenge to patriarchy, in the inner strength of the people, in fighting back.
The short stories and poems in this collection were written by students at King George VI School and centre for physically disabled children in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo. HIV and AIDS have had a devastating effect on all the communities of Zimbabwe, and those with disabilities have not been exempt from the effects of the virus, as is reflected in many of the pieces in this collection. The book clearly demonstrates both the talent of the students and their concern about the issues facing their community and wider society. Some of the stories and poems tell the stories of their lives, some come straight from their imagination, and some simply speak of their dreams for a better future.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Third World governments prescribed and imposed a certain kind of journalism variously called 'objective' journalism or 'development journalism'. They understood this as journalism restricted to reporting 'facts' as dished out by their propagandists and did not tolerate the questioning of government policy. By 'development journalism', they meant the mere reporting of government efforts to provide services, amenities and infrastructures and the singing of praises anytime a bridge was inaugurated, irrespective of whether it was well-built or whether the contract to build was awarded according to the norms of transparency and probity. This one-sided journalism was prevalent especially in state-owned media and media practitioners in the few private news publications that existed who did not toe the line were subjected to constant harassment and incarceration. However, with the coming of well-trained journalism graduates into the scene in the 1970s and the advent of global liberalization in the late 1980s and 1990s, daring journalists like Sam-Nuvala Fonkem thought it was time to take the bull by the horn and start taking a more critical look at government pronouncements, matching policy statements with real action in the field; in short, moving from 'objective' journalism to interpretative and investigative journalism. This collection of Sam-Nuvala Fonkem's writings is a sampling of the fruit of that new spirit to dare where angels hitherto feared to tread, to hold public officials to account and to expose the falsehood cached behind the political masquerade of the ruling class.
So Bright a Darkness
(2014)
Okafor ran wildly through the jungle, the phantom captain and his ghoulish platoon in hot pursuit. The faster he ran the more they gained on him. The earth suddenly became marshy and slippery under his feet, impeding speed and balance. He came to an intersection where the jungle paths crossed and saw a mound of earth about four feet high. Just beyond the mound stood a giant Iroko tree. Intuitively, he knew that if he jumped over the mound and quickly climbed up the tree, the ghostly captain and his soldiers would lose him. Eons merge in interstellar whirls. Realism, science fiction and fantasy fuse to drive this drama of transition, cross civilisation and self-discovery.
In the 1980s, the University of Cape Town s social anthropology department was predominantly oriented by an expos style of critical scholarship. The enemy was the apartheid state, the ethical imperative was clear and a combative metaphor for doing research motivated the department. Andrew David Spiegel, known affectionately as Mugsy by his students and colleagues, has been a central, if understated, figure of this history and helped to frame the theoretical charge of a generation of students looking to counter apartheid from inside . In a series of interviews between the senior professor and one of his students Jessica Dickson Spiegel offers a unique perspective from the centre of anthropology s recent history in South Africa.
Der vollständige Titel der vorliegenden Arbeit lautet: Sprachwandel in Chur: 'Aufnahmen des Sprachatlasses der deutschen Schweiz (SDS) konfrontiert mit der Mundart von heute'. Entsprechend dieses Programmes sollen folgende Fragen beantwortet werden:
o Was für Aenderungen können wir in der Churer Mundart ausmachen?
o In welche Richtung gehen diese Aenderungen? Lassen sich Tendenzen ausmachen?
o Welche Einflüsse führten zu den festgestellten Veränderungen?
Es ist klar, dass im Rahmen dieser Arbeit nur ein Teil allen Sprachwandels in Chur festgehalten werden konnte. Es ist aber durchaus möglich, anhand der erfassen Veränderungen Schlüsse zu ziehen, die sich auch auf die Mundart von Chur überhaupt übertragen lassen.
