OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Jubber, Ken"

Browsing by Author "Jubber, Ken"

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Open Access
The 1985 school crisis in the Western Cape
(1992) Nekhwevha, Fhulufhuwani Hastings; Molteno, Frank; Jubber, Ken
The thesis is an exploratory and primarily empirical study with the objective to construct a detailed chronology of the events of the 1985 school crisis particularly in African schools in the Western Cape and to reflect on the relationship between the school crisis and the organic crisis in South Africa and the Western Cape in particular. The data for the thesis were derived from primary and secondary documentary sources and in-depth interview material. A total of 51 interviewees were selected principally on the basis of the specific role they played particularly within the Department of Education and Training institutions as well as in community, political, workers', parents', teachers' and student organisations during the 1985 school crisis in the Western cape. Interviews were open-ended with a semi-structured interview schedule which consisted of topical headings. The thesis's theoretical framework was informed by Gramsci's Marxism am the key concepts employed in the analysis included Gramsci's notions of hegemony and organic crisis as well as Freire's concept of conscientisation. Utilising Gramsci's Marxism, the historical transformations in economic, political and ideological spheres which affected the development of student struggles and the crisis in the Department of Education and Training schools in 1985 were examined. Chapter 1 deals with .the 'Total strategy' as a form of state "formative action" to overcome the general crisis. It also documents in chronological order the main events of the school boycotts and both political and economic struggles on a national level from 1953 to 1984 and early 1985 in order to provide a sound background for the 1985 school crisis in the Western Cape. Chapter 2 which is offered as an empirical contribution to sociology of education covers a series of complex events and processes which constituted the core of the 1985 school crisis in the Western Cape in a chronological order. In the conclusion, Gramsci's concepts of 'hegemony' and 'organic crisis' supplemented by Freire's notion of conscientisation were directly utilised to analyse the slogan 'People's education for people's power'. One crucial observation explicit in the thesis am expressed through verbatim interview extracts was that the school crisis could only be resolved when the apartheid capitalist system in its entirety has been abolished.
Open Access
Adoption : salient experiences of a sample of adult adoptees
(1987) Boult, Brenda Ernestine; Jubber, Ken
This investigation into adoption began in January 1986 in the Republic of South Africa. The aim was to understand adoption from the subjective viewpoint of adults who were adopted as infants or children. It was based on the working hypothesis that although adoption has universal qualities, there would also be regional, cultural and time-related differences affecting both the practice and experience of adoption. Appeals were made for respondents through three popular magazines, private welfare organisations, the Registrar of Adoption and by means of "snowball sampling". Questionnaires were subsequently posted country-wide between April and October 1986. The questionnaire contained 209 open- and closed-ended questions covering the period from adoption placement to adulthood. An eighty-eight percent response rate was obtained. The material was analysed with emphasis on the qualitative interpretation of the content of the data in the open-ended responses. The sample comprised eighty-two adult adoptees between the ages of eighteen and seventy, of whom seventy-one percent were female, twenty-nine percent male, 58,5 percent Afrikaans speaking and 41,5 percent English- speaking. Cultural differences were found in the responses of the two language groups. Variables that have been considered relevant or insufficiently explored in the literature on adoption were examined. These were: age of placement; attachment in the adoptive home; manner and timing of revelation of adoptive status and adoptee reactions to this; adoptee thoughts and fears concerning birth parents, the school experience; identity problems in adolescence and adulthood manifested as insecurity or behaviour problems; the adoptee's need to know more about his or her origins and the concomitant consequences. Notable findings were: the paucity of information given to these adoptees about their origins; thoughts and fears about birth parents that occurred as early as the pre-school period; childhood fears arising from the adoptive status; sensitivity about being adopted; peer group cruelty in pre-puberty and a seventeen percent parasuicide incidence among the members of this sample. Another finding related to the adult adoptee's need for a bio-genealogical history, especially in view of the high risk of certain genetic disorders, particularly among the Afrikaner population. The majority of the adoptees in this sample entertained the possibility of meeting birth parents one day; for many this began in pre-puberty. This was contingent on the quality of the relationship with their adoptive parents in only a minority of cases. Few adoptees could share their thoughts about adoption and birth parents with their adoptive parents. Adoptees who were 'searching' or who had 'found' birth parents were motivated more by a need to know who they were and why they had been given up for adoption, than by a need to replace the 'lost parent'. Where the relationship with the adoptive parents was warm and satisfying, the finding of birth parent(s) did not affect the adoptive relationship deleteriously. These findings point to a need for more research on adoption following changes in South African adoption laws allowing adult adoptees access to court records of their adoption. Adoptees and their parents need informed assistance from those who counsel them.
