To study changing beliefs about early childhood education, educators in Beijing were asked to dis... more To study changing beliefs about early childhood education, educators in Beijing were asked to discuss a 20-minute video of a typical day in a Beijing preschool. This paper focuses on reactions to a segment in the video where a teacher, Ms Chang, speaks harshly to a four-year-old girl who cries throughout breakfast. The preservice educators who commented on the videotapeon
A general contextual way of “reading” documentary films and docu-dramas like Biko: Breaking the S... more A general contextual way of “reading” documentary films and docu-dramas like Biko: Breaking the Silence (1987) and Cry Freedom (1989) is offered. The argument shows how context and crew assumptions reinterpret historical conditions into sometimes opposing social and political discourses. These in turn redefine the actual ethnographic and political events and contexts. Alongside critique of these films and videos, theoretical concepts are developed to explain how and why these shifts in meaning occur.
Britain is in the midst of a massive consolidation of personal information held by government dep... more Britain is in the midst of a massive consolidation of personal information held by government departments. But will its use be restricted to the purposes for which it is collected?
We examine film representations of prisons, with specific reference to the meaning of Robben Isla... more We examine film representations of prisons, with specific reference to the meaning of Robben Island in South African history. Topologically and symbolically, the Island represented the outer margin to which African resistance was banished. In liberation discourse, however, the Island was articulated into a symbol of defiance, a government‐in‐waiting, a temporarily inhabited territory. The central esthetic for black South African writing is the “tyranny of place”, as represented by the Island. Black writers must have place, as their expression depends on their commitment to territory.Two different conceptions of South African jails emerge from the intertext of pre‐1990 anti‐apartheid films and videos. One is of the totally brutalizing environment of police interrogation, as narrated in the reconstructed experiences of Steve Biko in Cry Freedom [1987]. These interrogations take place in police holding‐cells.The second conception of prisons is described in Robben Island. It was this location that permitted opportunities, intended or otherwise, for Mandela and his fellow inmates to continue their work ‘inside’. The difference is between arbitrary detention by Security Police, with no legal representation; and formal charges, often followed by imprisonment, but with legal representation (as heard about in Robben Island). This distinction is important when viewing Robben Island and other films which mention the role of prisons in enforcing apartheid.The paper examines the film, Robben Island, in terms of principles of visual anthropology, exploring not only the clandestine making of the film, but also the esthetic of the image and crew‐subject relations within the image. Music and audience reception are discussed briefly.
Jamaica is one of the few Commonwealth countries that still recognises the Privy Council in Londo... more Jamaica is one of the few Commonwealth countries that still recognises the Privy Council in London as its court of final appeal. This article argues that the monarchy in Jamaica should be replaced by a republican form of government and that the Privy Council should be replaced as the final appellate tribunal by the Caribbean Court of Justice. In the view of the author, this is an issue that goes to the heart of the identity and self-image of the Jamaican people, and it is rooted in the cry for freedom of Jamaicans’ enslaved ancestors.
... my thinking on the origins of school vouchers. They are Tamea Caver, Ellon Dedo, Kif Francis ... more ... my thinking on the origins of school vouchers. They are Tamea Caver, Ellon Dedo, Kif Francis Deepak Garg, Jim Gutowski, Saygin Koc, Lovleen Singh, and Yasmine Suliman. Finally, the thoughtful exchanges I have had over ...
... To the beginning of the penultimate sentence of the novel, about the coming of thedawn, Paton... more ... To the beginning of the penultimate sentence of the novel, about the coming of thedawn, Paton added the word 'for', so that the sentence now reads: 'For it is the dawn that has come . . . ' (236). With that addition, Paton is able ...
Paul Celan's poem, `In die Ferne' tells us that the poem is not timeless, even if it lays claim t... more Paul Celan's poem, `In die Ferne' tells us that the poem is not timeless, even if it lays claim to infinity. It exists finitely, like the breath. Thus, for Celan, poetry does not forget or deny one's finitude and death. Instead it is a mode of being towards death. Hence, Celan's poetry comes close to Martin Heidegger's freedom towards death, i.e. freedom to die one's own death. For Celan the task of the poet is to remind us of this fact, which is also the fundamental law of humanity. The article analyses what is the meaning and importance of this fundamental law, which is both the destiny and possibility for human beings.