Schwerpunktmässig wurden für diese Arbeit Vokalismus und morphologisch-syntaktische Probleme bevorzugt behandelt. Für Konsonantismus eignet sich die Form der schriftlichen Umfrage wenig (Vgl. Kap.l.3.). Der Wandel im mundartlichen Wortschatz ist zu gross, als dass er auch nur annähernd vollständig behandelt werden könnte. Und Stiefkinder mussten auch satzmelodische und rhythmische Probleme bleiben. Dafür wurden anhand ausgesuchter Beispiele Phänomene erfasst, bei welchen der SDS nicht als Grundlage dienen konnte.
Wichtig ist für diese Arbeit, dass mit "der Mundart von heute" auch wirklich heutige Mundart erfasst wurde. Es sollte also keineswegs eine "richtige" Churer Mundart rekonstruiert (auch wenn dies mit den Verweisen auf die SDS-Karten implizit natürlich gemacht worden ist), sondern vielmehr mit den Aussagen der Gewährspersonen (Gwp) gearbeitet werden. In diesem Sinne kann Sekundärliteratur Erhellung bringen, soll aber nicht Untersuchungsgegenstand sein.
Zwei in mancher Hinsicht zusammenhängende Problemfelder werden durch die in diesem Band versammelten Beiträge namhafter Kenner des deutschen Gesundheitssystems – überarbeitete Fassungen von Vorträgen im April 2013 – untersucht: das seit langem kontrovers diskutierte Thema des Ob und Wie einer Vereinheitlichung des aus privater und gesetzlicher Krankenversicherung bestehenden Dualismus der Absicherung gegen Krankheit und die Frage wie, mit welchen Standards und durch wen (inwieweit auch durch die Gerichte?) der Leistungskatalog der sozialen Krankenversicherung bestimmt werden sollte. Diese Fragen werden auf der gesundheitspolitischen Agenda bleiben – auch soweit sie in der aktuellen Legislaturperiode des Bundestages nicht behandelt werden sollten.
Für die Beurteilung von Standortfaktoren der Region Rhein-Main sowie von Aktivitäten, die aus Sicht der Betriebe die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit beeinflussen, lassen sich folgende zentrale Befunde festhalten: Die Mehrzahl der erfassten Standortfaktoren wird seitens der Betriebe für wichtig gehalten. Besonders hohe Bedeutung haben die Kundennähe, Kostenaspekte (Mieten, Lohnkosten) und die Infrastruktur. Dienstleistungsbetriebe halten hierbei häufiger „weiche“ Standortfaktoren (Standortmarketing, Wohnungsangebot) für wichtig, während im Produzierenden Gewerbe vor allem die Nähe zu Kunden und Zulieferern von Bedeutung ist. Es zeigt sich zudem, dass mittelgroße und große Betriebe die meisten Faktoren tendenziell für wichtiger halten als Kleinst- und Kleinbetriebe, wobei vor allem Infrastruktur und Arbeitsmarktaspekte betont werden. Bei der Bewertung der Faktoren sind ebenfalls große Differenzen zwischen den Faktoren zu beobachten.
Positiv werden die Nähe zu Kunden, Partnern und Hochschulen, das Image der Region und die überregionale Verkehrsanbindung beurteilt; negativ das Wohnungsangebot, die Mieten und Lohnkosten. Alle erfassten Standortfaktoren wurden besser bewertet als bei der ersten Befragung im Jahr 2001. Insbesondere kritisch diskutierte Faktoren wie der Fachkräftemarkt oder die innerstädtische Verkehrssituation beurteilten die Betriebe deutlich positiver als vor zwölf Jahren.
Nimmt man Bedeutung und Bewertung zusammen, zeigen sich Kostenaspekte (Löhne, Mieten und Grundstückskosten) als zentrale Handlungsfelder, bei denen eine hohe Bedeutung und eine eher schlechte Bewertung zusammenkommen. Folgerichtig wird Aktivitäten zur Kostensenkung auch die höchste Bedeutung zur Stärkung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit beigemessen. Fast ebenso wichtig sind nach Einschätzung der Betriebe jedoch auch Anstrengungen im Bildungs- und Arbeitsmarktbereich, vor allem aus Sicht des Dienstleistungssektors.