Open Access
Analysing the neglect of men in the response to HIV/AIDS in South Africa :is the Men as Partners programme paving the way forward?
(2006) McNab, Eleanor; Jubber, Ken
Word processed copy. Includes bibliographical references.
Open Access
Analyzing how notions of masculinity influence the vulnerability of men to HIV
(2008) Mumbengegwi, Elizabeth; Jubber, Ken
Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-84).
Open Access
The concept rationality in the work of Jurgen Habermas
(1989) Luckin, Pat; Jubber, Ken
This study attempts to answer the question of how Habermas "re-thinks" or "reformulates" the concept of rationality and rationalization processes. The method is analytical. The early, later and most recent works of Habermas are analysed with the aim of showing that he approaches the c6ncept of rationality from an unusual perspective which has not been discussed in the secondary literature. Namely, the perspective of human agency and communicative judgment which is gleaned from the work of Arendt. Arendt's reconstruction of the Aristotelian concepts of "praxis" and "poiesis" is central to the concept of human agency in the work of Habermas. Habermas, like Arendt, distinguishes between action as a making process and action as a communicative process. Throughout his work he attempts to relate these two aspects of human agency to the concepts of rationality, knowledge, and autonomy. Arendt's reconstruction of Kant's concept of reflective judgement is fundamental to Habermas' most recent argument for grounding the concept of rationality in general. Here Habermas links Arendt's concept of communicative judgement, men/women's capacity for saying "Yes/No" with the accompanying reasons, to universal validity claims which are recognized and redeemed through dialogue between at least two subjects. Another closely related theme which is internal to the concept of human agency and which permeates the fabric of Habermas' work is Arendt's concept of plurality. The concept of plurality is fundamental to the concept of intersubjective recognition and consensus formation in Habermas' work. I show how Habermas uses the concept of intersubjectivity to clarify his concept of practical rationality in his later work and how intersubjective recognition is central to his most recent argument for grounding the concept of rationality in general. Habermas moves beyond the work of Arendt in his efforts to appropriate and re-formulate the Enlightenment concept of reason in the light of the works of Marx, Freud, Weber, Horkheimer, Adorno, and Lukacs. The concept of reflection is revised from the viewpoint of reflective, communicative judgement. The concept of rationality is distinguished from the attitudes which actors adopt in apprehending their world. Piaget's decentration thesis is shown to be central to the concept of communicative rationality.