To study changing beliefs about early childhood education, educators in Beijing were asked to dis... more To study changing beliefs about early childhood education, educators in Beijing were asked to discuss a 20-minute video of a typical day in a Beijing preschool. This paper focuses on reactions to a segment in the video where a teacher, Ms Chang, speaks harshly to a four-year-old girl who cries throughout breakfast. The preservice educators who commented on the videotapeon
A general contextual way of “reading” documentary films and docu-dramas like Biko: Breaking the S... more A general contextual way of “reading” documentary films and docu-dramas like Biko: Breaking the Silence (1987) and Cry Freedom (1989) is offered. The argument shows how context and crew assumptions reinterpret historical conditions into sometimes opposing social and political discourses. These in turn redefine the actual ethnographic and political events and contexts. Alongside critique of these films and videos, theoretical concepts are developed to explain how and why these shifts in meaning occur.
Britain is in the midst of a massive consolidation of personal information held by government dep... more Britain is in the midst of a massive consolidation of personal information held by government departments. But will its use be restricted to the purposes for which it is collected?
We examine film representations of prisons, with specific reference to the meaning of Robben Isla... more We examine film representations of prisons, with specific reference to the meaning of Robben Island in South African history. Topologically and symbolically, the Island represented the outer margin to which African resistance was banished. In liberation discourse, however, the Island was articulated into a symbol of defiance, a government‐in‐waiting, a temporarily inhabited territory. The central esthetic for black South African writing is the “tyranny of place”, as represented by the Island. Black writers must have place, as their expression depends on their commitment to territory.Two different conceptions of South African jails emerge from the intertext of pre‐1990 anti‐apartheid films and videos. One is of the totally brutalizing environment of police interrogation, as narrated in the reconstructed experiences of Steve Biko in Cry Freedom [1987]. These interrogations take place in police holding‐cells.The second conception of prisons is described in Robben Island. It was this location that permitted opportunities, intended or otherwise, for Mandela and his fellow inmates to continue their work ‘inside’. The difference is between arbitrary detention by Security Police, with no legal representation; and formal charges, often followed by imprisonment, but with legal representation (as heard about in Robben Island). This distinction is important when viewing Robben Island and other films which mention the role of prisons in enforcing apartheid.The paper examines the film, Robben Island, in terms of principles of visual anthropology, exploring not only the clandestine making of the film, but also the esthetic of the image and crew‐subject relations within the image. Music and audience reception are discussed briefly.
Jamaica is one of the few Commonwealth countries that still recognises the Privy Council in Londo... more Jamaica is one of the few Commonwealth countries that still recognises the Privy Council in London as its court of final appeal. This article argues that the monarchy in Jamaica should be replaced by a republican form of government and that the Privy Council should be replaced as the final appellate tribunal by the Caribbean Court of Justice. In the view of the author, this is an issue that goes to the heart of the identity and self-image of the Jamaican people, and it is rooted in the cry for freedom of Jamaicans’ enslaved ancestors.
... my thinking on the origins of school vouchers. They are Tamea Caver, Ellon Dedo, Kif Francis ... more ... my thinking on the origins of school vouchers. They are Tamea Caver, Ellon Dedo, Kif Francis Deepak Garg, Jim Gutowski, Saygin Koc, Lovleen Singh, and Yasmine Suliman. Finally, the thoughtful exchanges I have had over ...
... To the beginning of the penultimate sentence of the novel, about the coming of thedawn, Paton... more ... To the beginning of the penultimate sentence of the novel, about the coming of thedawn, Paton added the word 'for', so that the sentence now reads: 'For it is the dawn that has come . . . ' (236). With that addition, Paton is able ...
Paul Celan's poem, `In die Ferne' tells us that the poem is not timeless, even if it lays claim t... more Paul Celan's poem, `In die Ferne' tells us that the poem is not timeless, even if it lays claim to infinity. It exists finitely, like the breath. Thus, for Celan, poetry does not forget or deny one's finitude and death. Instead it is a mode of being towards death. Hence, Celan's poetry comes close to Martin Heidegger's freedom towards death, i.e. freedom to die one's own death. For Celan the task of the poet is to remind us of this fact, which is also the fundamental law of humanity. The article analyses what is the meaning and importance of this fundamental law, which is both the destiny and possibility for human beings.
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