Aufgrund von § 44 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 des Hessischen Hochschulgesetzes vom 14. Dezember 2009 (GVBl. I S. 666), zuletzt geändert durch Gesetz vom 27. Mai 2013 (GVBl. S. 218), hat der Fachbereichsrat des Fachbereichs Neuere Philologien der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main am 23. April 2014 die nachstehenden Änderungen beschlossen:...
Aufgrund von § 44 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 des Hessischen Hochschulgesetzes vom 14. Dezember 2009 (GVBl. I S. 666), zuletzt geändert durch Gesetz vom 27. Mai 2013 (GVBl. S. 218), hat der Fachbereichsrat des Fachbereichs Medizin der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main am 3. Juli 2014 die nachstehende Ordnung erlassen:...
Looking at two smaller-scale systemic school improvement projects implemented in selected district circuits in the North West and Eastern Cape by partnerships between government, JET Education Services, and private sector organisations, this book captures and reflects on the experiences of the practitioners involved. The Systemic School Improvement Model developed by JET to address an identified range of interconnected challenges at district, school, classroom and household level, is made up of seven components. In reflecting on what worked and what did not in the implementation of these different components, the different chapters set out some of the practical lessons learnt, which could be used to improve the design and implementation of similar education improvement projects. Many of the lessons in this field that remain under-recorded to date relate to the step-by-step processes followed, the relationship dynamics encountered at different levels of the education system, and the local realities confronting schools and districts in South Africa's rural areas. Drawing on field data that is often not available to researchers, the book endeavours to address this gap and record these lessons. It is not intended to provide an academic review of the systemic school improvement projects. It is presented rather to offer other development practitioners working to improve the quality of education in South African schools, an understanding of some of the real practical and logistical challenges that arise and how these may be resolved to take further school improvement projects forward at a wider district, provincial and national scale.
Tütensuppe, Trambahn, Twitter: Dass sich die Geschichte der Beschleunigung anhand von alltäglichen Dingen nachvollziehen lässt, machte die Ausstellung "TEMPO TEMPO! Im Wettlauf mit der Zeit" anschaulich, die 2013 im Museum für Kommunikation Berlin gezeigt wurde. Die Ausstellung dokumentierte dabei die Vielfalt von Produkten und Medientechniken, die dem Menschen das Alltagsleben erleichtern sollen, indem sie Handlungen vereinfachen und beschleunigen und damit Zeit einsparen. Gleichzeitig thematisierte die Ausstellung aber auch das moderne Lebensgefühl der stetigen Beschleunigung und der Zeitknappheit. Auf diese Weise wurde anhand der Exponate das "ungeheure Paradoxon der modernen Welt" veranschaulicht, dessen innere Strukturen der Soziologe Hartmut Rosa aufgezeigt hat: Eigentlich zielen die vielen Innovationen darauf ab, Zeit zu sparen, indem sie den nötigen Zeitaufwand für Handlungen verringern. In ihrer Häufung führen sie jedoch zu einer empfundenen Beschleunigung des Lebens, weil in demselben Zeitraum mehr einzelne Handlungen als zuvor möglich sind und auch zunehmend erwartet werden. Die "Logik der Beschleunigung" formt die Zeitstrukturen in der Moderne.
Textures
(2014)
The Clash of the Titans and Other Short Stories is a sundry, marvellous collection of short stories that reflect and capture diverse life experiences. Mabeza and Mawere offer with great dexterousness a snapshot, richness, and practical potentialities of childhood to adulthood experiences in shaping, inspiring and influencing moral rectitude, industriousness and determination. This is an incisive and invigorating exposé steeped in candour and earnestness. For aficionados of creative writing, cognoscenti, students and instructors of English Literature, this is a collection to enjoy and cherish.
