Images of black women during the period of slavery: perspectives from selected African American female authored texts
- Authors: Makwela, Nombeko B
- Date: 2022-01
- Subjects: Slavery , Enslaved women , Enslaved persons' writings
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27117 , vital:66304
- Description: The study sought to interrogate the narratives of Black African-American women during the period of slavery. It analysed three literary works written by women, namely The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1992), Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (1988) and Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987). The plot is on all the horrors, inhumanity, degradation, the sexual abuse, struggles and social injustices that the African-American women were subjected to under slavery. The study employed a case study design, as it analysed the three selected literary works. Critical analysis and close reading were employed to arrive at themes. The study not only illuminated the harsh reality of the experiences of African-American women, but it has also revealed the harrowing conditions that they encountered. These women suffered immensely under the yoke of dual oppression. Their horrors varied in gravity in the form of beatings and lynching, sexual abuse, having their children taken from them to be auctioned off, loss of identity and loss of human dignity among the countless social injustices they experienced. The study used the psychoanalytic feminist theory as a theoretical lens. Through the depiction of women in slavery in the literary works of Toni Morrison, Harriet Jacobs and Alice Walker, the case study approach revealed that women are resilient. Contrary to portrayals of women under the stereotyped labelling of women as wanton or promiscuous, with no virtues or principles, the female characters in the three novels are victims of slavery and patriarchy. In Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, the women characters, namely Celie, Squeak and Shug Avery, are not in the least immoral, nor do they lack virtues or principles; they are, as the analysis shows, self-loving women that have been victims of dual oppression. In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, the love of a mother for her children drives Sethe to commit infanticide, believing this to be the better option than allowing her children to suffer and endure the horrors of slavery. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs chooses to use her feminine sexuality to align herself to one man, Mr Sands, and her intelligence to stay in this relationship is her escape and deterrent strategy against the lecherous sexual exploitations by other white masters. She ends up bearing two children for this same man, reflecting her stability as a self-loving woman who was not wayward. Findings established that even through all the plights of slavery, African-American women made difficult yet relevant choices under the twin yokes of slavery and patriarchy. They may have been subjected or compelled to make morally unsavoury choices or to compromise on their principles for survival or succumb under situations that reduced them to being victims or sacrificial lambs for the satisfaction of the slave owners, but they never lacked principles and they were not promiscuous. The will to survive drove the women in the narratives to design and adopt survival strategies to sustain their livelihoods. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-01
Modern slavery and worst forms of child labour in South Africa: case of the former homeland areas
- Authors: Obi, A
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Human rights , Child labour , Slavery
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA (Human Rights)
- Identifier: vital:11104 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1016119 , Human rights , Child labour , Slavery
- Description: Despite a progressive constitution lauded as one of the best and most forward-looking in the world, with an advanced Bill of Rights, instances of human rights violations have been detected at all levels of the South African society. The most disturbing revelations have been associated with situations in many farming communities in South Africa. On the basis of a comprehensive nationwide study initiated in June 2001 and documented in 2003, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) confirmed widespread human rights violations on South African farms. Through the efforts of the South African Human Rights Commission, many of these violations have been brought to the attention of the authorities and there are already numerous actions being taken to contain and possibly eliminate them. Among these is the Child Labour Programme of Action which was adopted in 2003 by the large number of government departments that constitute the stakeholders, particularly those that have responsibility for labour, education, provincial and local government, water services, justice, policing, prosecution, and social development. However, the SAHRC study had limited coverage due to constraints of time and funding and did not pay adequate attention to the former independent homelands. In addition to this significant shortcoming, recent international experience reveals other forms of violations that may not be immediately obvious and therefore go undetected for a very long time. Among these, the International Labour Organization (ILO), together with various non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other bodies have drawn attention to existence of what are termed “worst forms of child labour”. The latter involves a wide range of abuses to which under-age individuals are subjected against their will and often exposed to hazards that may leave them permanently excluded from formal educational and economic opportunities. The fact that national definitions differ complicates the situation. As a result, systematic investigation is needed to see to what extent local practices compare with international norms and standards. Similarly, the fact that the former independent homelands were not adequately covered in such an important study that aimed to inform policy on the optimal direction of the transformation process also raises serious questions that must be addressed. This mini-dissertation documents evidence based on a rapid appraisal of farm and non-farm environments in two polar regions of the province, namely the Port St John’s Municipality in the Oliver Tambo District Municipality of the former Transkei homeland and Alice in the Nkonkobe Municipality of the former Ciskei homeland. Descriptive and content analysis methodologies were employed to analyze the data obtained from interviews of employers of labour, the labourers themselves, as well as community members and “bystanders” who had opinions about the insertion of children into the labour market. Correlational analysis and logistic regression were performed to draw inferences about the determinants of child labour in the farming system. The indication is that child labour is an established phenomenon whose discussion is however quite sensitive and elicits a wide range of emotions. The role of socioeconomic factors in influencing the decision to engage child labour seems to be quite extensive. For instance, monthly income of household has important practical implications for national and global policy on the use of child labour are foreseen and form the basis for the recommendations put forward to address the associated concerns.
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- Date Issued: 2014