Open Access
A critique of aspects of Louis Althusser's epistemology as employed by Manuel Castells
(1984) Marais, Linda Jean; Jubber, Ken
This thesis is an assessment of Castells' claim to have used Althusserian epistemology both as a theoretical basis for a critique of empiricist urban sociology, and in the establishment of a Marxist scientific alternative. To this end, Castells employed the Althusserian conception of the social totality, which was characterized by a complex structured unity of relatively autonomous instances with their own laws of development, This was intended to establish the last-instance determination by the economy, and to avoid the empiricist portrayal of the relationship between base and superstructure as one of essence and phenomena, According to Althusser, theory, like the other relatively autonomous practices, has its own specific raw material, labour and product, and was thus separate from and irreducible to any of the other practices. Each chapter of this thesis outlines an aspect of Althusser's work that can explicitly or implicitly be identified in Castells' writings. The critical responses to Althusserianism are then examined in order to disclose the unresolved and contradictory elements of his position, and the extent to which these have led to problems in Castells' work, More importantly, it is argued that Castells' theoretical allegiance to Althusser is deliberately inconsistent: he has significantly altered every controversial tenet of the latter, while neglecting to acknowledge that these changes are in fact distortions which directly oppose the character of Althusserianism, Castells wavers between contradictory epistemologies, and this results in his analyses being stranded between Althusserian theoreticism and empiricism. It is my contention that Castells wished to use the ready-made Althusserian system without falling prey to its unpalatable implications, especially Althusser's conclusion that Marxism is a science that produces ideology for the masses, who are never able to achieve a genuine cognitive appropriation of reality, and are thus unable to participate in the development of theory. This reduction of individual consciousness to ideology undermined the significance of class consciousness and political practice, which are commonly regarded as the fundamental principles of revolutionary Marxist practice.
Open Access
Culture and capital decoupled : exploring the dynamics of peer-to-peer file sharing and copyright violation
(2010) Cooper, Amrik; Jubber, Ken
In this thesis the significance of casual copyright violation as enabled by the infrastructural fluidity of the internet is discussed (in particular, its most contemporary form, peer-to-peer file sharing). The aim of this discussion is to explore and promote a better understand of casual copyright violation, beyond the narrower conceptions challenged herein. The positions of progressive intellectual property advocates and of the intellectual property industry are presented, neither of whose analysis appears to rise above idealism or moralising. A triangulated research design was implemented, incorporating one-on-one qualitative interviews, a focus group and a survey of a student file-sharing population. I conclude that peer-to-peer file sharing is less significant as an individual choice than it is as a structural feature of the digital age.
Open Access
The culture of the South African sugarmill : the impress of the sugarocracy
(1985) Lincoln, Mervyn David; Jubber, Ken
In this thesis an analysis is made of the relationship between the families which until recently controlled most of South Africa's sugarmills, and their sugarmill employees. The relationship is approached by way of a study of the culture of the sugarmill; by way, that is, of looking at the ideological and material connotations of the sugarmilling labour process as they manifested themselves in the sugar villages of South Africa. It is the principal concern of the study to demonstrate how the dynastic sugarmilling families, who are presented as a sugarocracy, impinged upon the culture of the sugarmill. By perceiving the culture of the sugarmill as evolving out of the sugarmilling labour process, a materialist interpretation of historical evidence is indicated as a method for analysing sugarocratic domination. This method is applied to empirical evidence derived primarily through literary research. A further methodological consideration is displayed in the emphasis given to causal relationships between sugarocratic influences upon the labour process and workers' responses to that process. Because of the centrality accorded to the labour process points of reference are readily found in studies of sugarmilling in other milieux. Thus each chapter of the thesis is introduced with relevant material on sugarmilling in regions where it has generally been subjected to more social analysis than has been the South African case. Arranged in three parts, the analysis begins with an account of the ascent of the sugarocracy since the turn of the twentieth century, and of the establishment and development of sugarocratic ideology and politics. In the second part, attention is focused on the sugarmill, with chapters devoted to sugar technology and the technical division of labour, the racial division of labour, and work-place control, respectively. The final part is given to an examination of life in the sugar village, and to the question of how, by means of accommodation and resistance, workers coped with the conditions under which they worked and lived.