Bakari and Omari live on the island of Zanzibar and are the best of friends. It is the beginning of a long holiday and they are excited about what adventures are in store. Bakaris beloved grandmother comes to visit the family, bringing with her many gifts including a new friend for the boys! One day while exploring the boys discover hidden treasure. The boys, nicknamed The Detectives of Shangani, embark on a quest to discover the secrets of what they have found. They travel around the Spice Islands and meet strange characters, all to discover the mystery of the lost rubies! Nahida Esmail has crafted an exciting adventure tale with memorable characters. Young readers and adults alike, will enjoy this award-winning novel and the mysteries they uncover!
This book details the historical background, legal basis and philosophy which lie behind the development of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria (EFCC). It also explores in detail the present set-up and structure of the agency, its apparatus or tools for executing its operational functions, how well it executed its roles, and analyzed its constraints or problems it grappled with and how they may have impeded its roles and their ramifications for the organization and the polity.
The Fourth Masquerade
(2014)
As one of the most important Nigerian poets who continue to write the nation in verse, Yeibo, in this fifth collection of poems, has strategically fashioned a kind of poetry that does not only derive its idiom from the prosody and folk tradition of the Izon of Nigeria, it equally advances the poet's vision through form and structure. His recourse to folklore and reliance on oral materials in the image making process gives coherence and form to the poems. However, what distinguishes this collection from the previous ones is the question of the form through which he demonstrates an intense awareness of the Nigerian experience.
This book foregrounds emerging and different perspectives on the centenary of the ANC which was celebrated in February 2012. Differing in tenor, methodology and style, we present nineteen chapters that tackle various epochs and events in the making of the centenary of the oldest political organisation in Africa. The book offers new angles to our understanding of what sustained the ANC over one hundred years in spite of all the internal and external contradictions. There is arguably a view that part of what distinguishes the ANC from other revolutionary movements in the continent is that from the turn of the twentieth century its founders prioritised national unity across tribal, ethnic, linguistic, religious, gender and racial identities. This ideal of national unity informed their responses to the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 and the declaration of the South African Republic in 1961. In principle, the leadership was opposed not to these manifestations of concrete nation state formation but to the practice of excluding the majority of South African citizens according to racial markers. As a contribution to the historiography of the ANC and that of South Africa which it was established to liberate, the book tackles the following critical questions: what traits in the ANC's genetic code have kept it alive for one hundred years? Is the ANC on course to meeting its historical mission of building an equitable, nonracial, non-sexist and socially-democratic society as articulated in the Africans' Claims, the Freedom Charter and the Strategy and Tactics documents? Finally, would the ANC continue to retain relevance for a bicentenary especially as it now contends with new internal and external contradictions in an increasingly unequally society and unipolar world order? This new hypothetical architecture, hopefully, will be employed by many others engaged in the study of the rise and fall of political organisations.
Women?s contributions against apartheid under the auspices of the Namibian liberation movement SWAPO and their personal experiences in exile take center stage in this study. Male and female leadership structures in exile are analysed whilst the sexual politics in the refugee camps and the public imagery of female representation in SWAPO?s nationalism receive special attention. The party?s public pronouncements of women empowerment and gender equality are compared to the actual implementations of gender politics during and after the liberation struggle.
Building on Fossungu's earlier works, and essentially providing Africa with original, critical, and multi-level analyses of the trio of globalization, democracy, and national determination, this book theorizes that African states have to unite in order to have any impact in the global economy. Using the failure of the Cameroon Goodwill Association of Montreal (CGAM) as a case study, the book urges Africans to make hard choices and avoid politickerization and midnight politics in favour of fossungupalogy (that is, the science of straightforwardness, necessitating the fearless looking at truth straight in the eye). The questions of the book are many but do all boil down to whether or not Africans fear the truth and do not therefore do politics. It is amazing that Africans in the West live in societies where fierce political competitors do embrace each other after one has defeated the other; but they are incapable of looking their so-called friends in the eye and saying, for example: 'Man, I think you've totally gotten it wrong this time.' Such comportment defines politickerization or negative competition. While attempting some possible responses to the numerous queries it raises, this book basically proffers the science of Four-Eyesism as a discipline that all African schools need to institute and make a compulsory subject: if the vandalized continent would have to be awakened to its realities. This book is rich in Fossungu's dazzling capacity to invent, define and use a multitude of new terminological constructs informed by African experiences.
