Mashudu C Mashige | Tshwane University of Technology (original) (raw)

Papers by Mashudu C Mashige

This article problematizes and critiques the change scenario which unfolded in the South African ... more This article problematizes and critiques the change scenario which unfolded in the South African higher education (HE) landscape over the period 1999–2002. It locates its discussion and analysis within an ideo-critical discourse-interpretive analytics framework. It also employs the following conceptual tools: chaos theory; liminality; negative knowledge; manageri-alism and corporatism; marketization and technologization of discourses; and postmodernity and globalization. Against this backdrop, the article first argues that the change scenario, which occurred in some of South Africa's higher education institutions (HEIs) during this period, was predicated on the aforesaid conceptual devices. Second, it contends that most of South Africa's HEIs during that historical juncture were being inveigled into a postmodern condition, even though they were still epicentres of academic modernity. In the light of all this, the article counter-argues that the post-modern intervention in the HE system as driven by the state only served to worsen the difficulties faced by many of the then historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) which were part of this system. Finally, the article ends by offering some of the prospects that were in the offing for South Africa's HEIs at that time. Résumé Cet article pose la problématique et fait une critique du scénario de change-ment qui s'est déroulé dans le paysage de l'enseignement supérieur (ES) en Afrique du Sud durant la période allant de 1999 à 2002. Il situe son débat et son analyse dans un cadre d'analyse idéo-critique et interprétatif du discours. Il emploie également les outils conceptuels suivants: la théorie du chaos; la liminalité; la connaissance négative; le managérialisme et le corporatisme; la commercialisation et la technicisation des discours; la postmodernité et la mondialisation. Dans cette optique, l'article soutient dans un premier temps que le scénario de changement, qui a eu lieu dans certains des établissements d'enseignement supérieur de l'Afrique du Sud durant cette période, était fondé sur les dispositifs conceptuels précités. Ensuite, il affirme que la plupart des établissements d'enseignement su-périeur de l'Afrique du Sud au cours de cette période historique ont été entrainés dans une condition postmoderne, même s'ils étaient encore les épicentres de la modernité académique. En conséquence, l'article bat en brèche l'idée selon laquelle l'intervention postmoderne dans le système de l'enseignement supérieur telle que menée par l'Etat n'a servi qu'à aggraver les difficultés rencontrées par la plupart des institutions historiquement défavorisés qui faisaient partie de ce système. Enfin, l'article conclut en déclinant certaines des perspectives qui s'offraient à l'époque aux établisse-ments d'enseignement supérieur de l'Afrique du Sud.

International Journal of African Renaissance Studies - Multi-, Inter- and Transdisciplinarity, 2007

This article examines the centrality of mathematics and scientific thought in the sociocultural, ... more This article examines the centrality of mathematics and scientific thought in the sociocultural, human and intellectual development of a sampling of African societies. Evidence is presented which refutes the theory that Africans had no 'intelligible sense of numeracy' before contact with the West, and demonstrates that the propagation of this myth was part of the larger colonial project to marginalise and 'other-ise' African knowledge systems. Tracing Africa's early contributions to mathematics and scientific thought forces a shift from the standard Western-based approach to pedagogy in this field. It renders a subject that is perceived and presented as alien to African culture, more accessible to African learners. And ultimately, acknowledging the long history of mathematics and scientific thought in Africa is a step in foregrounding African epistemologies in knowledge production, human and social development and towards the realisation of the African Renaissance.

E’skia Grow as Big as an Elephant and Dwarf the Rhinoceros, 2006

School of Human Sciences Monograph Series 2 (1), 2001

Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies 12 (2), 2002

Journal of Educational Studies 4 (1&2), 2005

Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies 15 (2), 2005

Through an examination of selected poems by Temba Qabula, this article examines the thematic and ... more Through an examination of selected poems by Temba Qabula, this article examines the thematic and contextual significance of worker poetry. It also highlights the role of, and influence that, oral performance has in poetry. This article, furthermore, demonstrates that being deeply predicated on a materialist matrix. Qabula’s poetry plays a significant role within the broader worker movement by, ultimately, contributing towards the construction and articulation of a worker identity.

Discourses on Difference Discourses on Oppression, 2002

South African poetry, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, generally tended to be studied along r... more South African poetry, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, generally tended to be studied along racial, class and gender lines. The majority of the studies focused on the examination of ideological tendencies which permeated each writer's work, and showed the symbiotic interdependence between aesthetics and ideology. As a result thereof, and in view of the uniquely complex nature of South Africa's political, economic, ideological, social and cultural diversity - a diversity which for a long time was misrepresented by the powers that were for their own ideological ends of racial fragmentation and economic segregation - a pronounced division ensued between what came to be known as revolutionary poetic practice and reactionary poetic practice

Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies Vol. 21 (1), 2011

This article scrutinizes the role of, and abiding significance of, totems in the expression of in... more This article scrutinizes the role of, and abiding significance of, totems in the expression of individual and cultural identity, by examining the various trajectories and nuances central to identity and identity formation. Predicated on African humanism, as a lived experience and philosophy of human interaction, the article further hopes to vividly evoke a socio-cultural consciousness and a non-essentialist pride hitherto ‘silenced’ by hegemonic cultural discourses inherent in both colonialism and apartheid, by exposing the role and cultural relevance of totems in reasserting and articulating an ‘othered’ identity, an identity that has, over the years, been subjected to malicious diminution. It is hoped that the employment of the psycho-social, spiritual-cultural approach to the discussion will help in determining the usefulness of totems as tools for self-definition and a relevant vehicle towards signification and the affirmation of regenerated forms of individual and national identities

Tydskrif Vir Letterkunde 43 (2), 2006

Through an examination of selected poems from Mi S’dumo Hlatshwayo’s oeuvre, this article examine... more Through an examination of selected poems from Mi S’dumo Hlatshwayo’s oeuvre, this article examines the role of worker poetry in the construction and articulation of a “worker identity”. The article furthermore examines the worker movement’s attempt,
through this poetry, to present alternative symbols through an oppositional culture and confrontational performance. Drawing
from a wealth of rural and urban poetic traditions, worker poets also redefine the power dynamics characterised by the
relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed, the powerful and the powerless, typified in the employer-employee
relationship to articulate their identity in their own terms. Key words: identity, culture, performance, poetry.

Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies 21 (2), Dec 2011

While some scholars who study male-oriented Sesotho proverbs indicate that these proverbs show an... more While some scholars who study male-oriented Sesotho proverbs indicate that these proverbs show an elevating and positive social attitude towards men, the observation is that Basotho men are disadvantaged due to the use of these male-oriented proverbs. Much as these proverbs are said to promote strength, endurance, bravery and wisdom; negative implications that can be deduced from the interpretation of these proverbs exist as well. This paper seeks to study how male-oriented proverbs disadvantage Basotho males. The paper will also observe the consequences resulting from the use of male-oriented proverbs among the Basotho.""

Tydskrif vir Letterkunde 48 (2), 2011

"Feminism and the politics of identity in Ingrid de Kok’s Familiar Ground Through an analysis of ... more "Feminism and the politics of identity in Ingrid de Kok’s Familiar Ground Through an analysis of selected representative poems from Ingrid de Kok’s Familiar Ground, this article examines the role playedby feminist poetry in the quest to address gender-related issues as well as to contribute constructively to South Africa’s liberation from patriarchal apartheid. The article further argues that feminist writers desire to (re)negotiate the space within which they
can (re)construct and articulate their identities as women and mothers, and that in such a context the politics of identity cannot
be detached from other aspects within the struggle for socio-political and economic emancipation. Thus characteristics of apartheid
oppression are contrasted with the patriarchal domination opposed by feminist writers. Key words: Feminism, gender,
identity, phallocentric, South African English poetry."

Book Reviews by Mashudu C Mashige

Freedom Sown in Blood: Memories of the Impi Yamakhanda; An Indigenous Knowledge Systems Perspective, 2006

The Representation of African Humanism in the Narrative Writings of Es’kia Mphahlele, 2007

Dissertation / Thesis by Mashudu C Mashige

The main focus of this thesis is to examine how identity and culture are conceived and articulate... more The main focus of this thesis is to examine how identity and culture are conceived and articulated in a representative selection of contemporary South African poetry. In the introductory chapter, an examination is made of the concepts of identity and culture, in the course of which the polarities of inside and outside, self and other, personal and political, subjective and objective, are carefully examined. Then, through close textual reference to relevant poems considered under the titles “Poetry of the Self”, “Black Consciousness Poetry”, “The Poetry of Revolution”, “Worker Poetry” and “Feminist Poetry”, the thesis attempts, by tracing the dialectical relationship of these polarities, to analyse how each putative body of poetry conceives and articulates cultural identity. The concluding chapter of the thesis, titled “Towards a New Aesthetics”, argues that current research into the relationship between identity and culture opens the way to a “new” aesthetics, a new literary-critical practice, one that takes into cognisance the intersubjective complexities that shape cultural expression.

In this dissertation an examination is made of the different strands of contemporary South Africa... more In this dissertation an examination is made of the different strands of contemporary South African protest and resistance poetry. This is done by way of analysing selected poems to highlight the relationship which exists between politics and aesthetics and further to illustrate that the two concepts are not mutually exclusive. A brief history of written African protest and resistance poetry is provided in an attempt to put this poetry within its historical context and to trace its influences and development. The poems are then examined with the express aim of identifying and understanding their themes and the socio-political contexts from which they emanate. These contexts are then shown to have important implications in so far as the aesthetics of protest and resistance poetry is concerned. The dissertation highlights the fact that for this poetry to be fully appreciated, there is a need to recognize the particular circumstances which surround it. This recognition is essential because these circumstances are instrumental in the shaping of the poetry and formation of an aesthetics of protest and resistance. An examination of whether this type of poetry has any socio-political relevance and literary significance to contemporary South Africa is also made.