Open Access
Discourse of whiteness in post-apartheid South Africa, as reflected in letters to the editor in the Cape Argus and Cape Times
(2009) Gartushka, Itai; Jubber, Ken
South Africa's post-apartheid era of democracy has required whites to renegotiate their identities within a new dispensation; a task whites have responded to in ways ranging from deep acceptance to strong resistance. For whites who resist the new dispensation, the aim is to find ways of maintaining white privilege despite the end of apartheid. Based on this contention, the present study investigated how discourses of whiteness were justified and normalised in post-apartheid public discourse - namely in letters to the editor. Letters to the editor, printed during 2007 in two daily Cape newspapers - the Cape Argus and the Cape Times - were categorised into themes with the aid of NVivo. Two themes that dealt with issues of post-apartheid transformation were selected for detailed analysis using discourse analysis. The first theme explored resistance to street renaming in Cape Town and the second theme explored resistance to transformation in Springbok rugby within the context of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. An additional, pervasive theme which included white negativity towards Africa, and notions of white victimisation in the new dispensation, was also briefly explored. The analysis revealed the robustness of discursive attempts to block transformation within sites chosen for transformation. Moreover, it revealed how such discursive attempts were framed in ways that naturalised and normalised whiteness within the context of the new dispensation. These findings are congruent with a general view of whiteness as a shifting, flexible construct, and confirm the need to continuously investigate the changing discursive strategies employed to maintain whiteness in post-apartheid South Africa.
Open Access
Examining South Africa 's process of cultural transformation : interrogating the Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) policy framework
(2007) Bakwesegha, Babirye Brenda; Jubber, Ken
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-104).
Open Access
An experiential study of caregiving for HIV and AIDS patients in the 'pre-ARVs era' in Lesotho
(2007) Makoae, Mokhantšo Gladys; Jubber, Ken
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-240).
Open Access
Genetic epistemology and the sociology of knowledge
(1981) Jubber, Ken
This study originates in certain shortcomings in the sociology of knowledge and in sociological theory generally. Among such shortcomings are: an unnecessarily restricted conception of knowledge, the neglect of contemporary findings in biology and psychology, and the oversocialized conception of humankind and knowledge. This study aims to correct certain of these shortcomings through redefining knowledge and developing part of a comprehensive theory of knowledge which unites the biology of knowledge, the psychology of knowledge and the sociology of knowledge. Piaget's genetic epistemology and Popper's and Lorenz's evolutionary epistemology provide much of the material which inspired this study and which is developed in it. It is argue that the sociology of knowledge has not yet seriously encountered these disciplines and would benefit from such an encounter. Ethology, developmental psychology, cybernetics, and anthropology are other sources of information used. Knowledge is defined as assimilated information. It is argued that knowledge is assimilated in three basic contexts: that of the species, the individual organism, and the collectivity. These yield, respectively, innate knowledge, learnt knowledge, and social knowledge. Knowledge, thus, is viewed as evolving phylogenetically, ontogenetically, and socio-genetically. Various theses are proposed and arguments and facts supporting them presented in the course of developing the theory of knowledge. The following are among the theses proposed: Life is a knowledge process. Human knowledge and knowledge processes can be illuminated by studying the intellectual development of animals and children. Human knowledge and reality are biologically, psychologically, and sociologically constructed. All humans are born with an innate learning schema. This schema is responsible for human life and culture. It plays an important part in determining the pattern and content of culture. Truth is, in part, biologically determined. Society depends on many forms of non-social knowledge. The understanding of culture requires an understanding of the varieties and forms of nonsocial knowledge which make culture possible. The study constitutes a contribution to knowledge in various ways. Rather than considering the relationship between biology and behaviour as is customary, this study considers the relationship between biology and knowledge. Certain new concepts are introduced and a theory of knowledge is outlined which integrates the biology of knowledge, the psychology of knowledge and the sociology of knowledge. The study demonstrates that humankind's biological nature plays a vital role in socialization and in the production of culture. It thus serves to correct oversocialized views of humankind. The study reveals that reality is phylogenetically, ontogenetically and sociogenetically constructed; it is the result of the evolution and operation of biological, psychological and sociological factors.