Population growth and the drop in the returns from the major cash crop (coffee) for small farmers are the main drivers that have influenced the farming systems and mobility of farmers in the Western Highlands of Cameroon. The main objective of the research that led to this book was to determine the interactions between farming systems and human mobility in this region of Cameroon. A comparative study was conducted through household and field surveys in three villages and conceptualized based on the systems approach. The different types of mobility were influenced by household social factors, the quest for 'high valued' farm plots and hired labour. Urban-rural migration contributed to occupation diversification and social mobility. The sustainability factor was a function of land use intensity, intensity of off-farm inputs, the household adjustment factor and mobility of the household. The sacred groves were rich in plant diversity of varied ecological and economic importance. Nitrogen mining was common at all levels of the farming system. These determinants and types of mobility claims are pertinent to the research area; the sustainability results of the farming systems reflect the reality on the ground; the nutrient flux evaluated at the crop and farm levels constitute a valuable database for future research.
A concern for social regeneration stands as the factor that animates Soyinka's life-long involvement in social and political activism, leading to hid incarceration for two years during the civil war, and his having to flee into exile during the period of Sani Abacha's dictatorship. Soyinka expresses this same concern for social regeneration in his writings, using difference metaphors. The focus of this work lies in the exploration of the articulations of social regeneration in the works of Wole Soyinka. The first past focuses on the dramatic works, and the argument of the author is that the metaphor adopted by Africa's foremost playwright in articulating his vision of social regeneration is that of ritual. Attention shifts in part two to Soyinka's two novels; and here, Bello goes to the roots of Yoruba metaphysics to fetch a metaphor which describes a creature with contradictory personality; which at once is committed to the regeneration of the social order while at the same time retaining a vindictive, vengeful nature.
The Last to Leave
(2014)
The Last to Leave is Margaret Clough's second collection of poetry. These poems follow on from her first extremely popular collection, At Least the Duck Survived (2011) in that the light, warm-hearted tone continues as does Clough's engagement with aging and mortality. These poems are a tonic and leave the reader feeling refreshed, saddened and better off. Clough has participated in The Franschoek Literary Festival, and has been invited to a number of reading engagements in the Western Cape, including the McGregor Poetry Festival. Her books sell out every time she reads.
The Namibian Constitution entrenches fundamental rights and freedoms, and provides for their vertical and horizontal application in any criminal process. However, since Independence in 1990, Namibia has developed its own criminal jurisprudence. Criminal procedure and law are taking new shape. Namibian courts have pronounced on criminal issues, and legislation has been passed to keep up with the demands, aspirations, spirit, and vision of the Namibian Constitution and its people. CLEVER MAPAURE, NDJODI NDEUNYEMA, PILISANO MASAKE, FESTUS WEYULU and LOIDE SHAPARARA have written an invaluable book that deals with these developments. It explains the rights of individuals, the duties of law enforcement officers, and the procedures of the courts in criminal cases. The Law of Pre-Trial Criminal Procedure in Namibia introduces readers to the fundamental principles and values underlying Namibian criminal law, through a systematic examination of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977) as amended, which was originally passed by the legislature of South Africa, and still regulates criminal procedure in Namibia, the amendments to it since 1990, and relevant Namibian Case Law. The book captures and discusses the law relating to the pre-trial criminal process in Namibia in detail, from the roles of the prosecutor and the police, search, seizure and forfeiture, interrogation, notices and summons, arrest, court appearance, bail, criminal charges, disclosure, diminished capacity, right to assistance, to pleas and plea-bargaining.