Open Access
How femininities are shaped by religion and culture: a comparative study of beliefs on 'pollution' during childbirth and menstruation in Hinduism and Christianity
(2000) Lalloo, Sherneen; Jubber, Ken
This dissertation is a qualitative study of how femininities are shaped by religion and culture. Since religion and culture is a very broad field, this study attempts to examine how femininities are shaped by notions of 'pollution' during menstruation and childbirth. These beliefs about pollution are thought to be part of religion and culture. This comparative study examines how beliefs on pollution differ in two groups of women namely Christian and Hindu women. The sample of women for this study was chosen purposefully using the snowball sampling technique. A sample of six Hindu and six Christian women who were relatively similar in terms of education and income was chosen from the Rylands/Athlone area in the Western Cape. The limited size and nature of this sample makes generalizations difficult. Individual interviews using in-depth, open-ended questions were conducted. The questions were aimed at providing insight into women's experiences of menstruation, menarche, sexual intercourse during menstruation and pregnancy, childbirth and the religious restrictions and taboos these experiences entailed. The aim was to describe women's subjective experiences of 'pollution'. The interviews were conducted in the homes of the women as this was likely to be an environment that respondents would feel comfortable in. Interviews were tape-recorded and then transcribed in order to present the findings in the respondent's own words as far as possible. It was found that Hindu women faced religious and cultural restrictions where menstruation was concerned. They did not light the lamp in their shrines at home or attend temple services until the cessation of menstruation whereupon a ritual bath was taken. During childbirth Hindu women were seen as being 'most polluted' during the first ten days after giving birth. This period of ritual impurity ended forty days after giving birth. During this time, all the women in this study did not leave the house, cook, attend temple or light the lamp as a result of this ' impure' state. After performing a ritual bath and shaving the newborn's hair, these women were reintroduced into the community. In contrast, the Christian women in this study did not face any religious or cultural restrictions during menstruation and childbirth. The Christian women were actually encouraged to attend church as soon as possible after giving birth. Beliefs about 'pollution' during menstruation and childbirth were analyzed using structural-functional theory. It was argued that 'pollution beliefs' serve various functions in society, mostly to ensure gender inferiority and male dominance. There were also differences in the Hindu and Christian respondent's views on marriage and the sex of their children. It was found that the women's experiences of menstruation and childbirth were shaped to a large extent by religion and culture. Femininities were linked to religion and culture as attitudes on 'pollution' stemming from culture affect the way women view themselves and their bodies.
Open Access
Impressions of Black males within the Unites States(US) criminal justice system : thoughts, words and feelings from samples of incarcerated Black males
(2001) Busch, Tyrone(Ty) G; Jubber, Ken; Downs, Libbi
Bibliography: leaves 141-147.
Open Access
Institutions supporting small and medium enterprises in the Western Cape : entrepreneurial perceptions of the SBDC
(1996) Jawoodeen, Ekhshaan Ismail; Chipeya, Henry; Jubber, Ken
The object of the thesis is to explore the perceptions of small business people mainly from the Athlone area regarding the SBDC and other similar support organisations. The survey targeted mainly coloured and Indian firms. African businesses face constraints different from those run by Indian and coloureds in the Western Cape. The study targeted a defined group of businesses and its particular limitations. This complexity requires sensitivity that recognises differences among disadvantaged firms. It also investigated the provision of training, marketing and financial functions of the Small Business Development Corporation, addressing: the activities involved in the provision of services, the policy formulation process within the institution with regard to the service function, and the environment within which the institution operates. Finally the thesis analysed the post 1994 government policy on SMEs and activities since the Presidents Conference on Small Business. The study focused on three support functions, training, marketing and financial services offered to black entrepreneurs. The study looks at the SBDC as support provider of services to the construction, service and manufacturing sectors in the Western Cape.
Open Access
Marx's theory of alienation and the commodification of water in South Africa
(2011) Grant, Matthew; Jubber, Ken
This dissertation uses Marx's theory of alienation in seeking to give a fuller understanding of the commodification of domestic water. As such, it also focuses on the socio-historical process of the provision of water through privatisation in the dominant mode of production: capitalism in its neoliberal phase.