This book is the celebration of one man's vendetta against a cancerous regime that thrives on the rape of democracy and human rights abuses. Lapiro de Mbanga, born Lambo Sandjo Pierre Roger on April 7, 1957 was a conduit for social change. He fought for change in his homeland and died fighting for change in Cameroon. Lapiro believed in the innate goodness of man but also had the conviction that absolute power corrupts absolutely. He was noted for contending that 'power creates monsters.' His entire musical career was devoted to fighting the cause of the downtrodden in Cameroon. He composed satirical songs on the socio-economic dysphonia in his beleaguered country. In his songs, he articulated the daily travails of the man in the street and the government-orchestrated injustices he witnessed. As a songwriter, Lapiro de Mbanga distinguished himself from his peers through bravado, valiance and the courage to say overtly what many a Cameroonian musician would only mumble in the privacy of their homes. Lapiro's anti-establishment music led to his arrest and imprisonment in September 2009 for three years. Released from prison on April 8, 2011 he was later given political asylum by the USA. On September 2, 2012 Lapiro relocated with some members of his family to Buffalo in New York where he died on March 16, 2014 after an illness. His revolutionary music and fighting spirit live on.
On March 8, 2007, one of Cameroon's foremost scholars died in a ghastly traffic accident barely hours after launching his most forthright and acerbic collection of poems: Disgrace: Autobiographical Narcissus. Dr. Bate Besong was a social activist, a critic, troubadour, and playwright; an avant-garde, steeped in the tradition of the absurd, who fought against the corrupt system of governance that transmuted Cameroonians into a comatose and apathetic citizenry neutered by fear engendered by the workings of an existing Gestapo. For the first time, Emmanuel Fru Doh has gone beyond an analysis of Besong's plays into giving an in-depth appraisal of his poems which have, for a long time, held back critics because of their opacity. Doh examines each of Besong's plays and collections of poems in separate sections and succeeds in setting Besong's work in perspective - mindful of their concerns and
The Rising Sun and Boma
(2014)
The Rising Sun and Boma interrogate social evils such as moral decadence, corruption, and greed that are rife in the Cameroonian society. In both plays, Ipah, Paddy, Dinna, and Boma, for example, exemplify how waywardness and avarice can subvert moral integrity. At the same time, the plays problematise the intersection of tradition and modernity, articulating the tension inherent in both visions of life. Although the moral landscape of the drama appears sordid, characters like Abu Ipah and Joseph enkindle hope. Initially performed seventeen years ago, the plays are still as poignant as they are didactic and hilarious as they are refreshing. The characters are credible and compelling partly because of the felicitous language that is anchored in the local imagery.
This book employs the event of the Arab Spring revolution of 2011 to reflect on the event itself and beyond. Some of the chapters address the colonial encounter and its lingering reverberations on the African sociopolitical landscape. Others address the aftermath of large scale societal violence and trauma that pervade the African context. The contributions indicate the range of challenges confronting African societies in the postmodern era. They also illustrate the sheer resilience and inventiveness of those societies in the face of apparently overwhelming odds. What is the nature of political power in contemporary Africa as constituted from below instead of being a state driven phenomenon? What constitutes sovereignty without recourse to the usual academic responses and discourses? These two questions loom behind most of the deliberations contained in this book with contributions from an impressive field of international scholars.
The Wish
(2014)
Mria is a good student who excels at science and math, she dreams of skyscrapers and one day training to be an engineer. However, her father has different ideas, he would rather see her become a lawyer, believing that science is not a suitable subject for girls to study. With the support of her best friend Sipe and teachers at schools, Mria tries to ?nd a way to show her father her talents and importance of following her dreams. Mwamgwirani J. Mwakimatu has crafted memorable characters with real-life dilemmas in this touching and entertaining, award-winning novel. Young readers and adults alike will enjoy this tale which shows the importance of following your dreams and believing in yourself.
They are Coming
(2014)
This is the story of a small family in Lobengula township, Bulawayo: a shoemaker, Ngwenya, his wife, MaVundla, and their two children, Ambition and Senzeni, whose lives are turned upside-down when Senzeni joins the local youth militia. Mlalazi captures the texture of everyday life in the township, the humour, warmth, rivalry and fear as neighbours interact with each other or get swept up by events outside their control. Their constant search, however, is for autonomy and independence, for the ability to have control over their own lives. They are Coming provides us with perspectives often hidden from view, in a story where particular events are part of a more complex history.
This Day
(2014)
Loss has left Ella Spinner alone to care for her husband, Bart, who suffers from clinical depression. Their days now echo the tides: any progress made, rolls back. Yet Ella keeps pushing against the monotony. Set in Mossel Bay, Ella?s day begins like any other. But on this day the minutes begin to crack allowing change to filter through. As we cheer on her tenacity, we?re left asking ourselves what motivates anyone to try again.
Tiger in an African palace collects eight essays about kinship and belonging that Richard Fardon wrote to complement his monographs on West Africa. The essays extend those book-length descriptions by pursuing their wider implications for theory in social anthropology: exploring the relationship between comparison and historical reconstruction, and questioning the fit between personal, ethnic and cosmopolitan identities in contemporary West African nations. In an Introduction written specially for this Langaa collection, Richard Fardon retraces the career-long development of his preoccupation with concepts of identification and transformation, and their relevance to understanding West African societies comparatively and historically.
As Ama's wedding day approaches and her friends - Beauty, Matlakala and Pamela are there to lend varying degrees of support. But when tragedy strikes on Ama's wedding day and spreads to every corner of the group's lives they hold on to each other to survive. Will their misfortunes bring them closer together or will they tear the quilt of their friendship apart? They are our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our girlfriends, our aunties. Pamela's body is a ravaged canvas of her troubles. Matlakala tries to prop up a failing relationship. Beauty's sharp tongue and dark secret threatens to doom her to a life lived alone. In To the Black Women We All Knew, Maenetsha showcases the modern township existence and its weakening yet ever-present link to tradition. Her vivid writing tells of the capriciousness of life and love and the strength of women in the face of a crisis..
Touring Girls
(2014)
Touring Girls tells the story of Jacob Mbuy a young Cameroonian whose primary objective in life is having affairs with as many women as possible. He is obsessed with abusing young girls as well as instilling hopeless hope in adult women. His demise comes when he changes his world from the Christian to the Moslem world where he confronts a new type of women who behave strangely and cannot dance to his tunes. Protected by Islamic traditions and strict government laws, Jacob lands into a hell of unprecedented problems.
This book revisits the perennial challenge that scholars, economists, and politicians have been grappling with since the 1960s. Development, in this book, has been defined in a context that projects it as a multidimensional and complex process which seeks to enhance the human, social, economic and cultural welfare of the people. This book calls for a rethinking of trade and industry for Africa's development. It uses data drawn from national development plans and strategies, and trade and industry issues have been prioritized at the continental level, in key policy documents. On the whole Africa's industry and trade performance have been poor in spite of national, regional, and continental plans. The contributors to this volume propose some alternative strategies and policies which are necessary for trade and industry to grow and to contribute to the well-being of Africa's people. It calls for a developmental trade and industry policy which, fundamentally, must be people-centred. African states should invest time, energy and resources to develop policies which will take into consideration African realities.The different contributors are aware that Africa has experienced strong economic growth in the recent past but this growth has largely been due to a strong demand for Africa's primary commodity exports. It has also been a result of increases in productivity and domestic investment and remittances from Africans living in the Diaspora. It is important to note that despite this unprecedented growth performance, the impact of trade and industry on development has been limited. The book argues that a structural transformation of Africa's economies is inevitable if Africa is to achieve the shift from the dominant paradigm of production and export of primary goods. The various contributors to this book agree that there is need to rethink policy and strategy in order to achieve industrial development in Africa. There is no unique solution or answer that can fit all situations as African countries are not the same. While Africa can draw lessons from other regions which have successfully industrialized, this book argues that policies and strategies will have to be adapted to country-specific situations and circumstances.