Open Access
Medicalised maternity : an investigation into women's experiences of medicalised childbirth
(1998) Humphreys, Katherine Louise; Jubber, Ken
This dissertation reports on a qualitative study of the childbearing experiences of 20 women having their first child. The study attempts to examine the dominant discourses surrounding pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood, with specific reference to the medical discourse, and to describe the way in which these impact on the women's experiences. The non-probability, convenience sample used in the study comprised women attending an antenatal class held at a Cape Town private hospital. The sample was relatively socially and medically homogeneous. The size and nature of the sample makes broad generalisations tentative. Individual interviews based on in-depth and open-ended questions were conducted. These were aimed at gathering qualitative data on the women's perceptions of their experiences. The women were interviewed during the last trimester of pregnancy about their experiences of pregnancy and their anticipation of childbirth. A further interview conducted a few weeks after birth focused on their experience of childbirth within the hospital setting and their impressions of early motherhood. It was found that the women's accounts of their experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood were shaped to a large extent by the discourses within which the process of childbearing has been constructed. These include the medical, 'natural' birth and feminine discourses. The dominance of the medical discourse of birth was evident in the fact that the medical view was thoroughly incorporated into the women's perceptions of their childbearing experiences. This view of birth, along with the dominance of scientific medical knowledge, was found to limit the perception of acceptable birthing practice. The medical discourse intersected with both the 'natural' birth discourse which, as a social construction, was shown to uphold essentialist and prescriptive notions of motherhood, and the feminine discourse. This discourse, along with its assumptions regarding the mothering role, was fom1d to impact on the women's experiences through the creation of unrealistic expectations and ideals, which contributed to the shock and stress of first-time motherhood.
Open Access
Planning for post-industrial society : a theoretical framework
(1984) Lewis, Malcolm; Jubber, Ken
This research stems from the proposition that important qualitative changes are occurring within Western Society, and that these changes call for new forms of individual and organisational adaptation. Planning is a pre-eminently suitable way of adapting in an appropriate fashion to the complexities of change, rather than through ad hoc responses. Four tendencies appear to be prevalent and to persist within what may be termed these technologically advanced societies; these are: high and accelerating rates of technological and social change; an unevenness in these rates of change, especially among different parts of the environment in which organisations operate; an increasing interconnectedness and interdependence among these environmental parts; and an increasing overall size and complexity of the environment and its consistuent organisations. System's theory, it is felt, will provide a particularly apt conceptual framework for the consideration of these problems, which will be made explicit and amplified primarily through an exploration of these concepts which are central to a theory of behavioural systems. It is argued that the conditions in which social activity occurs are, in many parts of the world, becoming subject to important qualitative changes which demand new responses and modes of adaptation of behaviour, which look to what may be termed a new 'appreciative' outlook, in which a central element will be a recognition that units within ecological consideration must become the basis for achieving equitable outcomes. Chapters 7 and 8 discuss planning, the method which all social units at all levels use when attempting to regulate relations with others in order to continue functioning effectively. Here, the conceptual framework will be used to examine this problem of planning. Further, to refine the notion of planning, technical, natural, institutional, economic, conflict and social systems will be examined. In particular, urban planning will be looked at as of increasingly critical concern as the result of the world urbanisation process. A new paradigm for planning will be suggested which draws together the main elements of the thesis, in which the aims and techniques of enquiry will be from the making of explanations which derive from single purpose approaches to the furtherance of understanding desired from a more inclusive and comprehensive standpoint.