Taking the history of trade and of traders as its subject matter, this book offers the first economic history of northern Namibia during the twentieth century. It traces Namibia's way from a rural, largely self-relying society into a globalised economy of consumption. This transformation built on colonial economic activities, but it was crucially shaped by local traders, a new social elite emerging during the 1950s and 1960s. Becoming a trader was one of the few possibilities for black Namibians to gain monetary income at home. It was a pathway out of migrant labour, to new status in the local society and often to prosperity. Politically, most traders occupied a middle ground: content of their own social position, but intent on political emancipation from colonial rule. Economically, their energy and business acumen transformed northern Namibia into an increasingly urban consumer society. The development path they chose, however, depended too much on the colonial reserve economy to remain sustainable after 1990. Their legacy still shapes spatial and social structures in northern Namibia, but most traders' businesses have today closed down. By telling the history of the rise and decline of traders and trade in northern Namibia, this book is thus also a reflection on the conundrums of economic development under conditions of structural inequality.
Trends in Nollywood: A Study of Selected Genres is a welcome addition to the growing body of works on the Nigerian cinema. It is part film history and part film theory and criticism. The history part traces the origin of the Nigerian cinema up to the present era of video productions. The work examines in detail, the contextual issues which have helped to define emergent trends within the industry.
Tumbuka folktales are on the verge of extinction. If not recorded now, the loss would not only be the amusement they provide but chiefly lessons inherent. On the surface, they are simple narratives, however, subtly they evoke serious moral lessons that are very applicable to our everyday life today. This folklore collection is based on field research conducted by the authors in Citumbuka speaking areas of Mzimba and Rumphi districts in Nothern Malawi.
Nachdem ich meine Lizentiatsarbeit [..] abgeschlossen hatte, fragte mich Prof. Ebneter an, ob ich bereit wäre, mit dem gleichen Transkritionssystem auch eine Umfrage zu diversen Verbalformen in Graubünden zu erstellen. […] Von Prof. Ebneter bekam ich eine Liste mit den gewünschten Verbformen. Ich habe zu diesen je einen Satz konstruiert, der den Gewährspersonen vorgelegt wurde. Einmal hatten die Informantinnen und Informanten die Verbformen mit vorangestelltem Subjektpronomen und einmal mit Inversion aus der standardsprachliche Vorlage in der 1. Person Singular zu übersetzen. In der Folge habe ich dann das ganze Paradigma abgefragt.
Die Resultate meiner Erhebung sind teilweise in die Verbalmorphologie des Abschlussbandes zum Forschungsprojekt "Deutsch und Romanisch am Hinterrhein" eingeflossen. Insgesamt aber sind die Verbformen noch nie integral veröffentlicht worden. Eine eigenständige gedruckte Publikation verlangte wohl auch einen Kommentar zu den Paradigmen. Mit der Möglichkeit, Texte auch digital zu publizieren, hat sich allerdings eine neue Verbreitungsform ergeben, die es erlaubt, auch "Materialien" zu veröffentlichen, die vielleicht anderen wissenschaftlich Arbeitenden nützlich sein können. Im Zeichen des zum Teil rapiden Sprachwandels gerade in der Verbalmorphologie stellen die 1988 erfassten Verbparadigmen aber auch ein Brückendokument dar, das spannende Vergleiche zwischen den Aussagen früherer Forschungen und aktuellen Daten zulässt.
From his first research there in 1959 until shortly before his death in 2010, Victor Le Vine was a major Cameroon scholar. What he wrote during Cameroon's first half-century of independence carries implications for the years ahead. This volume introduces and presents eight of his short writings, 1961-2007, five never previously published. They demonstrate his mastery of the intricacies and the sweep of the country's governance history, and both his own and Cameroon's importance for African Studies at large.