Open Access
A profile of the elderly admitted to the emergency unit of Groote Schuur Hospital : with particular reference to their health care needs
(1992) Schuurmans-Stekhoven, Penelope M; Whitelaw, D A; Jubber, Ken
This study is the first of its kind undertaken at Groote Schuur Hospital. It is an attempt to provide a holistic profile of their elderly patients with a view to encouraging further, more specific research, and to provide information for use in the planning of efficient health care for the aged. The study was based on three premises: (i) there is an interrelationship between the ageing process and disease; (ii) a non-disease-specific approach which focusses on the functional status of elderly patients can be used as a predictor of health services consumption; and (iii) any study which promotes understanding of the dynamics of health care of the elderly must also take into account the ageing process and its effect on a particular population within a specific social context. The research spanned 52 weeks (1 March 1989 - 27 February 1990). A sample of nine patients per week was selected from the total population of patients aged 65 and over admitted to the Emergency Unit of Groote Schuur Hospital. Two adult female researchers, using structured questionnaires, constructed in English and comprising subtests, utilising indexes and scales, interviewed respondents and/or household members in their own homes. Data was also obtained from the hospital files. Although essentially descriptive by nature, use was made of groups in regard to variables such as "first admission" (admission to the Emergency Unit), and "readmission" (a previous overnight admission in the preceding year). Statistical analysis, where indicated, was by means of non-parametric tests.
Open Access
Psychodynamic perspectives on the master-servant relationship and its representation in the work of Doris Lessing, Es'kia Mphahlele and Nadine Gordimer
(1987) Ruth, Damian William; Jubber, Ken
The master-servant relationship in South Africa is examined in the light of Melanie Klein's psychodynamic-theories. It is argued that mechanisms of defense identified by Klein, primarily denial, splitting and projection, as well as depressive guilt, operate in the master-servant relationship in this country. The first chapter clarifies the theoretical approach to i) the individual and society, ii) literature and social analysis and iii) psychoanalysis and literature. It is argued that individuals are at one and the same time both public and private entities, made by and making the society they live in. The notion that group behaviour is individual behaviour writ large is rejected and the way in which the master-servant relationship is used as a microcosm of the larger relationship between black and white in South Africa is explained. It is also argued that literature, not bound to specifics of time and place in the way statistics are, yet still rooted in the looser flow of everyday life as experienced by individuals, provides the social analyst with special access to the dynamics of a society. The value of a psychoanalytic approach to literature lies in the light psychoanalysis sheds on the function of metaphor, particularly the metaphor of the human body, and phantasy. In the explication of Klein's theories, the importance of phantasy, both on an individual and a collective level, is stressed. The way in which denial, projection, splitting and guilt operate in South African society is then examined with illustrations drawn from various sources, such as the media and the statements of politicians, but primarily from the fiction of Doris Lessing, Es'kia Mphahlele and Nadine Gordimer. Furthermore, it is pointed out how patriarchy, capitalism and colonialism can be interpreted in the light of the dynamics proposed by Klein; it is argued that South Africa is a patriarchal, capitalist and colonial society and the effects that this has on the writing of Lessing, Mphahlele and Gordimer are examined. A framework for a reading of Lessing, Mphahlele and Gordimer is then established. Colonial literature, and the literary device of irony are examined. Links are drawn between irony, the metaphor of the body, the rejection of the notion of the purely private individual, and the functioning of denial, splitting and projection. In the subsequent three chapters, each devoted to a single writer, the theme of failures in recognition is carried through. Each writer is studied to emphasize different aspects of the arguments that have been developed in the preceding chapters. The tensions of patriarchy and colonialism are most clearly seen in the work of Lessing. Gordimer subverts the popularly-accepted division between public and private and provides a historical perspective on the master-servant relationship. Mphahlele, like Gordimer, gives us many examples of how a self is fractured and warped in the domination and subordination that obtains in the domestic scene. Like Gordimer, he uses irony a great deal to make his point. These three writers from divergent backgrounds resort to similar techniques and metaphors to express a similar vision. This study interprets the link between the individual and society, and between a society and its literature in terms of a psychodynamic theory. The struggle for a sense of wholeness is an individual and a collective enterprise. The struggle for a South African literature is the struggle for a South African identity.